Examples Of Loss In Catcher In The Rye

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Savannah Van Winkle Ms.Maggert Honors English 3 4 November 2016 Grief and Loss From outside looking in you can never truly understand and from the inside looking out you can never explain.Grief and loss are some of the most powerful feelings that someone could go through.It hurts people internally and externally.Tragedies can cause hurt ones to do some terrible damage to others around them and to his or herself.In J.D Salinger’s novel, The Catcher in the Rye,Holden Caulfield tells his story of his everyday encounters that he goes through making his way back home from being kicked out of school once again through his mental state when really he’s in a mental hospital the whole time. He deals with so much loss that it makes …show more content…

The grieving process is a very difficult process to get through especially for Holden. Denial and Isolation is the first stage where people use it as a defense mechanism to buffer the immediate shock. He knows Allies dead, but hasn't accepted it yet considering he won't even visit his grave. He isolates himself from everyone else around him so doesn't have to talk about certain thoughts he's pushing away. The second stage would be anger. In the book Holden says,“ I slept in the garage the night he died, and i broke all the windows.”(Salinger 50) He can't deal with the loss of Allie so he expresses himself the only way he knows how by lashing out in frustration.Bargaining is the stage after anger where a person tries to …show more content…

They want more than anything for that person just to be with them still. Holden struggles to get the closure he requires. Holden says,“I wasn't there, I was still in the hospital-after I hurt my hand.”(Salinger 201) His serious injury caused him not to be able to attend Allies funeral. The serious injury messes up his opportunity to receive the closure he needs.So,in his mind Allie isn't really gone yet. Then after the funeral, his parents send him away because they can’t deal with the loss of their other son or the anger Holden is expressing. All everyone does is push him towards doing good in school and other things that don't really help him cope with the loss. If he had gotten the chance to go to his brothers funeral, then he would have received the closure he truly needs. Death is traumatic to everyone especially family or friends of that

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