Lo peor de todo vs the catcher in the rye

Victor A.C.

23/06/2010 804
The catcher vs lo peor de todo
In the present work I will make a comparison between the book "The Catcher in the Rye" written by the American J. Davis Salinger and "Lo peor de todo" by the Spanish writer Ray Loriga, both books use characters from initiation. The main characters of the two books are steeped in a bit arduous difficulties to overcome, such asotherness, which is the feeling of looking for something, but still do not know what they want. That is, in the two novels, Holden and Elder realize they are separated from the others and they know that there is something beyond what they perceive.
The otherness of both protagonists is manifested in the desire to find the lost, since the two have been expelled from their schools and go out to look forthemselves to face the consequences of their actions. This is where the players must go through a series of tests or could be discovered for the first time what they are seeking.
The other difficulty is alienation, which is a phenomenon that removes the personality, deprives the individual of their thoughts, their views, their decisions and let it drift, then, the alienated person depends onwhat others say. So the mind is absent, absorbed by disorientation until they decide to regain their free will, therefore difficult both otherness and alienation lead to pessimism, the weariness of the characters.
That is why this work aims to find the reasons why the main initiation characters of these two books behave in the same way as pessimistic, bushed, tired of life, etc. Also at the endof the comparison, I am going to mention if these guys had a successful or failed initiation.
In these two books I find interesting topics like alienation and otherness, which topics are developed in the following lines.
Throughout the catcher in the rye, Holden seems to be excluded from and victimized by the world around him. He continually attempts to find his way in a world in which hefeels he doesn’t belong. But Holden’s alienation is his way of protecting himself, he uses his isolation as a proof that he is better than everyone else around him, however the truth is that interactions with other people usually confuse and overwhelm him like Elder Bastidas when someone asks him, he gets his face red as a tomato and confusion comes to his mind and he cannot help to go up at theschool roof.
Holden’s alienation is the cause of most of his pain. He does not attempt to discover the source of his troubles. Alienation is both the source of Holden’s strength and the source of his problems. For example, his loneliness propels him into his date with Sally Hayes, but his need for isolation causes him to insult her and drive her away.
On the other hand Elder’s Alienation has beenpresent his whole life. He had a childhood without direction that can only lead him to a less bound youth still busy for work without meaning or interest, and by the memories of T, a girl that did not appreciated the love of Elder and in the end this love was not enough.
Also Holden Caulfield is in love with a girl who cannot have, and paradoxically, "has" a girl that is not in love with him,and I say ironically because throughout the book reminds us how much Holden hates false people who likes just keeping up appearances.
Otherness and alienation in these works are reflected in the loss of their reasons to continue living, and these issues drag the main characters to frustration and depression, which fall into pessimism, it is what drives the story. This theme is presentthroughout and it is the most important topic for me, I will develop it in the next pages.
Comenzaré por definir el pesimismo de acuerdo a la real Academia Española: “Propensión a ver y juzgar las cosas en su aspecto más desfavorable”. De acuerdo a la filosofía: “Sistema que consiste en atribuir al universo la mayor imperfección posible”.
Por consiguiente: el pesimismo se define como una actitud...