Sophomore English has been a year of many different varieties of books. We have explored memoirs, short stories, and novels so far. One of the memoirs, and my favorite one, is "Warriors Don't Cry," by Melba Pattillo Beals. The novel that we have covered is "The Catcher in the Rye," by J.D. Salinger. These are two books with many differences and similarities. They have similar motifs, themes, and symbols but differ in the story line. A recurring motif in both of these works is the loss of innocence. Both Melba and Holden realize that they have to learn to live without the help of their own families. Melba is in a school of all white with eight other blacks with her. She can only go to them for support and not speak to any other person. Holden is lost in a big city all by himself, using his instincts on who he can trust and talk to. Another motif is self-reliance. Both Melba and Holden are "stuck in potholes" in their life journey, trying to get out and overcome their struggles. Melba feels so small at Central because she is one of the first blacks to enter the school. Yes she dates Vince but he doesn't understand her struggle. Holden doesn't know what to do. He has flunked out of his school, and has no idea where his life is going. Both of them are alone at the beginning of their journey, but find angels along the way. An ongoing theme in both of these books have is the painfulness of growing up. Mebla doesn't want to grow up just as much as Holden doesn't. All the sudden they don't have their parents there to help them out every time they need them. They are all by themselves with some help from people they find along the way. Another theme in this book is the phoniness of adulthood. Melba, think that as she got older, blacks would be tolerated more. She finds out that she gets bullied more as the years go by. Holden, in chapter 22, he explains that adults are inevitably phonies, and even worse, they can't see their phoniness. Holden