The Catcher in the Rye had a narrator unlike the ones we find in most literature. What is most surprising about Holden Caulfield is that he tells us what is going on around him, along with some commentary. Despite his heavily opinionated comments to us, we somehow trust Holden as a narrator. As we discussed in class, he is an almost seducing narrator because of his world weariness and the way that he assures us that he knows the truth, but also assumes we know what he means. These factors add up to make us wholeheartedly trust Holden without a second thought.
When I first started reading the Bell Jar, I was startled again. The narrator starts by contemplating electrocution. That was not what I was expecting. Esther Greenwood is a very different narrator from Holden, but is also divergent from the norm. She is also prone to digression, but she is much more blunt and says what is on her mind more freely. Esther is more willing to jump around in time, following her thoughts instead of her actions in chronological order. However, we are still very trusting of Esther as a narrator because of her bluntness. We don't question her honesty because her tone and language suggest that we can expect accuracy from her.
One interesting similarity between Holden and Esther is that both narrators are speaking from the future. They are ahead of the time they are telling us about, recalling memories to tell the story. It makes the trust of the narrator precarious, but does not topple it altogether, because the story they are telling is an important part of each narrator's life, so they should remember it well. Additionally, each narrator is on a downward spiral in the section of their life that we are exposed to. They are both heading toward or at a rock bottom point from which they will have to recover. I am curious to see how Esther's fall manifests itself and if we will see the recovery.
I too was struck by the similarities that the protagonists share. So much so that my initial reaction to the Bell Jar was "oh great, she's just Holden again". As the Bell Jar's plot unfolds though, we find that Esther is anything but a Holden clone, and I'm interested how her character will continue to develop.
ReplyDeleteI am with you and Jack. The narrators share a similar honest voice. While their 'prose' is different, and they are different characters, there is interesting overlap. The fall will be interesting to witness, but I struggle to see if she will let herself into a position that compromises her in such a way that she cant get out of it (alot in her own personal way). I too am interested in seeing how all of this pans out. Great thought provoking post!
ReplyDeleteI also think it's interesting how both the Catcher in the Rye and The Bell Jar have narrators who are speaking to us from the future. The narrators tell us what they went through and how they felt about it at the time. I think a large part of the coming of age process is reflecting on your past experiences and how they have changed you. This narration style from Holden and Esther really reflects that idea.
ReplyDeleteI have very different feeling about the two narrators in The Catcher in the Rye and The Bell Jar. I think that I related a lot more with Holden than I have been with Esther. I think Holden did a lot better at making the reader feel important and trusted, while Esther seems to just be telling the story with no special connection to the reader. I think that it is interesting that they are both telling the story from later in life, because it gives them perspective on events that they would not have had at the time. I think that in both novels the narrator can change how we react to certain situations of people because of the experiences that they have had and we don't yet know about. This gives them a lot of power to make us better understand their positions, and where they are coming from.
ReplyDeleteI also noted that both narrators mentioned details about there lives after the events of the novel, and that they both talked a lot about what different things in a scene reminded them of. This discussion led both narrators to talk about many scenes that aren't in the main timeline of the book. I think this makes their narrative style more relatable, as the reader feels that they know more about the narrator and can connect with them on a more intimate level.
ReplyDeleteYou make a very good point about how Esther's narrative voice engages the reader quite differently from Holden's. For all his difficulties with society and struggles to connect with other people, Holden is super extroverted in his engagement with US, and this creates an odd sense that he's not quite serious when he calls himself "crazy"--he seems so at ease in his role as narrator. Esther, as Plath depicts her, is less overtly eager to connect with the reader, and the narrative voice as a whole is a lot more introspective--almost as if she isn't quite aware that we're reading her words, that she's writing them as much for her own benefit as to express something to the reader. And as her breakdown proceeds, this effect only intensifies.
ReplyDeleteI have very different feeling about the two narrators in The Catcher in the Rye and The Bell Jar. I think that I related a lot more with Holden than I have been with Esther. I think Holden did a lot better at making the reader feel important and trusted, while Esther seems to just be telling the story with no special connection to the reader. I think that it is interesting that they are both telling the story from later in life, because it gives them perspective on events that they would not have had at the time. I think that in both novels the narrator can change how we react to certain situations of people because of the experiences that they have had and we don't yet know about.
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