A reviewer named Sullivan wrote that “reviews that compare White Mike to Holden Caulfield” would make her “shudder in disdain”1. This was the spark that lit my thoughts about the lives of the two adolescent protagonists. “What do you want? Because if you don’t want something, you’ve got nothing. [...] no one will remember where you were frozen and buried, and you will no longer be anywhere.”2 “Certainly it is! Why the hell isn’t it? People never think anything is anything really. I’m getting goddamn sick of it.”3 It is the very special ways Nick McDonell and J.D. Salinger deal with the idea of problematic adolescent identities, which make Twelve as well as The Catcher in the Rye seem extraordinary in many ways. Despite the fact that their techniques and plots are worlds apart, there are to some extent parallels which catch the eyes of at least the attentive reader. The first section of this paper deals with the different types of parental absence White Mike and Holden have to cope with. Concerning this, there is also laid an eye on the by many means similar impacts on them. The substitute role models are discussed in the following part of the paper, while the third part shows up the different types of outcast state White Mike and Holden live in. Last but not least, the fourth section of this paper deals with the stylistic devices both McDonell and Salinger use to create their special atmosphere of parental absence. [1 2p. Online. Internet. 13.05.2004 15.00. Available FTP: http://www.smallspiralnotebook.com/reviews/twelvereviewsullivan.shtml; 2 McDonell, Nick. Twelve. New York : Atlantic Books 2003, 23. White Mike is thinking about”how rich everyone is”.; 3 Salinger, J.D. The Catcher in the Rye. London : Penguin Books 1994, 155. Holden’s sister Phoebe before was asking him what he wants to be, and he did not give a conventional answer.]
Table of Contents
1 Introduction
2 The Different Types of Parental Absence
2.1 White Mike and his Parents
2.2 Holden and his Parents
3 The Substitute Role Models
3.1 White Mike’s Flesh-and-Blood Role Models
3.2 Literature as a Substitute
3.3 Role Models of Holden
3.3.1 His Siblings
3.3.2 His Teachers
3.4 Role Models Reviewed
4 White Mike and Holden in their Social Outcast States
4.1 What White Mike thinks about being a Drug-Dealer
4.2 Sociologist and Psychoanalyst Views
4.3 Holden’s Motif for Rejecting School
4.4 Widespread Scientific Explanations
5 Narrating Parental Absence
5.1 McDonell Narrating Parental Absence
5.2 Salinger Narrating Parental Absence
5.3 The End of the Year
6 Conclusion
7 Blibliography and Webliography
Objectives and Themes
The paper examines the parallels in adolescent identity crises and parental absence as portrayed in Nick McDonell’s "Twelve" and J.D. Salinger’s "The Catcher in the Rye." It investigates how the protagonists, White Mike and Holden Caulfield, navigate their social outcast status and seek substitute role models in the absence of meaningful familial connections.
- Analysis of parental absence types and their impact on adolescent identity.
- Exploration of substitute role models, including literature and peers.
- Comparison of social alienation and the rejection of conventional societal values.
- Evaluation of narrative styles and stylistic devices used by the authors to depict isolation.
- Sociological and psychoanalytical perspectives on youth detachment and rebellion.
Excerpt from the Book
3.1 White Mike’s Flesh-and-Blood Role Models
Though “buried and mourned by a few”, White Mike’s mother is still very crucial to his edifice of ideas. Attending her burial, for him the loss appears to be a symbol for the senselessness of life:
“You have seen that before you lies a great stretch of road, and it is windswept or blasted by the hot sun or covered in snow, […], but no matter what, it is utterly empty.”
Though she is dead, his mother still is an important role-model for White Mike, because what she said and did is the key to many of his thoughts. When he thinks about what his mother told him about chaos theory, he is just walking through the streets of New York City - lit up for Christmas. He sees the lights in the branches turning on and the “trees almost disappear between the bulbs”. Just as they turned on, his beeper starts to vibrate again, signalling that somebody wishes to buy drugs from him. This could be regarded as the consequence of the lights going on, which itself is a clear consequence of “getting past dusk” in Christmas time, if we are referring to the Chaos Theory.
Summary of Chapters
1 Introduction: Introduces the thematic comparison between "Twelve" and "The Catcher in the Rye" regarding adolescent identity and parental absence.
2 The Different Types of Parental Absence: Defines four types of parental separation and applies them to the family backgrounds of White Mike and Holden Caulfield.
3 The Substitute Role Models: Examines how the protagonists compensate for the lack of parental guidance through literature, peers, and authority figures.
4 White Mike and Holden in their Social Outcast States: Analyzes the motivations behind White Mike’s involvement in the drug trade and Holden’s rejection of academic institutions.
5 Narrating Parental Absence: Compares the narrative techniques used by McDonell and Salinger to convey themes of alienation and emptiness.
6 Conclusion: Summarizes the parallels found between the two protagonists and confirms the validity of comparing these two works to understand adolescent isolation.
Keywords
Parental absence, Adolescent identity, Alienation, Social outcast, Substitute role models, The Catcher in the Rye, Twelve, Nick McDonell, J.D. Salinger, Chaos theory, Drug culture, School rejection, Narrative voice, Youth isolation, Existential crisis.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the primary focus of this paper?
The paper explores the themes of parental absence and its profound effect on the identity development of adolescent protagonists in American literature, specifically focusing on Nick McDonell’s "Twelve" and J.D. Salinger’s "The Catcher in the Rye."
What are the central thematic fields discussed?
Key themes include parental absence, the search for identity, the influence of substitute role models, societal alienation, and the stylistic representation of adolescent angst.
What is the primary research objective?
The objective is to identify and analyze the parallels between the protagonists White Mike and Holden Caulfield regarding their response to an absent family life and their eventual social withdrawal.
Which scientific methods are employed?
The work utilizes literary analysis integrated with sociologic and psychoanalytic perspectives to explain the behavioral patterns and motivations of the characters.
What content is covered in the main body of the text?
The main sections cover the types of parental absence, the utilization of substitute role models, the reasons for the characters' social outcast states, and the comparative analysis of the authors' narrative styles.
Which keywords best characterize this work?
The study is characterized by keywords such as adolescent identity, parental absence, alienation, social rebellion, and the literary comparison of modern and classic youth fiction.
How does the death of a parent specifically influence White Mike?
The text suggests that the death of White Mike’s mother creates an existential gap, leading him to view life as senseless and causing him to project his feelings of loneliness onto his environment, which in turn influences his drug-dealing activities.
Why does Holden Caulfield reject Pencey Prep?
Holden perceives his school as the embodiment of "adult phoniness" and as a place that enforces hypocrisy. His rejection is an act of protest and a desperate search for independence and authenticity.
What significance does Christmas time play in both novels?
Both novels are set during the Christmas season—a time traditionally associated with family togetherness. The authors use this contrast to amplify the protagonists' profound loneliness and sense of displacement.
- Quote paper
- Marc Kemper (Author), 2004, The Importance of Being Present - White Mike and Holden coping with Parental Absence, Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/118490
