"To Kill a Mockingbird", by Harper Lee; "The Catcher in the Rye", by J.D. Salinger; and "The Gathering", by Isobelle Carmody all have three aspects in common. The theme of survival, the theme of life's struggle, and the fact that they are all narrated by young youth under the age of eight-teen, belonging to a similar age group. However their climax, point of view, and tone differ.

In the novel "The Catcher in the Rye", the protagonist and narrator of the novel, Holden is a sixteen-year-old junior who has just been expelled for academic failure from a school called Pencey Prep. Although he is intelligent and sensitive, Holden narrates in a sarcastic and fed-up tone. He finds the hypocrisy and ugliness of the world around him almost unbearable, and through his sarcasm he tries to protect himself from the pain and disappointment of the adult world. However...