In Catcher in the Rye, Holden Caulfield suffers because of his alienation. He has a profound loneliness, one that makes him very much feel like a stranger in the world.
Please use your notes to explain the ways that “alienation” tends to take hold in a person.
1) Loneliness (explain why we might feel lonely)
2) Loneliness can be beautiful. Explain how.
3) Our love of superheroes (what quality do we most admire in our superheroes?)
4) Karl Marx’s ideas about how work makes you feel alienated.

The film Memento reminds us that alienation takes many forms and give us another form to consider. In Memento we are shown how a person can be alienated from himself. It is entirely possibly to attempt to “lie to yourself” to be happy. Leonard certainly does it in the film, with devastating consequences for those around him. Even Teddy says, “So you lie to yourself to be happy. We all do it.”
Please WRITE about the following questions.
1) Do we lie to ourselves to be happy in your opinion? What are you basing your views upon?
2) Holden Caulfield finds everyone to be a phony. It’s one of the main reasons why he feels so lonely. How likely is it that Holden feels this way in large part because people seem to lie to themselves to be happy? Find two quotes from the book to back up your answer.