Themes of alienation and isolation in "The Rye Catcher" and "One Flew Over from a cuckoo's nest" are very important, as the authors say. seek to describe the journey of an individual (or even a group) who exists outside of dominant society. In both novels, we see the story told through the character of an alienated first-person narrator, a point of view that profoundly affects our understanding and interpretation of the stories told, whether it be description Bromden's hallucinatory of the "fog" and its effects or of Holden's quasi-history. reliable description of the events that led to his placement in a psychiatric asylum. It is important to illustrate the subtle difference between alienation and isolation: although the two terms are closely related and often considered synonymous, I understand “alienation” as a more passive term; an alienated character has been alienated by the society around him. However, I understand that isolation is a conscious – or at least intentional on some level – move by a character to exist outside of society. Society alienates a character, while a character isolates himself – naturally, there is some overlap between the two. These two phenomena are presented and are essential to the understanding of “One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest” and “The Catcher in the Rye”. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”?Get the original essay There is no doubt that the narrators of both novels assert their individuality, and in doing so, isolate themselves, through their Idiosyncratic use of language and lack of respect for narrative conventions. From the moment we meet Holden, we see him using the slang ("ugly," "all that kind of crap") and direct, distant address ("don't even talk to me about it") that characterize his narration throughout the novel. . Similarly, the first line of Bromden's narrative in "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" is "they are over there" - a completely subjective and paranoid statement that instantly creates distance between him and the reader due to of its apparent implausibility. Kesey also punctuates Bromden's story with long and bizarre hallucinations, of manipulative machines and robotics for example, which also initially create a distance between him and the reader. However, as the novels progress, we accept the strange and somewhat difficult narrative, and it becomes likeable and sympathetic. The language and narrative styles of the novel force the reader to go on a journey regarding their closeness to the narrator: at first we are alienated by their nonconformism, but as the novels progress we find ourselves very much of the side of the narrator. narrator. This journey of reader alienation is, in my opinion, just as important as the alienation of the characters themselves. For Holden, isolation is a way to protect himself. In his interactions with other people – particularly girls, like Sally and Faith – he seems uncomfortable and confused about what he should say, trying to appear "sweet as hell" and adult at the same time. instead of actually establishing a connection. with everyone he speaks to. He therefore isolates himself, both intentionally (his trip to New York) and unintentionally (through his strange behavior in his attempt to be an adult) in order to avoid having to deal with the obvious confusion and conflict interior that he possesses. This illustrates the irony of Holden's character and actions; he isolates himself due to an unfulfilled desire to fit into the society around him. His famous hatred hunting hat, for example, is a clear and intentional physical symbol of difference. His assertion – joking as it is – that it is a "hat that attracts people" suggests his explicit desire to stand out by wearing it, but his numerous mentions of Allie and Phoebe's red hair suggest that he simply carries it as a subconscious attempt to fit in with his family. At the same time, Holden seems both proud and embarrassed of his hat (he often does not wear it when meeting friends, or does not take it off when commented on), a clear symbol of this conflict between isolation and integration. In my view, Bromden (and indeed many minor characters such as Harding in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest) uses isolation as a means of self-protection, much like Holden does. Bromden's claim to be deaf and mute could, in some ways, be compared to Holden's claim to be adult and mature - both are used because the abuser believes it is the only way to s to get out and integrate into a society that he doesn't have. understand perfectly. However, while Holden appears unaware of his use of solitary confinement as a means of protection, Bromden does so intentionally. He thinks he's "distrustful enough to fool" everyone on the ward - and in doing so, he becomes less of a target than the other patients. Indeed, he would not let this guard down until much later for McMurphy, once he was certain of his reliability. In this respect, the isolation that Bromden imposes on himself is an effective tool: he avoids the vicious and destructive group therapy sessions, thanks to which "the Big Nurse" is able to maintain control over the ward through psychological manipulation . However, this isolation alone is not enough for Bromden to regain his confidence and sanity – it takes a character like McMurphy to catalyze this process. The fog is the ideal symbol of Bromden's isolation – it appears at emotional moments in the story and creates a veil – symbolic for the reader, but physical for Bromden – behind which he "feels safe". Even though he knows that the fog – his isolation – is a mistake, “as bad as it is,” diving back into it allows him to distance himself from the situation. Kesey therefore seems to suggest that although isolation is an effective shield, simply withdrawing from society is not in itself enough to bring about change. Active struggle, although often Sisyphean, is presented as more heroic and more effective than simple passive withdrawal; Bromden's struggle against "the gang" is only truly escaped by his escape from the institution, and McMurphy's struggle, although it does not bring him freedom, is enough to mentally liberate the other "inmates" of the room, both mental imprisonment and The case of Bromden, physical imprisonment as well. Loss of identity is important in both novels, both as a cause and effect of isolation and alienation, and both Bromden and Holden have a perception of identity that changes significantly over the course of their stories respective. Kesey manifests Bromden's changing identity, like much of his mental state, through physical symbolism in "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest". Due to societal alienation in the form of the government's destruction of his heritage and subsequent institutionalization, Bromden feels he is shrinking physically – although he is "six foot eight", he considers McMurphy as being “twice as big” as him. As he is excluded from the society he knows, he loses all sense of power and confidence, and sees his depression manifest physically. As for his “deafness", it is only when he is accepted into society again – even in the countercultural society embodied by McMurphy – that he returns to his normal size. We also see a reflection of this in the narrative itself, namely that although Bromden is the narrator, he does not tell his own story, instead focusing on McMurphy's story and including his own as almost subsidiary. The fact that Bromden is almost a passive eyewitness to his own life, focusing instead on McMurphy's, illustrates the helplessness and loss of identity he feels due to alienation. Holden also suffers from loss of identity, or at least uncertainty. However, unlike Bromden, for whom loss of identity is the result of alienation, for Holden we see a change in identity being a root cause of his isolation. Much like Bromden, there is a duality to Holden's identity. However, unlike Bromden, who clearly moves from one identity to another (from helpless to powerful), both facets of Holden's identity seem always present and in direct juxtaposition with each other. . For Holden, this duality is between the identity of the adult and that of the child. It is this conflict of identity that is the foundation of the novel and one of the reasons why it is considered the archetypal Bildungsroman in English literature. It's even alluded to in the book's title – Holden misinterprets the lyrics of a folk song about a sexual affair as "can a body, catch a body, come through the rye" – an idea that comes up then like what Holden said. wants to become, when he is older, a “rye catcher” – someone who catches children before they fall off a cliff. The cliff can be seen as representing adulthood, and Holden wants to ensure that children (including himself, perhaps) can remain young and innocent, without falling off the "cliff" of adulthood and responsibility. The fact that Holden derived this naive, innocent image from a song about sex is indicative of the duality of his identity: at the same time, Holden wants to be immersed in the adult world, as represented by his constant focus on smoking and drinking, and his desire to act “adult”. However, at the same time, he is clearly unsure and afraid of the adult world, as evidenced by the fact that he pays a prostitute to simply talk, as he does not feel comfortable with the idea of ​​sex. It is also interesting to note that both novels present prostitutes as relatively important characters – Candy in “One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest” and Sunny in “Catcher in the Rye”. As perhaps the most alienated and isolated group of people in society, the fact that prostitutes in the novels are presented as the norm compared to the isolated characters illustrates the extent to which they (the members of the ward and Holden respectively ) are socially marginalized. separated. This conflict between adult and child, and the resulting confusion, is present in almost all of Holden's actions throughout the novel. His great interest in the museum, for example, could be interpreted as reflecting his desire to understand and compartmentalize the complexity of the world, as in a museum. It is ultimately this duality that leads to both Holden's alienation and isolation: he is alienated both by the adult world in which he is too immature to participate, and by the innocent child world in which he is considered too old. As a result, we see him isolate himself not only from his family but also from himself, becoming a parody of an adult, going through the motions of adulthood to avoid having to confront the complex duality that exists in.