Alienation and Loneliness: Symptoms of Adolescent Chronic Depression in the Novels of J. D. Salinger, Carson Mccullers, and Truman Capote

Adolescence is a transitional period as a child grows into an adult. In literature, this transitional stage is accompanied by a reflection of life and an exploration of the meaning of human existence. Three American novels written during the 1940s--J. D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye, Carson McCullers's The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter, and Truman Capote's Other Voices, Other Rooms--examine the conflicts of adolscents as they attempt to relate to peers, family, schools, and society. All of the three novels are relective of problems and issues confronting adolescents influenced under a variety of backgrounds. The more salient themes, however, are specific to the adolescent's mental and psychological problems. And such themes are revealed from the teenagers' relationships with others.