The themes of alienation and isolation in "The Catcher in the Rye" and "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" are very important , as the authors state seek to portray the journey of an individual (or even a group) who exists outside of mainstream society. In both novels we see the story told through the character of an alienated first-person narrator, a point of view that profoundly influences our understanding and interpretation of the stories told, whether it be Bromden's hallucinatory description of the "fog" and the its effects or Holden's quasi-fog. reliable description of the events that led to his admission to a mental hospital. It is important to illustrate the subtle difference between alienation and isolation: although the two terms are closely linked and often seen as synonymous, I believe that "alienation" is a more passive term; an alienated character has been alienated from the society around him. I view isolation, however, as a conscious - or at least intentional on some level - move by a character to exist outside of society. Society alienates a character, while a character isolates himself – naturally, there is some overlap between the two. Both of these phenomena are presented and are central to understanding "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" and "The Catcher in the Rye." Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay There is no doubt that the narrators of both novels assert their individuality, and in doing so isolate themselves, through their idiosyncratic use of language and failure to adhere to narrative conventions. From the moment we meet Holden, we see him using the slang (“gross,” “all that kind of crap”) and unhelpful direct address (“don't even mention them to me”) that characterize his narration throughout the novel. . Similarly, the opening line of Bromden's narration in "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" is "they're out there" – a completely subjective and paranoid statement that immediately creates distance between him and the reader due to its seeming implausibility . Kesey also punctuates Bromden's narrative with long, bizarre hallucinations, of manipulative machinery and robotics, for example, which also initially create distance between him and the reader. However, as the novels progress, we come to accept the strange and somewhat difficult narrative, and it becomes enjoyable and enjoyable. The novel's language and narrative styles serve to force the reader on a journey regarding their closeness to the narrator: at first we are alienated by their nonconformity, but as the novels develop we find ourselves very much on the narrator's side. narrator. In my opinion, this journey of alienation of the reader is just as important as the alienation of the characters themselves. For Holden, isolation is a means of self-protection. In his interactions with other people - especially girls, like Sally and Faith - he seems uncomfortable and confused about what to say, forcibly trying to seem "sweet as hell" and grown-up instead of actually making any connections. whoever you talk to. He isolates himself, therefore, both intentionally (his journey around New York City) and unintentionally (through his strange behavior in trying to become an adult) as a way to avoid having to deal with the obvious confusion and internal conflict he possesses. This illustrates the irony of Holden's character and actions; he isolates himself due to the unsatisfied desire to adapt to the society around him. His famous red hunting hat, for example, is aclear and intentional physical symbol of difference. His claim – however joking – that it is a “shooter hat” suggests his explicit desire to stand out by wearing it, but his numerous references to Allie and Phoebe's red hair suggest that he is simply wearing it as a subconscious attempt to fit in with the his family. At the same time, Holden seems proud and aware of the hat (he often does not wear it when meeting friends, or takes it off when commented on), a clear symbol of this conflict between isolation and adaptation. As for, Bromden (and indeed many of the minor characters such as Harding in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest) uses isolation as a means of self-protection, just as Holden does. Bromden's pretense of being deaf and dumb could, in some respects, be compared to Holden's pretense of adulthood and maturity: both are used because the offender believes it is the only way to get by and fit into a society which doesn't. fully understand. However, while Holden seems unaware of his use of isolation as a means of protection, Bromden does so intentionally. He believes he is “cautious enough to fool” everyone else in the ward – and in doing so, makes himself less of a target than the other patients. In fact, for McMurphy he only lets his guard down much later, once he is sure of his trustworthiness. In this regard, Bromden's self-imposed isolation is an effective tool: he avoids the violent and destructive sessions of group therapy, through which "the Big Nurse" is able to maintain a stranglehold on the ward through psychological manipulation. However, this isolation alone is not enough for Bromden to regain his confidence and sanity: a character like McMurphy is needed to catalyze this process. The fog is the ideal symbol of Bromden's isolation – it appears at emotional moments in the story, and creates a veil – symbolic for the reader, but physical for Bromden – behind which he “feels safe”. Even though he knows that the fog - his isolation - is wrong, "however bad", returning to it allows him to distance himself from the situation. Kesey therefore seems to suggest that, although isolation is an effective shield, simple withdrawal from society is not in itself sufficient to bring about change. Active struggle, though often Sisyphean, is portrayed as more heroic and effective than simple passive withdrawal; Bromden's fight against "the group" can actually only be escaped with his escape from the institution, and McMurphy's fight, although it did not bring him freedom, is enough to mentally free the other "inmates" of the unit, both from mental imprisonment, and in Bromden's case also concerns physical incarceration. Loss of identity is prominent in both novels, both as a cause and effect of isolation and alienation, and both Bromden and Holden have perceptions of identity that change markedly over the course of their respective stories. Kesey manifests Bromden's changing identity, like much of his mental state, through physical symbolism in "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest." As a result of social alienation in the form of the government's destruction of his legacy and his subsequent institutionalization, Bromden feels himself shrinking physically: despite being "six feet tall", he sees McMurphy as being "twice the size" of him. When he is expelled from the society he knows, he loses all sense of power and confidence and sees his depression manifest itself physically. As with his “deafness,” it is only when he regains acceptance in society – albeit in the countercultural society embodied by McMurphy – that he returns to his normal size. We see a reflection of this in thenarrative itself, namely in the fact that, although Bromden is the narrator, he does not tell his own story, but rather focuses on McMurphy's story, and includes his as quasi-subsidiary. The fact that Bromden is almost a passive eyewitness to his own life, focusing instead on McMurphy's, illustrates the helplessness and loss of identity he feels as a result of alienation. Holden also suffers from a loss of identity, or at least uncertainty. However, contrary to Bromden, for whom the loss of identity is the result of alienation, for Holden we see a change in identity being the main cause of his isolation. Much like Bromden, there is a duality to Holden's identity. However, unlike Bromden, who clearly develops from one identity to another (from powerless to powerful), both sides of Holden's identity seem to always be present and in direct juxtaposition with each other. For Holden, this duality is between adult and child identity. It is this conflict of identity that is the foundation of the novel and one of the reasons why it is considered the archetype of the Bildungsroman in English literature. It's even alluded to in the book's title – Holden misinterprets the lyrics of a popular song about a sexual relationship as “can a body, catch a body, comin' through the rye” – an idea which later recurs as what Holden gives grande wants to be a 'catcher in the rye' – someone who catches children before they fall off a cliff. It can be seen that the cliff represents adulthood, and that Holden wants to ensure that the children (including himself, perhaps) can remain young and innocent, without falling off the "cliff" of adulthood and responsibility. The fact that Holden derived this naive and innocent image from a song about sex is indicative of the duality in his identity: at the same time, Holden wants to be immersed in the adult world, represented by his constant emphasis on smoking and drinking, and by desire to act like an "adult". However, at the same time, he is clearly insecure and scared of the adult world, as evidenced by the fact that he paid a prostitute just to talk, as he wasn't comfortable with the idea of ​​sex. Incidentally, it is interesting that both novels feature prostitutes as relatively important characters: Candy in "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" and Sunny in "The Catcher in the Rye." As perhaps the most alienated and isolated group of people in society, the fact that prostitutes in the novels are portrayed as the norm compared to isolated characters illustrates the extent to which they (the members of the ward and Holden respectively) are socially alienated. This conflict between adult and child, and the resulting confusion, is present in almost all of Holden's actions throughout the novel. His great interest in the museum, for example, could be seen as representing his desire to understand and compartmentalize the complexity of the world, as in a museum. Ultimately it is this duality that leads to both Holden's alienation and his isolation: he is alienated both from the adult world in which he is too immature to take part, and from the childish, innocent world for which he is seen as too old. As a result, we see him isolate himself not only from his family but also from himself, becoming a parody of an adult, going through the motions of adulthood to avoid having to deal with the complex duality that exists in his character. In many ways, this is the absolute antithesis of Bromden; the psychological issues that lead Bromden to isolate manifest themselves physically – in his change in size and perception of the “fog” and the “combine.” In contrast, Holden internalizes his problems to the point of appearing almost unaware of them, only beginning to express them by accusing.