A Comparison of Good Will Hunting and Catcher in the Rye

Holden and Will Hunting are two similar characters that have relationship problems. Both are afraid to get close to others because they have the fear of getting deserted. In other words, they are afraid of bonding with others. Yet, they also have some significant differences that make their stories happen significantly different. One of the most important differences is their specialties, Will is gifted for his incredible intelligence, but Holden doesn’t have that. This causes the difference between their reasons for depression Holden seems to have a big problem with “phonies”(Salinger)i Will doesn’t have the same problem as Holden.

He is more likely to have a problem caused by his incredible intelligence in both stories, the main characters have eminently difficult times, but it‘s different how they handle them.

Will gets professional help for his problems, but besides that he also has allies who helps him through his problems. For example, his friends, especially Chucky, are always with him.

Yet, Holden does not get professional help though, he still has Phoebe helping him to get over some of his problems. However, still, Holden doesn’t have so many people to be with him all the time he is kind of alone. Sad because at some point both of the main characters desperately need some help. In the book “The Catcher In The Rye“, Holden is generally depressed. He is very very rarely happy the reason is he can’t get along with people, especially with the phonies.

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It gives the thought that he almost hates everything while reading the book, “One of the biggest reasons I left Elkton Hills was because I was surrounded by phonies. That’s all…. Ican‘t stand that stuff…. It makes me so depressed I go crazy.” (Salinger, 8) From this quote of Holden it’s clear that Holden really does have serious problems with phonies. In case if you are a “phony“, Holden hates you Apparently, Will Hunting doesn’t seem to have problems with phonies so much. He doesn’t refer to how much he hates phonies and they drive him crazy. Will’s problems are more likely to be based on his traumatic Childhood effects’ on him. His attitudes wreak havocs with his relationships with others. He has problems with communicating with other people normally, when he gets in contact with other people he rather breaks their heart or gives them a purple eye unless they are his friends, he is much of a tough but brilliant kid.

Both of the main characters mostly stay away from other people for specific reasons. Will had a dramatically devastating childhood, in which his own family left him without even knowing what a brilliant person he would be in the future. He has his life passing in a tough neighborhood filled with people with problems, he was unlucky from the very beginning. Thus, he is a person who got deserted just as he opened his eyes to a world of troubles and challenges. It is impossible to expect him to not have any relationship problems. However, he still has some very supportive friends for instance, Chuckie is the one who reminds him he is brilliant and he gets to do something with his tremendous gift.

He tells Will, “l’d do anything to have what you got. Any of these guys would. It would be an insult to us if you’re still here in twenty years.” (Good will Hunting)Yet, Holden hasn’t got so many friends like that. He actually has almost no friends. The reason is, Holden chooses to keep a distance from all the people. He calls them phony, but actually, he doesn’t really try to know them deeply. He just judges them by what he sees from his aspect. Though, Holden has Phoebe that helps him through some of his problems tragically, Phoebe dies afterward. This is one of the biggest differences between our main characters. Always has somebody with him, but Holden doesn’t generally have somebody to hold onto so much.

In conclusion, Will and Holden two exceptionally similar characters, even though, they also have some recognizable differences both of them have problems with what to do with their lives both have emotional breaking points. However, what they do with those problems are different Will gets over his problems with the help of the others like his friends and mentor. But Holden can’t really get over his problems the reason is most of the time he gets away from people. Therefore, we can say that having some supportive people around helps us to move on in life and get over our problems.