The stories of A Separate Peace by John Knowles and The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger are two classic, beloved pieces of American literature. Both stories capture the venturesome lives of students at prep schools who face internal conflict. However, the main characters have widely contrasting personalities which shape the two distinct storylines. In A Separate Peace, two best friends, Finny and Gene, are going through their lives when one event changes everything and ultimately ends their relationship. The Catcher in the Rye captures the adventures of Holden Caulfield after he is kicked out of Pencey Prep. The literary elements of theme, conflict, and character help tell the stories of these teenagers’ lives. Although A Separate…show more content… In The Catcher in the Rye, Phoebe notices this taking place in Holden and brings it to his attention.“‘You don’t like anything that’s happening.’ It made me even more depressed when she said that. ‘Yes I do. Yes I do. Sure I do. Don’t say that. Why the hell do you say that?’ ‘Because you don’t. You don’t like any schools. You don’t like a million things. You don’t’” (Salinger 169). In this quote, Phoebe is talking about Holden’s depression and unhappiness with nearly every aspect of his life. Holden tries to deny her accusations, but inside he knows she is right as he says he becomes more depressed when Phoebe brings it up to him. Ever since the death of his brother Allie, Holden has never been the same. Similarly, right after Gene tells Finny that he caused his injury, he realizes that he may not have made the right decision to tell him. “ It occurred to me that this could be an even deeper injury than what I had done before. I would have to back out of it, I would have to disown it. Could it be that he might even be right? Had I really and definitely and knowingly done it to him after all? I couldn’t remember, I couldn’t think. However it was, it was worse for him to know it. I had to take it back” (Knowles 70). In this quote, Gene comes to the realization that he is hurting Finny once again by telling him that he…show more content… First, Holden’s major trait is his carelessness. “I wasn’t supposed to come back after Christmas vacation on account of I was flunking four subjects and not applying myself and all. They gave me frequent warnings to start applying myself-especially around mid-terms, when my parents came up for a conference with old Thurmer-but I didn’t do it” (Salinger 4). This shows Holden’s negligence as he was warned of the consequences if he did not start trying in school and he still did not care. This also shows that he does not feel the need to always be on top. On the contrary, Gene is competitive and always tries his best. “I was more and more certainly becoming the best student in the school; Phineas was without question the best athlete, so in that way we were even. But while he was a very poor student I was a pretty good athlete, and when everything was thrown into the scales they would in the end tilt definitely toward me” (Knowles 55). This shows that Gene is competitive in everything he does-even when it comes to his best friend. He always wants to be the best. Accordingly, the main characters in the two stories have contrasting personalities as one feels the need to always be the best and the other does not care. In A Separate Peace, Gene is constantly trying to reach new goals and earn recognition for his achievements, whereas in The Catcher in the Rye, Holden does
