Dolores Huerta Hero Essay Sample

📌Category: Hero, Historical Figures, History, Life
📌Words: 534
📌Pages: 2
📌Published: 19 June 2022

In the novel, The Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger, Holden embodies the traits of Gen Z by struggling with mental health, having individual speech patterns, and having a 'life is short' mindset. Holden may not represent Gen Z to its full potential, however, some topics discussed in the novel can represent Gen Z. 

Like many members of Gen Z, Holden struggles with his mental health. Recently, Gen Z has spread more awareness towards mental health because it has become more common. And throughout the novel, we see Holden suffer from depression. According to chconline.org, Generation Z has the most reported mental health problems. And as the novel progresses, Holden struggles with suicidal thoughts. For instance, after Holden got beat up by Old Marcie, he thinks to himself, “What I really felt like, though, was committing suicide. I felt like jumping out the window. I probably would've done it, too, if I'd been sure somebody'd cover me up as soon as I landed” (Salinger 116-117). This indicates that Holden embodies what many teens of Gen Z experience. Like Holden, many members of Gen Z that suffer from depression want to get better, however, they aren't willing to put in the work that comes with it. And in this quote, we notice that Holden mentions that the only reason for not “jumping out the window” was because he didn’t want other people seeing him. Therefore, when it comes to suicidal thoughts, Holden is living for others, rather than for himself.

As the story progresses, we see that Holden has his own way of talking. When we think about it, Every generation of teenagers tends to develop their own slang/lingo. And just like Gen Z, Holden says and spells many words differently. Throughout the novel, Holden constantly calls people around him a "phony" and says things like, "I can’t stand that sonuvabitch" (28). Both of these sayings are expected for Holden to say because he says them so often. Gen Z also has little sayings that are expected from them, like "sus" and "good soup." Therefore, Gen Z and Holden are similar because they both have slang/lingo that no one else uses.

Usually, people from the 1950s were expected to finish schooling and then continue on to get a job. However, like Gen Z, Holden has a 'life is short' mindset. Holden talks about spontaneously moving into a cabin in the woods multiple times throughout the story. For example, Holden finds comfort in thinking about how he will build a “little cabin somewhere” and then soon later, meet a “beautiful girl” and they can live in Holden’s cabin together (Salinger 219). Then, Holden attempts to convince Jane, a girl that Holden was talking with, to spontaneously move to a cabin in the woods. This is because Holden understands that there is not much time to waste and he wants to live his life. Gen Z also has a "life is short" mindset. For example, many people are starting to live by this memo and spontaneously moving to new places and living their life to the fullest.

Holden is able to embody many traits of Gen Z, including struggling with mental health, having individual speech patterns, and having a 'life is short' mindset. One person who I believe that Holden is similar to is Joe Goldberg from the TV show “You.” Holden may not be a murder, however, Holen and Joe Goldberg are both very observant and make several common stereotypes about people.

+
x
Remember! This is just a sample.

You can order a custom paper by our expert writers

Order now
By clicking “Receive Essay”, you agree to our Terms of service and Privacy statement. We will occasionally send you account related emails.