Browning's Poems and the Catcher in the Rye

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The human experience of loss and grief is something that everyone, no matter the time, relates to, as explored in both the texts. Robert Browning explores this concept based on his context which suppressed emotions on sexuality by showing the consequences of suppressed emotions in his poem ‘Porphyria’s Lover’. Porphyria’s lover murdered her to avoid the risk of losing her, he murdered so as to preserve the moment with her – ‘All night long we have not stirred’. Victorians have always been intrigued by death and murders so as to ignite their numb minds amidst the social morals which tolerated little crime. So, Browning provides them with an insight into the mind of a psychopathic killer, through his dramatic monologue so the readers are intrigued and are able to picture the thoughts of the gruesome persona and the murder – ‘In one long yellow string I wound three times her little throat around’. Additionally, his negligent attitude towards his actions – ‘Got has not said a word’ reflects his psychopathic personality and his justification of his actions, a denial of the mishap to cope with it. Salinger, on the other hand, witnessed the horrors of World War 2, but rather than writing a combat novel, took the trauma of war and embedded it within what looked to the naked eye like a coming-of age novel. As it was just after World War 2, many people knew someone who had been killed. However, their denial caused them to see grief as self-indulgent and sustained a facade of health and mental wellbeing. Holden, on the contrary, indulges in the death of his brother, Allie, causing him to be emotionally damaged due to this traumatic experience as evident from his behaviour after Allie’s death – ‘I broke all the windows in the garage’ Moreover, it is obvious that his apathetic recounting of the past is his coping mechanism to deal with the pain and trauma. This explains his engrossment in the idea of ‘everything always staying right where it was’ in the Museum, similar to ‘Porphyria’s Lover’ who murdered to freeze time. Moreover, it also explains his concern of the innocence of children and how he wants to be ‘The Catcher in the Rye’ so as to save them going through the pain and trauma he has experienced. Thus, Salinger explores human experiences of the faults in life, misery, loss through death, and the coping mechanisms used to deal with the pain procured from the war driven state of the context. Meanwhile, Browning explores the consequences of the repression of emotions to challenge the society values, and impart an insight into an appalling persona to intrigue the society amidst the numbness of the society’s norms.