Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger and the poem "Myself" by Edgar Guest both address how an honest attitude will determine ones happiness as they move through life. Being honest with oneself permits us to accept, and move on from things. It is not possible to overcome problems until we admit that they are there, and address them. Holden has trouble dealing with life throughout the novel due to disbelief in everything including himself. In the poem, the idea of wanting to be true to, and proud of oneself, is the pathway of thinking that will direct one to a happy life. Both works of literature support the same theme from opposite points of view.
The poem "Myself" conveys the message that people should be honest with themselves. Edgar Guest states "I don't want to keep on a closet shelf/A lot of secrets about myself/And fool myself, as I come and go". If we are not honest with ourselves, we cannot properly deal with life's demands. In order to cope with something, the first step is to accept it and admit it to yourself. Once we have admitted it to ourselves, we can then begin to cope with it, and hopefully learn from it. We cannot solve our life's problems until we choose to address them. Edgar Guest says "I can never hide myself from me/I see what others may never see/I know what others may never know/I can never fool myself". The poem "Myself" is based on the ideas of existentialism, the outlook on life that as humans we have the power of existence to interpret and make the most of our lives. The poem is also an example of the motif Carpe Diem, "seize the day", it suggests that as people we must take hold of out lives and make it great while we are here. The first two lines of the poem explain to the reader why the author believes that honesty, with oneself, is the best policy. "I have to live with myself, and so/I want to be fit for myself to know." Being honest with ourselves about problems we face in life, is the first step to coping with anything. When we try to fool ourselves, nothing gets solved.
In the story The Catcher in the Rye, we see how Holden not addressing his problems can only make his life more negative. Holden was deeply affected by the death of his brother Allie. It is seen that Holden has had trouble coping with his death and has yet to come to terms with it. Holden will not address this problem directly. Instead he chooses to create a fa�ade of other problems to mask the true one. His mission throughout the story has been to find someone who is real, in a world full of phonies. His quest is an ambiguous one full of irony. This is not the true goal of his during the story, he really is searching for a friend, whom he can talk to, and all he really wants is company. And we know in fact that Holden is phony himself, not only does he lie to himself, he lies to other people about himself, he says, "I am a terrific liar", and often "shoots the bull" with most people that he comes to meet. He does this to avoid opening up to people, and his inability to do so since his brother died, limits Holden from reaching his hopes. By Holden manipulating the real problem into one that maybe is easy to face, but harder to fix, he put himself on a self-destructive path. Holden does the opposite than what is discussed in Myself. He turns his back on his problem, and pushes it aside; perhaps hoping it will go away. As it is found out towards the end of the book, he is unable to hide from the thoughts of his brother that haunt him each day. "Every time I'd get to the end of the block, I'd make believe I was talking to my brother Allie. Id say to him, Allie, don't let me disappear." When the story ends, we learn that Holden led himself into a rest home after he got sick. He has shown some improvement and begins to realize that he misses many of the people he had come to meet during the few days that the novel takes place in. He even misses all the people that he had once called a bunch of phonies. In the end, the same theme about the impact of perspective on life, and its power, to make or a person's life, is conveyed in a very different way than "Myself."

The theme that is put across in both pieces of literature are the same. In "Myself" the author tells us that in order to be happy in life we must be honest with ourselves. In Catcher in the Rye, it is shown that if you are not willing to look your problems in the face, that you will never be able to solve them, and live you life happily. In the end, both pieces of work leave the reader with the same important life lesson. We are stuck with ourselves for a lifetime, and only one, don't let anything get in the way of making it the best it can be. No challenge is too great, when we set our minds to accomplishing it.