Jason and Holden

Having read both Black Swan Green and The Catcher in the Rye, I wonder how Jason Taylor and Holden Caulfield would interact with one another. 

Since Holden and Jason are both teenage boys who are coming of age, I think they could potentially relate to each other a lot. Both characters are frequently influenced by their sisters; in The Catcher in the Rye, Phoebe ultimately shows Holden that he must rejoin society and in Black Swan Green, Julia's guidance helps Jason to realize that the Falklands war shouldn't happen. Holden and Jason are also hyper-aware of how various societies function. At 16, Holden knows that him and his peer's lives have already been planned out. At Jason's school, a strict social hierarchy dominates his perception of the world. 

However, I don't think the two would necessarily get along. In some ways, Jason Taylor embodies the "phoniness" that Holden supposedly despises. For example, Jason hides his poetry behind the pseudonym "Elliot Bolivar." Furthermore, Holden idealizes children because they do things just for the sake of doing them. On the other hand, Jason's thoughts about his stutter consume his thoughts and make Jason constantly police everything that he is to say. 

Jason and Holden have been shaped by completely different backgrounds but it's interesting that coming of age allows them to share similar experiences. What do you think would happen if the two characters met face to face?

Comments

  1. Aryan LalwaniMay 18, 2021 at 8:40 PM

    This is a fascinating thought experiment! I absolutely agree that the biggest difference between the two is that Holden is obsessed with the phoniness around him while Jason is more concerned with climbing the social ladder. For this reason, despite their similarities I do think they would dislike each other.

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  2. locally locayleeMay 18, 2021 at 9:02 PM

    I think it's interesting you point out that Jason would be phony in Holden's eyes and I agree that they wouldn't get along if they knew each other on a deeper level. One thing I would say is that Holden kind of sees himself in the center of his world whereas Jason very much puts others before himself. This kind of pairing might be able to somewhat work in theory. I think it would depend on if Holden would actually perceive Jason as phony.

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  3. Raneem SaadahMay 21, 2021 at 10:15 PM

    I think one big difference between Jason and Holden is their confidence levels. Holden sees himself as the set standard of "normal" and everyone else around him is phony (or he has some other problem with them). Jason is the opposite where he sees his classmates, especially the Spooks, as cool and he's trying to get to their level. Great post, I really like thinking about how characters from different books would interact with each other

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