Attitude is Everything
Scott Hamilton once said, “The only disability in life is a bad attitude.” This applies to the poem "Myself," written by Edgar Guest and the novel The Catcher in the Rye, written by J.D. Salinger. The narrators of these two pieces of literature both possess different attitudes about life, but are still struggling to cope with each of their own problems. However, as a result of these differing opinions, both characters choose to deal with their problems in very different ways. The difference in these characters' view of themselves and of life is responsible for their different methods of coping with life's difficulties.

The narrator of "Myself" possesses a positive outlook on life and the people around him. He is prepared to change himself and communicate his problems to the rest of the world in hope that they might be solved. He understands that he has to live with himself and should therefore like himself. "I have to live with myself" and "I want to be able to like myself," he writes. To do so he feels that it is essential for him to be honest with himself and the people around him. He says, "I don't want to keep on a closet shelf a lot of secrets about myself…I don't want to dress up my life in sham." He doesn't want to hide the real him. Even though he, like everyone, possesses some bad characteristics he doesn't want cover them up. He feels that it is important to let people know your strengths as well as your weaknesses rather than lying about them and trying to come across as perfect. He feels that if he tries to hide his true self then in reality he would be living a lie.  Also, he wishes to gain other people's respect as well as self-respect. He explains, "I want to go out with my head erect, I want to deserve all men's respect…Whatever happens, I want to be self-respecting and conscience free." He believes that respect is important and something that needs to be earned. You have to be deserving of someone's respect, and must work to gain it. However, as much as he wants other people to respect him, he knows that self-respect is the most important thing. If you respect yourself, and like yourself, then it doesn't really matter how other people view you because you are the person you want to be. Lastly, the narrator looks towards the future rather than living in the past. "I don't want to stand, with the setting sun, and hate myself for things I've done," he says. This means that he doesn't want to have regrets. Whatever happened in the past can't be changed. Rather than dwelling on his problems he feels it is better to move on. The author uses certain literary elements to convey his message in the poem. Because the narrator is a real, truthful, and strait forward person Guest does not crowd the composition with imagery and sarcasm. Although it is not a stream of consciousness writing, it still appears that the narrator is speaking from the heart. Overall the narrator of "Myself" has a positive view of himself and the people around him. He does not put other people down, but rather focuses on himself and how he wants to live in order to be happy. To solve his problems and cope with life's difficulties he feels that he must be honest and self-respecting.
Holden Caulfield, the narrator in The Catcher in the Rye, lives in the past. Ever since Allie, his brother, died he has been depressed. Before his brother’s death Holden was a relatively happy person. “When she [Phoebe] was a tiny little kid, and Allie and D.B. and I used to go to the park with her, she was mad about the carousel.”(210) Pleasant stories like these fill were Holden’s memories of the time before Allie died. After his death Holden became depressed and was thrown out of a lot of schools. This depression shadows his outlook on life as well as renders him unable to communicate his problems with the people around him. The biggest problem that Holden mentions in the book is by far his brother’s death. This is when Holden’s communication problems began. After Allie died Holden never expressed his feelings. Instead he explained how he, “slept in the garage the night he [Allie] died, and I broke all the goddam windows with my fist, just for the hell of it. I even tried to break all the windows on the station wagon we had that summer, but hand was already broken and everything by that time, and I couldn’t do it.”(39) Rather than talking about his emotions with someone he reacted physically. The fact that he broke his hand and still wanted to break more windows illustrates the rage he was feeling at that time. After that Holden still never spoke to anyone and his communication problem continued. This is evident through his constant lying. He is not an honest person with himself or with the people around him. Throughout the story he lied to numerous people, Mrs. Morrow for example. While on the train he told her his name was Rudolf Schmidt, the janitor of their school. Then he began to tell her what a great guy her son, Ernest Morrow, was when in reality he, “was doubtless the biggest bastard that ever went to Pencey, in the whole crumby history of the school. He was always going down the corridor, after he’s had a shower, snapping his soggy old wet towel at people’s asses. That’s exactly the kind of guy he was.”(54) He also lied to Marty, one of the girls he danced with in the Lavender Room. “I told her I just saw Gary Cooper, the movie star, on the other side of the floor,” he lied to her because he thought it was amusing. He also uses hyperbole and exaggeration when telling stories. Again, he is lying about what happened to some extent because he is embellishing the true story. Aside from not being honest, Holden believes that other people rather than himself need to change because for the most part, he doesn't care what they think of him. He is only concerned with the people closest to him such as Phoebe. When she asked him to name something that he truly liked he responded, “I like doing what I’m doing right now. Sitting here with you, and talking, and thinking about stuff.”(171) Aside from Phoebe, Allie, and Jane, Holden finds fault with everyone. However he doesn’t address his own weaknesses because he doesn’t feel that he is the one that needs to change. Overall Holden has a negative outlook on live. Tainted by depression and a lack of communication he chooses not to solve his problems. Instead he buries them like his feelings about Allie’s death.

Attitude affects how a person solves their problems. This fact holds true for the narrators in “Myself” written by Edgar Guest, and The Catcher in the Rye written by J.D. Salinger. In “Myself” the narrator is optimistic. He wishes to better himself so that other people will respect him but above all so he respects himself. He does not want to hide his problems as if he were ashamed of them, but rather wants to put them out in the open so that they can be solved. Holden in The Catcher in the Rye on the other hand is more pessimistic. He finds fault with people and therefore does not have good communication skills. He lies to try and cover up his weaknesses and hides his problems so that he won’t have to confront them. As a result of the narrators’ different opinions of themselves and of other people, both characters respond to life’s demands in different ways.