English (McCarthy) - Essay #2 - DRAFT

DRAFT -
Explore how Atonement and The Catcher in the Rye present the process of growing up as a difficult and painful experience.

While the narratives of ‘Atonement’ and ‘The Catcher in the Rye’ vary dramatically in context – one revolving around a 13 year old girl in 1935 living in South East England, the other around a seventeen year old boy with a lot of attitude and dated profanity. They share the same loneliness and detachment from the world and also begin to create knowledge of adulthood allowing them to cut off from everything. Both protagonists also seek control in their surroundings. Holden Caulfield is an unusual boy whose central goal is to resist the process of maturity itself whereas Briony is anxious to enter the adult world.

Holden Caulfield and Briony Tallis create understandings of childhood and adulthood which allow them to cut off from the world and cover themselves with protective armour of fantasy and doubt. Holden has trouble relating to the people around him, so he fantasizes about the possibility of escaping the “phoniness” of his surroundings and going somewhere peaceful. Holden says "It's everything. I hate living in New York and all". Holden emphasises his hate for the city, and begins to go on about all the things he hates; “the transportation”, “the elevators”, “the pants”, “the cars”. However, Sally, Holden’s friend, has her doubts from the way Holden talks, he jumps from one thing to the other, and Sally cannot follow his train of thought, so she is confused and scared by his sudden "crazy" outburst. She says, "we're both practically children. And did you ever stop to think what you'd do if you didn't get a job when your money ran out? ". In some ways Holden's idea appears mature and realistic as he wants to grow up and marry Sally, but he hasn't really thought it through. Holden feels trapped in the city and hates it, but he can't just run off.

As the "Catcher in the Rye," Holden's views on maturity change as the story unfolds, and he slowly begins to recognise that fantasy cannot last forever. Holden has to grow up or be left behind. At first, Holden imagines himself to be the "Catcher in the Rye," the one who has to "catch everybody if they start to go over the cliff". He believes he has to stop any little child from making a mistake and falling, which illustrates entering the adult world. Holden is scared to take the plunge and mature, so he won’t let others do it either. Holden's fantasies throughout the book seem to be "crazy," but they are just exaggerations of his feelings, desires, and depression from knowing how messed up the world is. He becomes more and more depressed as he tries to bring his fantasies into reality, but soon realises that he can't make them existent.

Similarly, Briony's fantasy world results in a real life crime, which she must try and atone for the rest of her life. Briony Tallis "possessed by a desire to have a world just so", gifted with "a strange mind and a facility with words" has encouraged her to write stories which “not only involved secrecy, it also gave her all the pleasures of miniaturisation. A world could be made in five pages and one that was more pleasing than reality.” In her imagination Briony "has set the limits and the terms" and therefore she seems unwilling to acknowledge between the truth of her past memories and her imaginative creations of reality. "The very complexity of her feelings confirmed Briony in her view that she was entering an arena of adult emotion” Briony seems to be constantly trapped in her fantasy world, acting out some kind of performance.

An interesting point is that the novel ends with the play "The Trials of Arabella". The novel begins and ends with the performance of the play, which dramatically reflects Briony’s performance of her life that she created in her imagination. Her fantasy world comes to an end when she comes across a scene involving her sister Cecilia and her neighbour Robbie. Her childish mind creates a wild theory about the safety of her sister and yearns to rescue her from all the dangers. “At his insistence she was removing her clothes, and at such speed ... What strange power did he have over her? Blackmail? Threats?” Briony’s character highlights the thin line between truth and fiction when a mind is set on believing made-up things which results in much trouble for Briony as a child.

Interestingly, loneliness is the emotional proof of the alienation the protagonists experience; it is both a source of great pain and a source of their detachment from the world. In The Catcher in the Rye, there are many places throughout the novel where the themes of loneliness become apparent. We cannot help but notice Holden's excessively cynical view on the idea of growing up and the world of adults. It is this cynicism that separates Holden from his peers and the world as a whole, “I was standing way the hell up on top of Thomsen Hill ... You could see the whole field from there” This is the very first place we see Holden setting the stage for his character as an isolated and distant person; as he is watching people instead of connecting with them.

Throughout the novel, Holden constantly mentions the "phoniness" or fake people and scenarios around him especially the hate that Holden shows for “Hollywood” and everything to do with it. He even adopts disapproval towards his older brother for deciding to write a movie script. It is quite possible that Hollywood represents to Holden all that is wrong with the adult world; it comes to stand for all of the "phoniness" that exists within civilization. This emphasises Holden’s distrustful and judgemental view he has on everything which causes Holden to have such an unsociable life.

Throughout the novel, it is extremely rare for Holden have anything to do with people in general as being more than fake or "phony". Simply, Holden does not want to grow up or become an adult. It is not only the ideas of loneliness and isolation that affect the plot of The Catcher in the Rye, but it is also Holden's sometimes strange attempts to combat these feelings that come to develop a major influence on the plot. It is quite apparent that by the middle of the novel Holden is on the verge of a mental breakdown. Not only is this condition evidenced by his sometimes random actions, it is also made clear by how he comes to rely on images of his family, particularly the younger members, for support and comfort during the unsure times of his life. “So I ended up not calling anybody. I came out of the booth, after about twenty minutes or so”. Holden is clearly trying to reach out to someone but he is unable to. His hesitation because of his critical view of others keeps him in this isolation.

Loneliness can drive people to drastic, hurtful actions and this is an obvious point for Briony Tallis. In the beginning of the novel we learn Briony is a lonesome character; “Nothing in her life was sufficiently interesting or shameful to merit hiding; no one knew about the squirrel's skull beneath her bed, but no one wanted to know." Briony’s life is a part of her imagination and therefore lacks the power to draw in the attention she needs and seeks. Her loneliness is highlighted by the fact “no one wanted to know.” Which out casts Briony as a loner and misfit. Briony has a need to always receive affection. Her need for love shows us she has been neglected in her household and now seeks for care to thrive on; "Briony studied her mother's face for every trace". This highlights Briony longs for her mother's love and attention as she carefully sits and examines her mother's "shifting emotion. This could show how Briony has developed this great detachment from the world and has made her the person she is at the ending of the novel.

Briony becomes a jealous character as she witnesses her mother showing a lot of attention to Lola. Briony states "her only reasonable choice then would be to run away, to live under hedges.." This shows Briony is an insecure girl who is making rash decisions about leaving, as she sees no alternative. This shows her psychological state as being very melodramatic. This could connote the missing mother and sister figure Briony longs for as she desires for so much attention. The lack of femininity is brought apparent here as we see Briony has no sense of dress or fashion. Briony’s loss of people to care for her and no one to really social with has resulted in Briony becoming an aloof and alone character. Briony’s alienation is the source of what little stability she has in her life.

In Atonement and The Catcher in the Rye, lying and deception are the most obvious and hurtful elements. Both characters fail to realise how their behaviour affects others in different ways. In The Catcher in the Rye Holden uses lies to deceive his true intentions from those around him. Holden uses lying and deception as ways to keep him from feeling the same pain he felt after Allie died. “It's me. I have to have this operation ... It isn't very serious. I have this tiny little tumour on the brain." In reality, Holden does not have a tumour, but was really going on a little vacation. Although it was none of Mrs. Morrow's business to know where Holden was going, he chose to deceive her of the truth to receive her pity because of the situation he described to her. He wanted her pity but he knew in order to receive it he would have to change his reality to earn it. Holden also appears to use lying to protect his “phoniness” in another way; "I was already sort of sorry I'd let the thing start rolling, but it was too late now." Again, Holden deceives the world of what he truly thinks. Holden knew he wanted out, but he was under the notion that it was too late now. In both these cases Holden lies, either by not saying anything or not saying the truth. He deceives the world through his lies of what he is in reality. By using his lies he imagines to be something he is not. Holden refuses to acknowledge his own faults and is unwilling to consider how his behaviour and lies affects those around him.

In comparison, there are two different concepts shown on how guilt and lying are perceived in Atonement and The Catcher in the Rye. Throughout the novel, guilt is one of the major themes and this is shown at a young age when Briony commits an act that haunts her for the rest of her life. "How guilt refined the methods of self-torture, threading the beads of detail into an eternal loop, a rosary to be fingered for a lifetime.” McEwan refers to Briony’s guilt as something that she will remember constantly throughout her life as one does when they remember god. The guilt Briony has reminds her of her past and will always be there to "self-torture" her for "a lifetime." The quote is metaphor to religion as “a rosary” is a string of beads used to count a repeated series of prayers. McEwan compares Briony’s guilt to a rosary and “an eternal loop” which emphasizes Briony’s never ending blame. Briony’s lying results in her trying to “atone” her sins for the rest of her life. “She was abandoning herself to a life of strictures, rules, obedience, housework, and a constant fear of disapproval.” As a punishment, Briony decides to give up all the luxuries of an upper class life, meaning no Cambridge, no grand house, no traveling and no well paid job. Briony decides that working as a nurse during the war will help atone her wrongdoing and serve as some sort of atonement towards her. She lives in a world where her name does not exist and has no freedom to go back to. Briony’s childish views and immature thoughts result in a life time of atonement.

Both characters are to some extent children who just have not grown up as they represent immaturity through various degrees of detachment and hurt: whether it is through fantasy or deception. One can overlook that they have had a difficult and painful childhood which has crafted them into what they have become. Perhaps their process of growing up as been a terrible experience which is a reflection on the world they were brought up in.

English (McCarthy) - Essay #1

Explore the development of the protagonist in Part 1 of "Atonement".

Briony Tallis is introduced in the summer of 1935 as an unusual 13 year old aspiring writer with a passion for order and secrecy. She is the baby of the family, almost an only child. She begins writing clumsy, imaginative short stories at age 11 where we begin to realise her "melodramatic" and creative mind.

In the starting of the novel Ian McEwan paints Briony as an obsessively ordered child who craves attention from her plays and has a vivid imagination and melodramatic mind. "Briony had designed the posters, programs and tickets, constructed the sales booth". From this we recieve an intense personality Briony achieves and begin to construct our thoughts about her. This could forshadow something bad to occur later on in the novel to do with a conflict from her order and self control.

In the beginning of the novel the reader is told that Briony's fascination with storytelling is rooted in her "passion for secrets" and longing for affection. All of Briony's passions such as her storytelling and her love of secrets grow from an obsession with her over imaginative life. Her secrets are made up of things she has kept "In the box were treasures that dated back four years, to her ninth birthday when she began collecting" As Briony herself acknowledges secrets are not secrets unless they possess the allure of hidden knowledge; "Hidden drawers, lockable diaries [...] the simple truth: she had no secrets". Her secrets are apart of her imagination and therefore lack the power to draw in the attention she needs and seeks. We also understand Briony has a need to always recieve affection when "Briony studied her mother's face for every trace". This highlights Briony longs for her mother's love and attention as she carefully sits and examines her mother's "shifting emotion". This may also suggest Briony's mother cannot hide her changing emotions and may be keeping something from her daughter. This could forbode a dark secret later on in the novel.

Near the of Part 1 in "Atonement" Briony's character has developed into something completely different from the 1st chapter. The sympathy we once had for Briony disappears when we learn she has opened the letter Robbie has written for Cecilia. Her feelings become apprant when she admits "it was wrong to open people's letters, but it was right, it was essential, for her know everything". Here we understand how Briony is very nosey and enjoys becoming apart of people's business. This act she takes makes the reader feel shocked and horrid at her actions and do not really like Briony as a character any more. The word "essential" emphasises the need she requires to be apart of everyone's business. Her character here has now developed into a judgemental girl.

Briony becomes a jealous character as she witnesses her mother showing a lot of attention to Lola. Briony states "her only reasonable choice then would be to run away, to live under hedges.." This shows Briony is an insecure girl whose who is making rash decisions about leaving, as she sees no alternative. This shows her psychological state as being very melodramatic. This begins to also show the contrast between Briony and Lola which may forbode a drastic change occuring in the novel. It could also connote the missing mother and sister figure she longs for as she desires for so much attention. The lack of feminity is brought apparant here as we see Briony has no sense of dress or fashion.

We learn Briony has a selffish side towards her. She isn't really bothered about people's feelings apart from her own. "not even her own fantasies, rose to her challenge, and dispelled her insignificance". The reader sees she is such a self involved character and feel sorry for her and we feel she is quite isolated and alone.

In chapter 13 when Briony falsely accuses Robbie, it is hard not to have harsh feelings against her. "It was rather like a christmas morning sensation of being about to give a present.." This shows her eagerness and excitement of being able to tell a lie. She describes the feeling as the same as "Christmas". However, McEwan has painted such a good job of her character by then, that it is entirely consistent with who she is that we cannot really feel too strongly against her as we expect something like this from her as it was in line with her personality.

To conclude as we read Part 1, Briony's character develops over a short period of time. Ian McEwan crafts Briony in such a clever way to keep the reader interested. The reader depicts Briony in such a way that on one hand Briony has the character of an angel but on the other hand there is a certain shrudness to her which is revealed later on in the novel.