What If Holden and Hamlet Switched Roles?

What If Holden and Hamlet Switched Roles?

Introduction

We all know that Hamlet and Holden are very unique characters. Their agendas are almost identical while  their individual personalities are very different. So we asked ourselves: “What if we switch the roles of Holden and Hamlet?” Obviously, we are going to leave Hamlet’s Elizabethan - Shakespearean crap behind and teach him the knowledge of the world during the 1950’s. We are also going to teach Holden the ways of Shakespeare and transport him back to the 1600’s. We keep their personalities and their train of thought the same and… uh oh…

Hamlet’s View on Holden’s Situation

Let’s start with the more emo of the two. What if Hamlet got transported to Holden’s perspective? We know that Hamlet is suicidal and hell - bent on revenge, so think about all the damage he will do to the society today. First thing he would do is go after Stradlater. He would take weeks to plan his revenge and then finally take revenge. The question is how. He would plan out this elaborate plan to kill Stradlater, one that involves seeing his brother’s ghost and pretending to be mad. Then he would fight Stradlater and Stradlater would whoop is *beep*. After he loses, Hamlet would go back into depression, all while staying away from his parents. He would later succeed in killing Stradlater and then kill himself brutally.

Holden’s View on Hamlet’s Situation

As we know, Holden’s character is very complicated. He is in his adolescent age, he has many mixed emotions. In the book, we can view him as being a coward in multiple chapters. He is soft on the inside but hard on the outside. He talk trash and he can verbally abuse anyone but he is too soft on the inside and he easily gets hurt. His bark is worse than his bite. If Holden was Hamlet, he would verbally abuse Claudius until Claudius gives up and ends up committing suicide. However, Holden is not brave enough and he might end up killing himself because he cannot bear the pain or the situation. In the end, if Holden and Hamlet ever switch characters, Hamlet will benefit but Holden will not because of his young and immature mind.