Nicole Demeo Attitude Essay 1/7/02

Does your attitude really show in your actions? The poem, "Myself" by Edgar Guest, and the novel, Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger, are two pieces of literature that demonstrate two different points of views about life and how to live them. The views of the poem are reflected with words, while the views of the novel are mainly reflected with actions.

"Myself" is a poem that is supposed to motivate you. It is supposed to allow you and help you feel better about yourself. Its message is to always believe in yourself. If you are trying to be or do something you can’t let people get in your way. You should try and get people to like you for who you are. "I want to go out with my head erect, I want to deserve all men’s respect;" which means that he wants to be able to be who he is and try and make people like him for him. He is trying to tell us to be ourselves and to be our own person. Don’t follow in other people’s footsteps and try not to care if they don’t agree with you. People can be cruel sometimes and they can step on your dreams. Edgar Guest is getting the point across that you can’t let people stand in the way of what you want I life. Edgar Guest says, "But here in the struggle for fame and pelf I want to be able to like myself." For example, if you were trying to become an actor, you would have to go to many auditions and you would have to get people to like your acting style. Edgar is saying that even if they don’t like it, you shouldn’t give up, you should try and try again. He also says, " I don’t want to stand, with the setting sun, And hate myself for the things I’ve done." This means that you can’t dwell in the past. You need to move on! If you didn’t get that acting job, you can’t put yourself down for it. You have to strive from it!

Edgar keeps using the words "I want" and "Myself," what does this mean? This means that you have to be a little selfish sometimes. Sometimes you have to think about what "I want" or "Myself." He uses imagery when he talks about "going out with his head erect" and "dressing himself up in sham." He also uses alliteration. He uses this when he says, "bluster and bluff." The main theme of this poem is that people are the biggest obstacles in our life. People are the things that get in our way. If you can over come your self and these other people, then you can probably over come anything.

Catcher in the Rye has a different view. Holden Caulfield is a boy that is somewhat, disturbed. He feels that he is one of the only real people in a whole big world of phonies. He feels that people who lie, people that are dirty, people that are mean, and people that are annoying, are phonies. However, there are some people that Holden has come across in his life that he actually likes and feels that they are real, like him. Since Holden seems to feel that he is superior to others, or at least that’s how he comes across, it causes him to be annoying to them. Let’s take Sally Hayes. When they met to go to the show, he thought that he was being very smooth and he was going to win her over. Sally however, thought that he was being very annoying. Sally says, "Don’t shout please!" Holden didn’t think that he was even shouting a little bit. Carl Luce thought that Holden was being annoying when he kept asking Carl about his sex life and all. Carl said, "Ralax. Just sit back and relax for Chrissake." Early in Holden’s life, he had something very bad happen to him. His younger brother, Allie, died. Holden took this news very hard. Holden says, "I slept in the garage the night Allie died and broke all the goddamn windows with my fist, just for the hell of it." Holden loved Allie and since one of the only people in his life that he actually liked died, it could have made him less open to trusting people and to showing his true feelings. Holden seems to have trouble expressing his feelings of insecurities. When he didn’t want to go down to see Jane, just because he "Didn’t feel like it." He doesn’t express other things in the way he wants people to see them. He is misleading, but doesn’t mean to be.

In this novel there is a repetition of Allie. Holden always talks about his brother Allie. When he had to write something for Stradlater, he wrote about Allie’s baseball mitt. When he is talking with Pheobe, the talk about Allie. Holden uses impressionism a lot. He is always talking about other people and why he thinks that they are phony. He describes the couple walking down the street when he was in his cab and stereotype’s them. Basically, whenever he is alone, he stereotypes. When he was in the bar and he saw the three girls, he made many first impressions on who they were. Holden also used sarcasm. He was talking with Carl and he said, "What are you majoring in? Perverts?" He was being very sarcastic and Carl didn’t like it very much. Carl felt that Holden was being immature.

"Myself" and Catcher in the Rye are two pieces of literature that express different views on life and attitude’s towards life. "Myself" is saying that you can’t let yourself or other people stand in your way. And Catcher in the Rye is saying that you shouldn’t be close-minded. I feel that these stories aren’t really related in any way except that they both have their special points that they are trying to get across.