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Holden Caulfield And Asher Lev In Catcher In The Rye

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The past is a quintessential ingredient in the formation of one’s character. The memories in which one makes will be either treasured or treated as baggage. Holden Caulfield is entrenched within the past, so it consumes him and becomes a destructive force in his life, while Asher Lev is able to channel his past into construction through his art. Undoubtedly, skeletons within Caulfield’s past continually haunt his life and decisions. The major catalyst of Caulfield’s current state is the death of his little brother Allie who died from leukemia. After the death of Allie, Caulfield becomes disconnected from the world and cares for little except his younger sister Phoebe and older brother D.B. This apathy manifests itself through his indifferent …show more content…

Consequently, he was expelled from Pencey due to his inattention, inaction, and indifference. Caulfield is emotionally unstable because he is incapable of coping and dealing with his feelings after his brother’s death. For example, when Caulfield hears of his brother’s death, he is unable to process it, instead destroying the garage windows by punching them out, but “didn’t even know [he] was doing it” (Salinger 44). He is prone to violence whenever he becomes emotionally charged demonstrated through his fight with Stradlater over a girl he had not seen in years. Furthermore, Caulfield uses alcohol and money to hide from his problems. His immaturity to deal with the loss of his brother combined with the pains of adolescence creates a dangerous cocktail as he seeks solace in alcohol believing he “can’t sit… cold sober” (Salinger 78). He runs out of money in the first few days on …show more content…

Lev was born with the gift of artistry, his earliest memory at the age of four when he was “holding [his] pencil…and transferring the world around [him]” (Potok 5). This gift was the main catalyst for the turmoil within his youth, as well as his adult life. His gift made him acutely aware of the emotions and feelings of the world in which he lived and is anything but indifferent to the agony as well as joy of earth. He paints the world true to how he sees it, like how he painted Stalin when he was scared of going to Vienna. He is aware of the pain he put his parents through when he refused to go to Vienna, but he puts his gift above all. Lev’s ability to use his gift as a form of expression and escape adds to the world and helps with Lev’s own mental anguish over his trials with his father and religion. Lev pursues a mental peace and balance in his passion for art and love of his religion as an orthodox Jew. The two most important aspects of his life often battle each other, but he searches for harmony between the two. Painting and drawing is Lev’s medium to express him because it is where he can be truest to whom he is. His father, a huge figure in his life, “set himself as an adversary” (Potok 184) because his views Lev’s drawings as foolishness. As such, this past of constant conflict creates a strained relationship with his father. The two were never able to communicate without the help of Lev’s mother.

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