The Catcher in the Rye, The Grapes of Wrath, The Old Man and the Sea similar book?

Over the summer I had to read these three books for english. They were all good books that I was able to take a message away from and a message that I think I will be able to apply to my everyday life. I do think that some of the books were similar though. The Old Man and the Sea can be compared to The Grapes of Wrath. Both of them deal with struggles. Santiago cannot seem to be able to catch a fish and the entire village makes fun of him for it(Hemingway, 23). In The Grapes of Wrath, the family struggles to survive. None of them have a job and they begin to rapidly run out of money, they have to beg for gas and they have to figure out a money situation quickly so that they can keep eating and stay alive(Steinbeck, Chapter 13). A similar struggle is dealt with in The Catcher in the Rye. Holden begins to run out of money and he must be thrifty with it. He ends up getting money from his little sister though and he does not have to be as thrifty anymore(Salinger, 232). All of the stories also have some victory and good moments for the characters. In The Old Man and the Sea, Santiago catches a enormous marlin and his fishing drought is over and if he can get it back to shore then perhaps the villagers will stop making fun of him. In The Grapes of Wrath, the family is able to get jobs and they make enough money to keep on living and they are able to buy food and necessary supplies. In The Catcher in the Rye, Holden is able to get to a new school at the end of the book and probably went on to become a successful adult. They were all very well written books and I think that when I get older I may read them over again to see if I can get a different meaning or a better understanding of the books.

Hemingway, Ernest. The Old Man and the Sea. New York: Scribner, 2003. Print.

Steinbeck, John, and Robert J. DeMott. The Grapes of Wrath. New York: Penguin, 1992. Print.

Salinger, J. D. The Catcher in the Rye. Boston: Little, Brown, 1951. Print