The art of Jerome Salinger and Charles Bukowski, the two famous authors who are best known for their works The Catcher in the Rye and Ham in Rye, seems to draw many parallels between the two authors. Indeed, even the titles of their books are similar to each other, along with the overall theme of their narration. Therefore, it is important to dwell on the works of these two great authors to investigate the influence they might have on each other.
Salinger's novel The Catcher in the Rye that was released in 1951 represents the story of a seventeen year old Amercinan boy Holden Caulfield who was excluded from school due to his poor progress (Salinger et al, 1998). In his book, Jerome Salinger promotes the main idea of the novel that is represented by the aversion of lie that appears in moral norms existing in society, and in humans, events, and things. With that, this aversion is closely connected with the life of the protagonist. Through his narration, Jerome Salinger introduces his readers with not just the outer side of Holden's life, but also with the inner concepts about the people who are familiar to him, about these or that life situations, and his own character.
The protagonist of The Catcher in the Rye behaves just like all seventeen year teenagers should behave: namely, recklessly, impulsively, and aggressively. Likewise, the original title of Bukowski' novel, Ham on Rye, can be a direct reference to this work of Salinger, which also depicts the emergence of a character and the problems of adulthood (Brewer 39-42).
Hence, in The Catcher in the Rye, everything Holden speaks is introduced by him with the highest degree of frankness. Communication with adults gives little satisfaction to Holden. He often noticed that, when he behaved like a child, adults preached him (Salinger et al, 1998). With that, they did not even note the cases when Holden behaved like an adult. Thinking about it, the protagonist comes to a simple a scary conclusion that people do not notice anything at all: they see neither the essence of the discussed issue neither others. For instance, when an old man tries to assure Holden that life is a fair play, Holden immediately uncovers this association from the point of view of a team play that can help a person move forward or can drown him with others. Speaking with his history teacher, Holden immediately admits that he did not learn anything during his studies, but Spencer, the old man, does not even seem to hear that. On the contrary, the old man simply cannot stop in his preaching, though even the boy understands that all these talks are futile, since a person has already recognized his mistake.
At the same time, Charles Bukowski also introduces a similar character in his book Ham on Rye. Indeed, the two books bear a lot of similarities, both depicting a deviant and rebellious teenager. Both Bukowski and Salinger write about truth without any exaggerations. Not trying to please readers on the wave of mainstream writers that embed decent texts about high feelings and morale, Bukowski and Salinger appear certain rebels, just like the characters they invented.
Thus, speaking about things to irritate him in others, the character of Salinger mercilessly emphasize those small details that most of people do not even pay attention at, but at the same time most of them are equally irritated with those things. However, the most irritating thing that Holden finds in humans is their desire to be some other persons different from themselves. Thus, the protagonist is sickened by the alleged sincere voice of Stradlater who charms girls in a car, he badly treats the fact that his elder brother has exchanged his literary talent for Hollywood, he acutely sees the snobbery of Ernie, the black piano-player who pretends to be a humble guy, he does not love theatre due to the fact that actors who perform there are too different from real people. Furthermore, Holden cannot understand a lady from the cinema who cries over a fictional story, but completely ignores her little son (Salinger et al, 1998).
Seeing the flaws of other people, both physical and spiritual, Holden does not disregard his own disadvantages: he knows that he is a liar, since during conversations with adults he lies to them and tells them what they want to hear. Moreover, he understands that he is a coward when he thinks about his inability to hit a person in the face. Finally, he calmly speaks that when he is worried he wants to relieve himself.
Meanwhile, Bukowski introduces the same conflict in his novel, that is, the confrontation of personal love with the world, people and a total antipathy in response. Bukowski's novel starts with the scene when a yearling boy hides under the table from dangerous and scare adults. He will also hide from them as he grows up, he will hide with diseases, bravado, alcohol, foul language and fights (Bukowski, 2002). Bukowski, however, elusively demonstrates the light sides in the image of his character. Similar to Salinger, Bukowski does not show these traits openly, but rather alludes to them, and seems to fear for the character.
At the same time, Jerome Salinger introduces a deeply feeling figure in the image of Holden. He likes reading good books. He is a virgin, since he always stops at the most interesting moment according to a girl's request. Holden loves her baby sister Phoebe because she understands him properly, as well as his baby brother Allie who died of leukemia. He also appreciates strong sides in people: for instance, the ability to dance in stupid girls who are obsessed with Hollywood actors. With that, Holden is inclined to philosophical reasoning: while everyone is busy with their ego, Holden can think about what happens with ducks from Central Park in winter, or dream of stopping of time. Holden values not just the physical side of love, but also its spiritual part: remembering his relationships with Jane, Holden mainly things about how natural and nice it was for him to hold her hand. Therefore, Jerome Salinger introduces a character who is able to think logically, has his own point of view regarding all issues, but who turns out to be quite naive in certain situations.
Meanwhile, the Ham in Rye is book that represents a tragedy. All this cruelty of narration, all this naturalism, aggression, nihilism and confrontation cannot hide the deepness of Bukowski's feelings as a person (Bukowski, 2002). Indeed, both Bukowski and Salinger are one of the most touchable and sentimental authors that are not afraid of depicting reality using all necessary methods. Just like Jerome Salinger, Bukowski provides readers with the understanding that beyond an aggressive and denying teenager lies a personality that simply did not manage to express himself entirely. Bukowski raises the issues of politics, religion, marriage, the relationships of fathers and children, love and sex.
Therefore, the books of Salinger and Bukowski appear to narrate not simply the life of a teenager, but life itself, which can be also seen in Salinger's work. These two writers provide readers with the possibility to understand not only their main characters by investigating them from the inside, but also to understand ourselves and become aware that we are not alone. Indeed, their books prove there exist others who are like us, bearing such thoughts, emotions and sensations. Thus, the two authors promote the unified idea that a person needs someone to be near him. If no one is near him, he should be created, and created as the one that this person should be.
Works Cited
Brewer, Gaylord. Charles Bukowski. New York: Twayne, 1997. 39-42. Print.
Bukowski, Charles. Ham on Rye: A Novel. New York: Ecco, 2002. Print.
Salinger, Jerome David., Nigel Tookey, and Stephen Player. The Catcher in the Rye. London: York, 1998. Print.
