Growing Up and Loathing It
Alienation can be interpreted as loneliness caused by the lack of understanding of others, and may be caused by oneself or inflicted upon by another. During teenage years, boys are especially susceptible to the anguish felt as a result of alienation. Jerry Renault, the protagonist of the Chocolate War, is encumbered by both the alienation imposed upon himself, and that which is burdened upon him by a secret society known as the Vigils. The Catcher in the Rye introduces Holden Caufield who has segregated himself from all but a few of those surrounding him, and…
