The theme of low self-esteem is displayed in The Catcher in the Rye by J. D Salinger, A Streetcar Named Desired by Tennessee Williams, The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende, and “The Necklace” by Guy de Maupassant. In the novel, The Catcher in the Rye, Holden Caulfield, the main character of the novel, shows low self-esteem by making himself an outcast to the world. Holden Caulfield is rebellious and shows no interest towards education.Holden Caulfield is a very depressive individual who has no concern for himself or others, and his many disruptive behaviors lead to him into sinister abyss and his feelings of low self-esteem.
In addition, in the novel, A Streetcar Named Desire, Blanche du Bois, one of the major characters and Stella’s sister, demonstrates low self-esteem in a facade which overshadows her reality. Blanche lives an inferior life filled of dishonesty and a frequent consumption of alcohol.Blanche not only lies to herself but to everyone that surrounds her creating her feelings of low self-esteem. Furthermore, in The House of the Spirits, Ferula Trueba, one of the main characters, Esteban Trueba’s sister, shows low self-esteem by devoting her life into having concern for others.
Ferula has concern for her mother and Clara Del Valle and disregards herself as an individual. Ferula makes herself segregated from the rest of the town showing feelings of low self-esteem.Moreover, in “The Necklace”, Madame Mathilde Loisel, the main character of the story, demonstrates self low self-esteem by dedicating her life to reimbursing the necklace that has been lent to her by Madame Forestier, her rich friend. Mathilde exerts her body to working in order to outshine her pride. She devotes a huge part of her life to repaying what she borrows instead of admitting that she has lost the necklace demonstrating feelings of low self-esteem.
Therefore, using indirect characterization, the authors utilize the characters’ personality flaw of insecurity to convey their motive for having low self-esteem.
