Formal Proposal: The Catcher in the Rye and Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

CPT Formal Proposal: The Catcher in the Rye and Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

Jonathan Safran Foer’s novel Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close tells the story of Oskar Schell who is a nine-year-old boy. This novel delineates the way that how Oskar overcomes his grief that is caused by the death of his father following the 9/11 attacks, which eventually leads him to grow up with the help of his mother. Not only does Oskar Schell grow up, Holden Caulfield in The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger also grows up as well. This novel shows how Holden refuses to accept reality which is a society of adults who are phonies and liars. However, he acknowledges reality and gives up keeping innocence, which ultimately forces him to mature. Both novels share the theme of growing up. However, as I stated before, while Oskar grows up with the help of his mother, Holden is forced to grow up by accepting reality. Therefore, the theme of growing up is the topic that I would like to explore in my essay.

             There are a few reasons that I decided to write the essay on this topic. First of all, growing up is a common theme that is found in both novels. This theme is related with the major theme of each novel, on the one hand, but it indicates two different ways of growing up in Holden and Oskar’s story, on the other hand. Secondly, the theme of growing up always gives readers a good lesson—especially for young students. By reflecting on the life of protagonists in these novels, it gives readers guidelines for their life, such as leading readers not to make a same mistake as protagonists do in a novel. Through these reasons, it is clear that the theme of growing up allows me to discover life lessons by comparing two different ways of growing that

are embodied in Holden and Oskar; and these are the reasons why I have selected this topic.

             Therefore, my possible thesis statement is like this. In Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer and The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger, both Holden and Oskar experience challenges which eventually lead them to grow up by overcoming their ordeals. However, unlike Oskar who successfully grows up with the support of his mother, Holden is forced to grow up by acknowledging reality.