What are some similarities between The Catcher in the Rye (Salinger) and The Road (McCarthy)?

Question

I have to write a dialogue between two characters, one from each book. I'm picking Holden from Catcher (there really weren't any other characters anyway), but can't decide between the man or his son in The Road. Can anybody help me out with some ideas? I'm not asking for you guys to do my homework for me. I'm just having trouble coming up with similarities.

Answer 1

Oh definitely pick the kid. Isn't that who Holden would want to talk to anyway? I mean, that only makes sense, what with Holden's fascination with the loss of innocence. Then with the role that the kid plays in The Road of being the last hope, or the last god, and Holden being such a seeker anyway, the two characters would give you all kinds of things to play with. Seriously, it's got to be the kid, all the way.

The kid in The Road really never had a chance to be innocent, and yet it seems that he somehow is anyway. Think of what Holden would have to say about that!

For a dialogue you don't need similarities anyway, you need a way to show the defining traits of each character and their place in their own story through their interaction with one another. Once you've got that it's easy to relate two books to each other, whether through similarity or contrast. This'll be perfect. Run with it.

Answer 2

The Catcher in the Rye is a classic.  There are numerous free on line resources that can help you with your study of this novel, most of which analyze the story, discuss themes and symbolism and other literary devices, and give character sketches.  I am far less familiar with The Road, but there are a few things available.  If you do an on line search you will find helpful resources.  Additionally hundreds of questions have been asked here on Y!A about The Catcher in the Rye, and probably some about The Road, so do a search for it in the Yahoo Answers search window and you will find lots of Q’s and A’s that should help you.  Here are a few helpful links.

http://www.bellmore-merrick.k12.ny.us/ca...

http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/catcher/

http://www.gradesaver.com/classicnotes/t...

http://www.cummingsstudyguides.net/Guide...

http://www.oprah.com/article/oprahsbookc...

http://www.ptc.edu/brewington/Road_Study...

http://www.enotes.com/road-mccarthy/