Cracks

I feel like the imagery of a cracking mirror really helps portray almost all of these novels in their most basic sense. All of their images of themselves are slowly being broken and stressed as the novels continue and I think that this is something that is very important in a coming of age novel. When these characters are forced to see their true selves they either accept it, such as Stephen, or have a very hard time dealing with it like Holden and Esther. I think that this is something most of us are going through or have gone through in life. You can't always be a kid and sometimes reality starts to break through the fantasies playing in your mind. The most important message I got from these novels was the idea that everyone goes through change and you will make it. For how much Holden hates adults, he is becoming one and it starts to really eat at him. For how much Stephen wants to be a character in a novel, the more life forces him back into reality. The more Esther wishes to be like everyone else and conform, the harder it is to cope with life. There really isn't anything they could have done, and as we discussed today, it might even be a necessary step in maturing for them. If they had not gone through with this process they might have been worse off or never really gotten out of the depressed or confined life they were in.

Relating to The Characters

After reading all three novels I think they all share at least one aspect that we all can relate to. For me, Holden's inability to handle bullshit is something I can really agree on. He can't handle when people are phony or stupid. It really ticks him off. With Stephen I can relate to how you can get so wrapped up in your own thoughts that it is hard to imagine other peoples lives. Luckily, I've seemed to outgrow that one at least a bit. I used to just kind of think of what I would do with my life and seemed to be unaware of everyone around me sharing the same thoughts and having a similar motivation. Esther was definitely the hardest to relate to but there are some moments of true hurt where I could remember back to a time when I had felt similar. I feel like it makes me much more sympathetic to Esther just due to the fact that the connection is much deeper. I am more just curious if you guys felt anything similar with any of the characters.

Written With Intent

While reading for class I realized that out of the three novels we have read, only one appeared normal from the outside. I find this interesting because you would think that these authors would write a novel so that it could hit hime for many more readers. I would have thought Holden would have been much more relatable but the only thing that truly enticed me about his character was his attitude. He didn't care what anyone thought and never let it show. Eventually we start to see that Holden is actually lying to himself, but up to that point it is more a character that I would like to know and not someone I could really be. I think the same thing can be said about Esther. Her purity routine really is startling and makes me not really trust her character. The farther we read we see that this is not really news to anyone. I just imagined that the author would try and make the character have more of an impact. Then again, maybe the whole point is that all 3 of these novels are more of an autobiography than a fictional world. I don't know what the true intent of these novels were but they really don't seem to be about making an impact and conveying a message. It is more of just a realistic portrayal of life.