Comparative Essay Catcher and Breakfast Club free essay sample

Various pieces of literature and entertainment exhibit similar characteristics in their writing style, themes, and portrayals. These features are in each piece to enhance the reading and viewing. The novel The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger, and the movie The Breakfast Club directed by John Hughes, are two works that are similar in some significant aspects. Both compositions overflow with the theme of teenage rebellion, use rich vernacular, and portray adults as corrupt and unreasonable. These resemblances are recognized through the character’s actions and opinions in both pieces. A prominent theme in the novel The Catcher in the Rye is teenage rebellion. Throughout the novel, Holden does not conform to society’s standards of being a responsible teenager. Holden drops out of many schools, and fails almost all of his classes. His attitude regarding his worsening situation is unenthusiastic and careless. This is displayed when he says â€Å"I forgot to tell you about that. They kicked me out. I wasn’t supposed to come back after Christmas vacation, on account of I was flunking four subjects and not applying myself at all† (Salinger, 4). Holden was later confronted about his lack of motivation by his teacher, who said, â€Å"I flunked you in history because you knew absolutely nothing† (Salinger, 10). Holden’s negligence concerning school is typical of a rebelling teenager. Holden’s rebellion is further demonstrated in the novel when he runs away from Pencey Prep and has no specific goal ahead of him, saying â€Å"†¦ I decided I’d take a room in a hotel in New York – some very inexpensive hotel and all – and just take it easy till Wednesday† (Salinger, 51). Holden’s unclear plan presented his vague sense of responsibility and careless nature. This coupled with the irresponsible behaviour of drinking and employing prostitutes shows that Holden is tremendously defiant. â€Å"I ordered a scotch and soda, and told him not to mix it – fast as hell, because if you hem and haw, they think you’re under twenty-one and won’t sell any intoxicating liquor† were Holden’s thoughts after he bought a drink illegally (Salinger, 69). The key theme of teenage rebellion was conveyed in The Catcher in the Rye, through Holden’s disregard for school, lack of responsibility, and irresponsible behaviour. The most easily detected theme in The Breakfast Club is teenage rebellion. The movie revolves around five teenagers at a Saturday detention, who were there for rebelling against the expectations held of them. Throughout the movie, the teenagers harass one another, fool the teacher, fight, smoke marijuana, and talk about sex. One character said to the teacher supervising detention, â€Å"I think theres been a mistake. I know were in detention but I dont think I belong here† (Hughes, 1985). This evidences the attitude and rebellion of the students, as they denied doing anything wrong to a figure of authority. In both The Catcher in the Rye and The Breakfast Club, characters are seen talking to adults disrespectfully – a part of their rebellion. An example of one character harassing another is when Bender said to Claire, â€Å"So you just stick to the things you know: shopping, nail polish, your fathers BMW, and your poor, rich drunk mother in the Caribbean. † (Hughes, 1985). He rebelled against social norms by insulting a supposedly popular girl, and revealed his rebelliousness while doing so. Drinking is also an example of teenage rebellion in The Breakfast Club. When one character asked a girl how much vodka she drank, she replied with â€Å"Tons† (Hughes, 1985). Underage drinking is seen in both The Catcher in the Rye and The Breakfast Club as a means of teenagers rebelling. The constant fighting, harassing, crass language, and the fact that the protagonists are in detention for all of The Breakfast Club, delivers an overwhelming emphasis on teenage rebellion. Many of the same acts of rebellion are found in The Catcher in the Rye. Rich use of vernacular is found in The Catcher in the Rye. Holden constantly uses creative words particular to his time period in order to describe people and events, as well as effectively convey his opinion regarding many things. A common word Holden employs the use of is ‘phony’. This is seen when he says â€Å"For instance, they had this headmaster, Mr. Haas, that was the phoniest bastard I ever met in my life† (Salinger, 13). Other uses of vernacular include the words galoshes, crumby, flit, dough, chisel, swanky, and swell. These words add to the emotion and descriptive quality of the novel. â€Å"Some guy next to me was snowing hell out of the babe he was with† is an example of vernacular that helps to describe Holden’s thoughts (Salinger, 142). An example of slang used to add detail to the writing is, â€Å"I had a feeling old Ackleyd probably heard all the racket and was awake† (Salinger, 46). The particular language selected in the writing of The Catcher in the Rye also helps the reader relate to the main character, and is therefore an effective style of writing in many situations. The movie The Breakfast Club teems with vernacular that adds value its descriptive language. Much of the vernacular, like The Catcher in the Rye, is used according to the time period the pieces were released. A prime example of vernacular is when Bender imitated his father saying, â€Å"Stupid, worthless, no good, goddamn, freeloading son of a bitch. Retarded, big mouth, know-it-all, asshole, jerk† (Hughes, 1985). Other pieces of vernacular include babbling, hot beef injection, totaled, nads, boneheads, screwed around, wringed, and chickenshit. All these terms are used when appropriate to enhance the movie’s enthusiastic moments, and make a sense of realism appear. Using colloquial speech to deliver stereotypes is very common in The Breakfast Club. â€Å"Oh God, you richies are so smart, thats exactly why Im not heavy into activities† contains a stereotypical term for rich people that is slang (Hughes, 1985). Like The Catcher in the Rye, The Breakfast Club uses a wide variety of vernacular. Another notion conveyed in The Catcher in the Rye is that adults are corrupt and unreasonable. The novel portrays many adults as unreliable. An example of this is the portrayal of Sunny and Maurice. The prostitute and her boss were displayed as immoral and awful people. â€Å"Chief, you’re gonna force me inna roughin’ ya up a little bit† is what Maurice said to Holden while trying to steal his money. This not only displays the adult’s disrespect for others, but also his temper and crude way of talking. In the novel, Holden views adults as untrustworthy and thinks they are very different from children. He implicitly states this when he says â€Å"†¦Thousands of little kids, and nobodys around—nobody big, I mean—except me. And Im standing on the edge of some crazy cliff. What I have to do, I have to catch everybody if they start to go over the cliff†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Salinger, 173). Holden views the necessary transition into adulthood as an unfortunate event, and therefore he thinks lowly of many adults. This portrayal is also shown when Holden was staying at a teacher’s house, and believed the teacher was attempting to mistreat him. â€Å"He was trying to act very goddam casual and cool and all, but he wasn’t any too goddam cool. Take my word† were Holden’s thoughts after he woke up to his teacher patting his head (Salinger, 192). In the entire novel, Holden doesn’t think adults are trustworthy and views them as corrupt and problematic. In The Breakfast Club, adults are portrayed as dreadful and antagonistic people. This is mainly shown through the teacher Mr. Vernon, but other adults are referenced by the students. Mr. Vernon is very rude and abuses his power throughout the duration of the movie. This is evidenced through his agitated disposition towards the students. â€Å"I make $31,000 a year and I have a home and Im not about to throw it all away on some punk like you. But someday when youre outta here and youve forgotten all about this place and theyve forgotten all about you, and youre wrapped up in your own pathetic life, Im gonna be there. Thats right. And Im gonna kick the living shit out of you. Im gonna knock your dick in the dirt† (Hughes, 1985). Vernon’s careless and threatening actions are similar to those of Maurice’s in The Catcher in the Rye, showing that both works portray adults as corrupt and depraved. In the movie, Bender reveals that his father bought him cigarettes for Christmas, telling him, â€Å"Hey, smoke up Johnny. † (Hughes, 1985). Another student also says that his father put lots of pressure on him, going as far as saying, â€Å"I wont tolerate any losers in this family! Your intensity is for shit! Win! Win! Win! You son of a bitch. † (Hughes, 1985). Examples of parents and figures of authority as corrupt and lacking ideals are recurrent in The Breakfast Club, similar to, yet more emphasized than, The Catcher in the Rye. There are numerous similarities found in The novel The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger, and the movie The Breakfast Club directed by John Hughes. These similarities include the theme of teenage rebellion, the use rich vernacular, and the portrayal of adults as corrupt and immoral. Holden’s rebellion was paralleled with the rebellion of the students in The Breakfast Club, as they almost all drank, broke rules, and were careless. The use of vernacular was also present in both pieces, and helped the works become both descriptive and relatable. The portrayal of adults as corrupt was present in both pieces, although adults were portrayed as extremely corrupt in The Breakfast Club. Both pieces share relevant ideas and styles, and convey similar messages. Like many other pieces of literature and entertainment, The Catcher in the Rye and The Breakfast Club exhibit common features that enhance the messages delivered, and that produce valuable literature and entertainment.