Alienation
            
             In the narratives Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger and Hamlet, by William Shakespeare both main characters have striking similarities in their behavior. None of these traits is more prevalent in either narrative than the alienation of the main character. In Hamlet, Prince Hamlet begins to distance himself from his friends and other acquaintances when he discovers that his father has been murdered. This forces him to consider everyone a potential threat. In Catcher in the Rye, Holden Caulfield portrayed others as inferior to himself, and that distanced him from most other characters. The following will examine the alienating behavior of Hamlet and Holden.
             The problems for Hamlet began with Claudius murdering Old Hamlet, taking over the throne of Demark and marring hamlets' mother Queen Gertrude. Procrastination prevents Hamlet from avenging Old Hamlet's death and his mothers' purity. This hesitance only causes more problems for the entire family in the end. With the kind of problems he possesses, he has no one to turn to for help. Even his friends, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, are sent to spy on him. Hamlet cannot speak of the murder due to its confidentiality and the spies he might not know of. With no one to turn to, the thought of suicide crosses his mind as a solution on several occasions: "I am myself indifferent honest, but yet I could accuse me of such things that it were better my mother had not borne me" (Shakespeare 65). Hamlet feels incapable of overcoming his procrastination to avenge his father's death due to the overwhelming problems that keep occurring. Having no parents to talk to about his problems, only aggravates the situation. Furthermore, Hamlet feels that "Denmark's a prison" (Shakespeare 48) and he can speak to no one, as if he were a prisoner. Not having the opportunity to talking with others for help constricts
             the feelings and problems inside. This ...