With many teens in this decade most of them have issues with their family for example their parents being split up, The Catcher in the Rye and the curious incident of the dog in the nighttime both deal with different forms of family relationships. The Catcher in the Rye is a story told by the perspective of Holden Caulfield, it is a story from 4 days in the life of Holden after he has been expelled from his prep school, Holden always lies to find the phonies and is searching for the truth. the curious incident of the dog in the nighttime is a story told by Christopher Boone trying to solve the murder mystery of a dead dog but happens to find some shocking news instead. The similarities between Christopher and Holden are family relationships, they both don’t have good relationships with their parents, lack of relationships causes Holden to be independent and Christopher to be more dependent.
Relationships with family play a big role in a teens life, were in the two books the Catcher in the Rye and the curious incident of the dog in the nightime both lack family relationships. Christopher and his father are not the closest, but Christopher's mother is “dead” which means Chrsitopher needs his father but his father isn't fully there. “ I decided that I would wait until father was out of the house. I would go into the cupboard in his bedroom and look at the other letters and see who they were from and what they said.”(99 Haddon). This quote shows that Holden is afraid to confront his dad about the letters this connects to them not being close because if they were close he would be able to ask about what the letters were. Holden doesn't live with his parents so being close with them is kinda hard when not being able to see them everyday. An example from Catcher in the Rye that shows this is “My fathers wealthy though I don’t know how much he makes- he’s never discussed that stuff with me.”(119 Salinger) This quote shows that Holden is less clear about how he feels about his father and that they aren’t that close because he doesn’t even know that much about him. The main characters in these books both do not have good relationships with their parents, especially with their fathers.
Being dependent and independent with parents is very different with both of these books.
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Christopher is very dependent on his father because he didn’t have his mom there anymore is father did everything and Christopher is now just used to it. An example of a quote that shows this is “Christopher do you understand that I love you?” and I said “yes,” because loving someone is helping them when they get into trouble, and looking after them, and telling them the truth, and father looks after me when I get in trouble, like coming to the police station, and he looks after me by me by cooking me meals for me.” This quote is showing that Christopher is dependent on his father because Christopher is talking about everything his father. Holden does not live with his parents, he goes to school on his own and does mostly everything on his own which makes Holdem very dependent without needing his parents for help. A quote that shows this is “My parents would have two hemoragges apiece if I told anything pretty personal about them. They’re quite touchy about anything like that especially father.”(1 Salinger) This quote is showing that holden is dependent because Holden is talking somewhat badly about them which means that he doesn't care for them that much in his life. Both Christoher and Holden have very different relationships with their parents one being closer than the other.
Not having a good family relationships can cause an impact on the physical and emotional health of the two main characters in the books. Christopher is a very logical thinker he does very well in school he is very polite and never lies this is because of the way his parents have raised him and what his childhood was like. A quote that shows this is ‘Then he held up his right hand and spread his fingers out in a fan. But I screamed and pushed him backward so that he fell off the bed onto the floor(122 Haddon) This quote is saying that Christopher cant even have a physical relationship with his family because he isn't even able to touch them.
Holden isn't that mature and doesn't try in school and always lies to people Holden is obsessed with his childhood he is afraid of growing up. An example of a quote that shows this “You can't make her do something if she doesn't want to. All she kept saying was ‘Daddy’s gonna kill you’.”(183 Salinger). This quote means that Holden is too afraid to tell his parents why he is home so instead of being truthful he is going behind his parents back. In both of these stories familiar relationships have had affects emotionally and physically on Holden and Christopher.
The similarities between Christopher and Holden are family relationships, they both don’t have good relationships with their parents, lack of relationships causes Holden to be independent and Christopher to be more dependent. Familia relationships had a huge impact on both of these characters not just affecting them emotionally but also physically. After reading both of these stories I have learned that having good relationships with you family is important, if you don't have a good relationship with your family, it will affect your way of growing. Familia relationships was seen in both of these books but had very different effectivity on both Holden and Christopher.
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