Both Nora and Holden find themselves in a society with rules that can be confusing, self-contradictory, and often harsh. Both have a keen sense of justice, though in Nora's case, she begins the play naively expecting to receive justice, whereas Holden already realizes that in most cases nobody is going to right the injustice.
Nora's journey is one of slowly realizing that her society, and even her husband, are not going to support her in the financial decisions she has made to pay for his needed health care (to "save his life"). When she finally realizes that she can't hope for protection or justice from the people around her, she abruptly decides to leave her family (her husband, in particular) and live on her own. We don't discover how this turns out for her, but clearly she does not feel that she can remain in a relationship that does not deliver on its promises—that is, as Holden would say, "phony."
Holden's case is different. He begins the book having already lost his innocence due to events he has witnessed—his brother's death, the death by bullying of a fellow student, and the inability of adults to right the wrongs that Holden sees. He has already concluded (for the most part) that he can't count on the people in his life. Holden sees no obvious decisive action that he can take, as there was for Nora. As a result, Holden spends most of the book trying to self-medicate to dull the pain of this depressing realization. He self-medicates with alcohol, cigarettes, and interactions with a variety of friends and strangers.
Like Nora, Holden does consider running away. He considers starting a family in the woods with Sally, and later he actually plans to run away "out West" to find work on a ranch somewhere. He changes his mind about this plan when he finds out how much it would hurt his sister Phoebe, who is one of the people he most cares about and for whom he can still prevent some loss.
These two characters' trajectories are very different. Nora starts out basically innocent, loses her innocence, and experiences a moment of clarity where she reacts to what she has learned and makes a break with her past life. Holden starts out cynical, remains cynical, and tries to make a break a number of times, only to find that none of his attempts are a really good solution.
It's interesting that for both characters, their awareness of the flaws and limitations of those who should be protecting them produces restlessness. In Nora's case, it's a desperate, defiant urge to get away. In Holden's case, he is constantly trying to get away. He has dropped out of many schools. In the course of the book, he keeps going from one place to another—school to hotel to ice rink to his house to teacher's house to museum—each time thinking the next place will be better. It never is, and there is a chance that Nora's striking out on her own may not turn out well, either. Nevertheless, this restlessness is something the two characters have in common.
No comments:
Post a Comment