Bildungsroman

Write on the element of the Bildungsroman or “Apprenticeship Novel” in two works. Show how the main character fundamentally grows toward or away from the “norms” of society – in religion, moral conduct, sexual mores, attitude towards authority, etc.

            Bildungsroman is defined as a regulated development within the life of the individual is observed, each of its stages has its own intrinsic value and is at the same time the basis for a higher stage. The dissonances and conflicts of life appear as the necessary growth points through which the individual must pass on his way to maturity and harmony. For example, forcing a character outside of his norm breaks down his normal demeanor and as a result causes abnormal changes in him such as heightened tensions within the surrounding environs and of course, the feelings of isolation and depression. It also drives a person to act uncharacteristically away from the “norms and standards” of society by not only the tone of a character’s voice, but also his actions for and contrary to a certain movement. Holden Caulfield and Jim Dixon, from the Catcher in the Rye and Lucky Jim, respectively, symbolize how characters grow toward and/or away from maturity.

            In Catcher in the Rye, Holden Caulfield assumes that he is an authentic creature in a world “full of phonies.” With the exceptions of his younger sister Phoebe and his late brother Allie, everyone to a certain extent is held by some contempt. In addition, Holden feels betrayed by his teacher for breaking the news of his dismissal from Pency Prep school in Pennsylvania. Therefore, he did not feel that anyone could really tell him anything about life because he thought he knew everything about it. Everyone at the school looked down upon the boy because,at seventeen, he was still more concerned about “kings in the back row” as opposed to getting a date for the night and quite possibly a shot at a major university. Allie’s premature death really shook up the Caulfield family; his parents have not been able to get through a day without any problems since his funeral.

            Traveling away from the societal norms, Holden becomes more removed as he carries the baseball glove Allie once used to write poems inside of, reading aloud, and even writing Stradlater’s paper about it instead of the prerequisite walls he had specifically implied. Eventually Stradlater returns from a date with Mary Jane, the girl Holden has a crush on and becomes very upset about the paper being of the wrong topic and the tussle ensues. While the other boys continued to conform into legitimate adults, Holden attempts to avoid growing up by his childlike tendencies of not having any respect for authority and running away. Unfortunately for him, running away does nothing but cause more problems. His religion (or the lack thereof) consists of holidays and family times, both of which he absolutely detests; at Allie’s funeral, “They all came when Allie died, the whole g-d stupid bunch of them. I have this one stupid aunt with halitosis that kept saying how peaceful Allie looked there…(155)”.

            Surprisingly, this is the same boy who could not get laid after calling up a prostitute; instead, they sat up and talked for some time and she left. To Holden, sex was something to be avoided because it supposedly grossed him out. His limited sexual experience included getting felt up by Mr. Antolini, whom is the perceived homosexual in the story. After being groped, Holden decided at it was time to get on and find someone else to trust, specifically another adult.

            “Lucky Jim” Dixon earned his nickname from obviously being lucky. He accidentally stumbled into a job at one of the red-brick universities with a solid future ahead of him – only if he can keep his job through the weekend. He also was lucky for eventually getting the girl and eliminating the bad guy. His impact to the Bildungsroman was unusual in the manner of how he was the normal man stiffed in a bourgeois England society years ago. Here is Jim, preferring to hang out with common folk such as the bar lady and Margaret versus the company of Professor Welch and his “old money” traditions of giving a lecture and getting drunk with a bunch of dry people who know very little outside of their academic catalogs. He has a really high moral standard of living despite the bastards he is surrounded by daily, particularly Welch’s son Bertrand and his lovely girlfriend Christine, whom he cannot get a conversation from for anything.

Yet Christine wants an affair with the man, proving both alcohol and sex can be two good cover-ups for a long tract of dirt.

            Finding the work boring, Jim desires more of a challenge and less of an opportunity to follow the rules; as a result, he loses his job at the university and ends up writing books for his pal Gore-Urquhart. Even so, Christine is quoted as saying he is “good at this sort of thing” (133) – meaning Jim has adapted into the role of a pawn for the common good. In other words, she more or less forces him ‘to take pipe for the team.’ Respect for authority is there until Jim realizes that he is replaceable; at that point, he rebels against the grain and even punches out Betrard!