Comparing Dreams in Catcher in the Rye, Night, and Their...

Dreams in Catcher in the Rye, Night, and Their Eyes Were Watching God Throughout the novels Catcher in the Rye, Night, and Their Eyes Were Watching God, the main characters seem to have a dream. In their stories, Holden, Elie, and Janie tell the reader whether or not their dream was successful. In Catcher in the Rye, Holdens dream is to be the catcher in the rye, meaning he wants to stop children or anything that may still be innocent from falling over the edge. This basically means he wants to preserve the innocence. Thats why he likes Phoebe so much, because shes still young and youthful, and most importantly innocent. The novel charts Holdens experiences over a long period of time. It†¦show more content†¦It has done nothing to help Holden, but weaken his condition. Holden experiences a complete mental breakdown and is sent to a psychiatric center in California for treatment. His dream has not been successful, but the exact opposite. If Holdens soul were to actually come and see life, it would be pretty miserable. This is so because he returns home to his parents and is sent to a psychiatric hospital to rest. He lost his horizon like a knight at the end of an unsuccessful battle. In the beginning of the novel, Night, Elie was eager to study the Cabbala. His father, however, thinks Elie is too young for such advanced subject and refuses to find him a teacher. As a result, Elie turns to Moshe the Beadle for guidance. Towards the middle of the novel, Elie dream changes to being set free from the Nazis. Elies first dream was sort of successful in a way because Moshe the Beadle helped him for a while. His second dream is another story. Once Elie and his father were arrested by the Nazis and deported, his life becomes a struggle to survive. Elie endures terrible emotional torture. He loses his faith in God; he also loses his father, mother, and younger sister. Even though he survives the concentration camp and is rescued by allied forces, Elie is very sick, both physically and emotionally. His sufferings have turned his soul into a living corpse, shadowed forever by the long, black night of evil he has endured. So his