The Novels and Short Stories - Essay Example

Running Head: NABOKOV’S LOLITA AND SALINGER’S ‘CATCHER IN THE RYE. RESEARCH ESSAY Insert Name Title Date Introduction Novels and short stories written for young adult fiction are different from other kinds of fiction by their attributes that appear so distinct. The other fiction categories compared to young adult fiction are children fiction, adult and middle grade. In most of the stories commonly written for young adults, the protagonist is normally an adolescent and not a child or adult Clegg (2000).The story lines and the main subject revolve around the main character’s experience. Stories may also cover other genres of fiction. The skill and imagination of the author are the things that determine the setting of adolescent fiction. Major themes are coined around the challenges that the youth face. Styles for writing these kinds of stories vary from the many literary styles to the speed and clarity of the free unobtrusive verse Appel Jr. (1991).However young adult stories have many things in common with other genres of fiction. These common elements include style, theme, setting, plot and character. ‘Lolita’ and ‘Catcher in the Rye’ Both ‘Catcher in the rye’ and ‘Lolita’ have young people as their main characters. They can therefore fall in the category of young adult fiction stories. In Lolita the young girl going by the same name is the main character. At the age of 12 has already had sex with another male counter part and is having more similar experiences with an older man Humbert too. The lady gets on later and meets a man who tries to get her to act in a pornographic film Vladimir (1955).Later on she meets the man who marries her. The marriage comes early at seventeen years. Nothing in the novel is mentioned about her going to school or getting an education. Even in her marriage the older man Humbert tries to convince her to leave her husband and revert to her life of immorality with him. Humbert ends up killing Quilty Clare the man who wanted to use Lolita in his pornography productions Vladimir (1955). On the other hand ‘Catcher in the Rye’ features a school boy as its main character. This boy called Holden is a poor performer in school. He ends up getting expelled and leaves the school by night. He later goes dancing with female tourists, has an encounter with a prostitute with her pimp and in the process loses his money and is punched in the stomach. He is later seen going skating with his girlfriend Holden Graham (2007). He later encounters Antolini around whom there is speculation that he could be having plans of a sexual nature on These two novels are interesting and entertaining but in the end they seem to be promoting the kind of wasteland and vacuum that has become a major problem in today’s world. Many people have already lost direction and the focus of their lives. Unfortunately this starts happening during the critical stages of adolescence and youth. Human qualities are totally lacking in the current generation of young adults. Looking at these two stories it is clear that what the authors are promoting is unacceptable (Clegg 2000). The two main characters are what can be called bad examples to the others. They do not provide the right role models for young people to emulate. Many novels of this nature have been used to destroy the moral fabric of society. Kirk Curnutt is right when he takes issue with this kind of stories. Their authors need to change their style of writing and major on themes that are beneficial to the youth. The novels should be able to shape the destiny of the current generation of youths in the proper manner (Wood 1994).Heroes can come out yes but they should be allowed to stand out in the proper way. Because their sphere of influence in great they should use this chance to bring positive influence to the youth and general society. One major characteristic of young adult stories is that they do portray their major characters as being young people. Displaying the exploits of adolescents and teenagers forms the main part of the plot of these fiction stories. In the two novels under analysis; Catcher in the Rye by J.D Salinger and Vladimir Nabokov’s ‘Lolita’ are set about young characters. It is common to find these stories talking about reckless youths in reckless encounters (Graham 2007). Most of the main characters come out as people living their lives care freely, engaging in careless undertakings like sexual experiences, unruly behavior and many such things. In ‘catcher in the rye’ for instance Holden Caulfield is portrayed as having encounters with young people he calls ‘phony.’ He himself as the hero in the story was expelled from school due to a performance that was not up to standard Costello (1959). He goes dancing with girls who were touring and later on finds himself in the company of a prostitute In ‘Lolita’ the young girl is the main character and the way the novel unfolds shows that she is not the right type of a girl with good manners. She already started having sex before she hit her adolescence and before she gets married at 17 years she has had many sexual experiences with Humbert a man many years older than her. She is also introduced to pornography in which she is expected to act shortly before she got married (Vladimir 1955). This story is about a young girl with poor up bringing engaging in immoral acts at a very tender age. These two novels are typical examples of young adult fiction which does not teach any praise worthy behavior or uprightness in the young people but teaches the wrong values. Sexual encounters with prostitutes and elderly people, drinking, partying in clubs, fighting and lawlessness are some of the themes common in these youngster stories (Vladimir 1955). These themes may be entertaining all together, exciting and fulfilling the desire in the young people to hear, see and read about such immoral and lawless acts. However there are better things that the youth would do well to learn about and to engage their energies in. Destructive behavior being portrayed in these stories teaches makes the readers to develop such kinds of behavior and attitudes. Kirk Curnutt observes that this genre must move forward and acknowledge the many practices with which the youth can tackle the life challenges in their generation. Novels must surely refocus on better things. In the present generation there are many challenges facing the youth. Instead of basing their narrations on negative and destructive behavior which tends to promote evil in the young people, authors must start seeking to talk about conditions which affect this generation and how they can be engaged. The present generation of youths around the world is undergoing a generation crisis whereby many young people are losing the way to upright adult hood. As displayed in the novel ‘catcher in the rye’ the young man Holden is seeking to live a life full of leisure and enjoyment while he is supposed to be a disciplined student (Vladimir 1955). Instead of worrying about his academic life he is in the company of his old girlfriend as they go to watch a play and later they decide to go skating. Holden represents a generation of youths that have derailed. It could be better if young adult stories focused on the opposite in terms of the main characters. A well behaved and disciplined character will influence the teenage reader to follow suit and behave well by emulating the character’s wisdom in tackling various situations Graham (2007). In the present world there are many issues that young people who are growing up face in their daily lives. These are the things that authors need to single out and address in their novels if they are aiming to influence young people positively. Young adults especially those in the adolescent stage pass through levels of maturity where they develop issues with their changing bodies, their parents’ perception of them, their school life, relationships especially with the opposite sex among others Clegg (2000). Later on after school they may have problems with unemployment and transition into responsible adulthood. Other problems may include substance abuse, war, political instability and poor health care. The life of a young person is therefore bombarded by many challenges and things that need proper attention if this generation has to be better. Individual problems collectively result in national problems, world problems and therefore generational problems Andrychuk (2004). This generation needs a breed of authors that will endeavor to move their writing from the teenage stories that carry in them no strong positive message to meaningful stories with positive themes that are educative. Even though many of the authors struggle to win the attention of the youth by focusing on the things that appeal to them such as sex, violence and conquest they should consider the impact their authorship is having on society and the current generation of youths Appel Jr. (1991).Many youths are abusing alcohol, have no spiritual orientation, are rowdy and cannot be controlled. It could be true to say that the current generation of youths has copied many of these things from influential literature, movies and the mass media. Novels therefore contribute a lot to the rottenness in our present society. There is no sense of spirituality in many youths because they tend to emulate their heroic characters in the novels. Take the example of Lolita. She could drive so many girls into wanting to try sexual experiences with older men at their tender ages to see how thrilling it is. This worldly point of view to life could be nurtured in many young girls of her age reading the novel. In the same manner Holden being the unruly boy he could influence many school boys to admire his style of living. Poor academic performance in class and reckless living is the possible outcome Andrychuk (2004). Juvenile delinquency has been a huge problem in many countries for so long. It is an obvious thing that the things people allow in their minds eventually influence their behavior. Young people among them juveniles have been suspected to be obtaining some of their evil habits from what they read and watch Costello (1959). Authors should do their works of art with the intention to transform the society for the better. They should come up with stories that will help to get the present generation of youths from the wasteland or destruction and hopelessness to hope and uprightness. There are many things that the youth can engage in order to make their lives and those of others better. These positive attributes should form the themes and basis of novel writing. Morals should be taught through novels in which the authors can include godly or morally upright characters. Values can very easily be instilled into the young people through novels. Good novels that have the potential to change the young generation can be written about politics and good politics for that matter, right ways of conducting relationships and respect to parents. Learning to relate with other people in a manner that shows them respect is an important value that novels can nurture in young people Clegg (2000). It is important for the present society to reorganize its priorities and ensure that what is being upheld and highly valued in society is wholesome. It may be hard to do this for some time because the authors are chasing money. As a result they tend to write material that will sell like hot cake no matter its impact to society. As long as it is appealing and fetching money then they will go for that. However campaigns can be done by those people interested in the uprightness of society and the youth to try and change the minds of today’s authors. Everybody with the intention of writing any book that targets the youth should look at its impact before any other aspect Wood (1994). Some people may argue that these stories are still popular and that they have been there for a long time. It is true that we are used to this kind of writing because for a long time such stories have been published. They are popular with readers and authors alike. Authors may prefer to write along such lines because they can easily sell their books and through them their popularity will easily soar. Many young people may prefer reading these stories because of the entertainment aspect they carry along and the heroic acts displayed in them Appel Jr. (1991). Many young people like identifying themselves with characters that look rich, beautiful, famous, brave bold and daring. Such characters may have no sense of responsibility or maturity in them. They may have no humane qualities that can nurture good virtues in the youth and adolescents. In the two novels being highlighted in this discussion ‘Lolita and Catcher in the Rye’ the two main characters display no good virtues to be emulated by the youth Pifer (2003). They are young but their priorities in life are misplaced Costello (1959). Kirk Cunnurt right on his statement that “the genre of young adult fiction must now transcend its teenage wasteland aesthetic to acknowledge the diverse practices by which youth actively engage the conditions affecting their generation" He is right in this because the prevailing circumstances in our generation are calling for a paradigm shift in many things. Young people must start reshaping their thinking. Their priorities in life should start changing to focus on that which is important. They should be encouraged to think along constructive lines by trying to find solutions to the problems facing the Clegg (2000). Authors of today should therefore change their way of writing and refocus their attention on subjects and themes that are practical, constructive, relevant to the present circumstances and beneficial to the youth of the 21st century. Novels should feature in appositive way, things like drug abuse, alcoholism, war, politics and relationships. These should be used to teach the readers how best they can approach the various challenges in life with maturity and wisdom. Reading about heroes who end up messing up their lives may not influence the young people positively. Lolita and Holden are not the best examples that the youth can emulate. It could do better if an author decided to write about a heroic youth, who creates peace in the midst of war or encourages others to value each other, value education, and endeavor to succeed and influence success around them Andrychuk (2004). Conclusion In conclusion Lolita and Catcher in the Rye are two novels whose authors are Vladimir Nabokov and J. D. Sallinger respectively. These two novels are good examples of stories written which can be described as still in the teenage wasteland as expressed by Kirk Cunnart as he criticizes young adult fiction. They have their Main characters as young people engaging in the wrong things at the wrong times. They are of school going age but their actions and lifestyles display a lot of indiscipline and immoral character Clegg (2000). According to Kirk Cunnart these kind of authorship should not be allowed to continue in young adult stories. Authors should start weaving their stories around characters that teach proper virtues to the youth. Authors should find characters that are influential but in positive things. They should have heroes but not in things like sexual immorality, alcoholism, rioting, violence and other illegal acts Costello (1959). The society can easily be reshaped through authors with sober minds writing to influence the young people positively. Cunnart has a point to deliver when he says that young adult stories need to cross over to meaningful topics and themes which will help the youth to work through those conditions that affect the present generation Clegg (2000). Nevertheless many people will want to oppose this kind of change which has the potential to bring back this generation on track. Fiction with episodes of violence, immorality and every other thing that constitutes teenage wasteland is popular. Books written with such themes and suiting characters to go with are easily sold. This means their authors would make much more profit and therefore they would rather go for this kind of stories. However the truth remains that this is not the right way to go. We need to come back and be sober enough to say no to the increasing emptiness in our society Graham (2007). References Clegg, C (2000).Vladimir Nabokov, Lolita: A reader's guide to essential criticism. Cambridge: Icon Books. A survey of the novel's reception, organized by decade Appel, A (1991).The Annotated Lolita (Revised Ed.). New York: Vintage Books Wood, M (1994). The Magician's Doubts: Nabokov and the Risks of Fiction. Princeton: Princeton University Press. Pifer, E (2003). Vladimir Nabokov's Lolita: A casebook. Oxford & New York: Oxford University Press.Essays on the novel, mostly from the 1980s-90s. Nabokov, V (1955) Lolita. New York: Vintage International. The original novel Graham, S (2007). J.D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye.Routledge. Donald P (October 1959). "The Language of 'The Catcher in the Rye'" American Speech (American Speech, Vol. 34, No. 3) 34 (3): 172–182. Sylvia A(2004). "A History of J.D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye" Costello, Donald P, and Harold Bloom 2010 "The Language of "The Catcher in the Rye" Bloom's Modern Critical Interpretations: The Catcher in the Rye (2000): Literary Reference Center EBSCO. Jeff Guinn (2001).Catcher in the Rye' still influences 50 years later". Erie Times-News. Read More

Kirk Curnutt is right when he takes issue with this kind of stories. Their authors need to change their style of writing and major on themes that are beneficial to the youth. The novels should be able to shape the destiny of the current generation of youths in the proper manner (Wood 1994).Heroes can come out yes but they should be allowed to stand out in the proper way. Because their sphere of influence in great they should use this chance to bring positive influence to the youth and general society.

One major characteristic of young adult stories is that they do portray their major characters as being young people. Displaying the exploits of adolescents and teenagers forms the main part of the plot of these fiction stories. In the two novels under analysis; Catcher in the Rye by J.D Salinger and Vladimir Nabokov’s ‘Lolita’ are set about young characters. It is common to find these stories talking about reckless youths in reckless encounters (Graham 2007). Most of the main characters come out as people living their lives care freely, engaging in careless undertakings like sexual experiences, unruly behavior and many such things.

In ‘catcher in the rye’ for instance Holden Caulfield is portrayed as having encounters with young people he calls ‘phony.’ He himself as the hero in the story was expelled from school due to a performance that was not up to standard Costello (1959). He goes dancing with girls who were touring and later on finds himself in the company of a prostitute In ‘Lolita’ the young girl is the main character and the way the novel unfolds shows that she is not the right type of a girl with good manners.

She already started having sex before she hit her adolescence and before she gets married at 17 years she has had many sexual experiences with Humbert a man many years older than her. She is also introduced to pornography in which she is expected to act shortly before she got married (Vladimir 1955). This story is about a young girl with poor up bringing engaging in immoral acts at a very tender age. These two novels are typical examples of young adult fiction which does not teach any praise worthy behavior or uprightness in the young people but teaches the wrong values.

Sexual encounters with prostitutes and elderly people, drinking, partying in clubs, fighting and lawlessness are some of the themes common in these youngster stories (Vladimir 1955). These themes may be entertaining all together, exciting and fulfilling the desire in the young people to hear, see and read about such immoral and lawless acts. However there are better things that the youth would do well to learn about and to engage their energies in. Destructive behavior being portrayed in these stories teaches makes the readers to develop such kinds of behavior and attitudes.

Kirk Curnutt observes that this genre must move forward and acknowledge the many practices with which the youth can tackle the life challenges in their generation. Novels must surely refocus on better things. In the present generation there are many challenges facing the youth. Instead of basing their narrations on negative and destructive behavior which tends to promote evil in the young people, authors must start seeking to talk about conditions which affect this generation and how they can be engaged.

The present generation of youths around the world is undergoing a generation crisis whereby many young people are losing the way to upright adult hood. As displayed in the novel ‘catcher in the rye’ the young man Holden is seeking to live a life full of leisure and enjoyment while he is supposed to be a disciplined student (Vladimir 1955). Instead of worrying about his academic life he is in the company of his old girlfriend as they go to watch a play and later they decide to go skating.

Holden represents a generation of youths that have derailed. It could be better if young adult stories focused on the opposite in terms of the main characters. A well behaved and disciplined character will influence the teenage reader to follow suit and behave well by emulating the character’s wisdom in tackling various situations Graham (2007).

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