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The loss of allie in catcher in the rye
Literary analysis for the catcher in rye
Character analysis of catcher in the rye
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The Abyss of Mental Instability In the novel Catcher in the Rye, J.D. Salinger assembles a compelling story about a boy struggling with adolescence and maturity. Holden Caulfield, the main protagonist and narrator, journeys for three days unaccompanied in the rough streets of New York. Throughout his brief excursion Holden begins to exhibit strong signs of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Holden’s PTSD finds its roots with the death of his beloved brother, Allie. His parents did not offer enough support after Holden’s brother died, only causing his condition to worsen. In the year 1946, Holden’s psychological issues commenced when Allie lost his battle with leukemia. Holden’s initial reaction was breaking every window in his …show more content…
Throughout the novel, Holden was shown isolated from others and no longer enjoying activities he used to. His sister notices this and tells Holden, “Because you don't. You don't like any schools. You don't like a million things. You don't” (Salinger 220). This displays the loss of interest Holden experienced because of his deteriorating mental health. Holden never made an effort in school to pass classes either. Those are all major signs of someone having PTSD. The last of the three most significant symptoms is agitation, a trait Holden expressed quite often. For example, on his date with Sally Hayes, Holden could not enjoy watching the show and instead made remarks about the phony characters. In addition to the common symptoms Holden also displays atypical ones. Some examples are depression, sleep deprivation, alcohol abuse, and hopelessness. The parents of Holden play a significant role pertaining to his mental state. When Holden was just thirteen, Allie passed. According to Mayo Clinic “you’re more likely to develop PTSD if you're lacking a good support system of family and friends”. That was exactly the case for Holden. His parents were going through great grieving themselves and neglected their child in a time of need. That resulted in Holden not getting the support and attention necessary for him to fully grow mentally. Holden mentions his mom's position a few times, saying she “still isn’t over my brother Allie yet” (Salinger
PTSD is a disorder that has symptoms such as efforts to avoid thoughts or feelings that are associated with the trauma, avoiding activities or situations that bring up memories of the trauma, lack of interest in important activities, feeling of a lack of interest or expulsion by others, inability to cherish loving feelings, and feeling of not having any future; not expecting to have a career, get married, have children, or live a long life. It is easy to see why some would diagnose Holden with having PTSD because there are several instances in the novel in which he exhibits one or more of these symptoms but ...
One of the most impactful events in Holden’s past is the death of his brother. Jos death definitely took a big piece of Holden’s innocence. One of the main causes of his depression is the death of Allie’s and it had a tremendous impact on his life. Allie inset rarely mentioned, his passing had a great impact on Holden. Leukemia took is younger brothers innocents and this deeply saddened him and he promise himself to that he would do whatever he could not to let that happen to other innocent kids. “I slept in the garage the night he died, and I broke all the goddam windows with my fist, just for the hell of it. It was a very stupid thing to do, I’ll admit, but I hardly didn’t even know I was doing it, and you didn’t know Allie”
Holden experiences both alienation and disillusionment when meeting with people like Sally Hayes, Sunny and Ackley. Holden is so desperate to have human connection yet, when he starts to talk to them, he experiences them as ‘phonies’. This makes him more depressed, continuing his downward spiral. Holden is caught in a trap of his own making.
Immediately after Allie’s death, Holden changes immensely. His very first act after Allie died was smashing all his garage windows with his fist. Following this aggressive act, he becomes a recluse and judges every person he crosses to- I assume- Allie, because of how much he still reminded Holden of innocence, and will for the rest of his life. Cynthia Barron states, “Holden is sixteen… in a unique position, caught in the limbo between childhood and adulthood. Thus faced with their inability to adapt to an adult world that is hypocritical and corrupt, both boys seek a return to the realm of childhood” (Barron). In my personal opinion, i believe that he ...
The Catcher in the Rye has been described, analyzed, rebuffed, and critiqued over the years. Each writer expresses a different point of view: It is a story reflecting teen-ager's talk--thoughts-emotions--actions; or angst. I believe it is an adult's reflection of his own unresolved grief and bereavements. That adult is the author, J.D. Salinger. He uses his main character, Holden, as the voice to vent the psychological misery he will not expose -or admit to.
However, his feelings suggest that the true reason for his depression is his loss of Innocence. When he was 13 years old, he lost his little brother Allie to leukemia. Allie meant a lot to Holden. He even becomes a symbol in the book. Allie is the one who keeps Holden from falling of the cliff, he’s the reason that he hasn’t lost his innocence yet. “Every time I came to the end of a block and stepped off the goddam curb, I had this feeling that I'd never get to the other side of the street. I thought I'd just go down, down, down, and nobody'd ever see me again. Boy, did it scare me. You can't imagine. I started sweating like a bastard—my whole shirt and underwear and everything. Then I started doing something else. Every time I'd get to the end of a block I'd make believe I was talking to my brother Allie. I'd say to him, "Allie, don't let me disappear. Allie, don't let me disappear. Allie, don't let me disappear. Please, Allie." And then when I'd reach the other side of the street without disappearing, I'd thank him.” (Sallinger) In this part, Allie plays the role as the Catcher in the Rye and keeps Holden from falling of the cliff. This is why i believe that Holden wants to become a “ Catcher in the Rye”. He wants to help people like Allie has helped him. He feels that it's what he’d meant to do with his
The Catcher in the Rye revolves around Holden Caulfield, the protagonist of the novel, and his disillusionment. Holden’s disillusionment illustrates that he has a problem accepting such. Aforesaid is based upon multiple factors, most which have brought Holden lasting traumas. A remedy is required for Holden to accept his disillusionment and enable an improvement of his situation. For Holden’s remedy, the consultation of psychologists, and additional specialized health professionals would be the core of an apt remedy for Holden’s psychological and physiological state based upon the numerous causes of such and the everlasting trauma of some of the determinants of aforesaid situation. The origins of Holden’s disillusionment revolved mainly around the death of his younger brother Allie three years ago, of which he still experiences the trauma to this day. His disillusionment is caused by both
Holden experiences agitation and irritability towards dealing with people he perceives at phonies. HIs agitation comes with the experiences he has had with people such as Ackley, Stradlater, his parents, and others he can interpret as fake or that have done things in the past to irritate him. His irritation among people is very common and repetitive throughout the book where it could be identified as a symptom of PTSD. For example, a scene Holden demonstrates agitation is when he talks to Phoebe about what his parents might do to him since he had gotten kicked out of yet another school; Pencey. “No, he won’t. The worst he’ll do, he’ll give me hell again, and then he’ll send me to military school.” (Salinger 166). Holden’s agitation comes from
Surges of hormones commonly alter the brains of teenagers so that they appear to be pathologically depressed when they aren’t, with Holden being no exception. In short, hormones could easily mimic the symptoms of a mental illness. Though this is a valid claim, several features Holden has would tip the scale in favor of a mental illness at fault over mind-shifting teenage hormones. According to a post from the National Institute of Mental Health, “Regular moodiness and sadness usually go away quickly though, within a couple of days”, whereas “Untreated depression is a more intense feeling of sadness, hopelessness, and anger or frustration that lasts much longer, such as for weeks, months, or longer” (“Teen Depression”, nimh.nih.gov). Holden’s cynicism, pessimism, and frustration at the world around him has been chronic in nature. Therefore, the notion that Holden is simply experiencing the rougher edges of teenage hormones could be refuted simply through observing the time frame from which Holden has been experiencing his
In the beginning of the book the reader immediately starts to see these symptoms. Before Holden left Pencey he said “ what I was really hanging around for, I was trying… to feel some kind of good-bye. I mean I’ve left schools and places I didn’t even know I was leaving them. I hate that”(Salinger 7). One of the symptoms of PTSD is living in fear everyday and this is how Holden felt. In the quote he says that he hates not feeling some kind of good-bye but what he is really trying to say is that he fears he will not feel it. Holden is trying to change his fear into other feelings, like hate. Another symptom of PTSD that Holden experiences is depression. Many times during the novel Holden says “It makes me so depressed I go crazy”(19). During the story Holden often talks about things that make him depressed and this quote is just one of the multiple examples of the suffering he goes through because of his depression.Throughout Holden's journey there are so many questions constantly going through his mind. A couple of these questions were should he make phone calls to his old friends and if he should go home to his family. “Boy did I feel rotten. I felt so damn lonesome”(62-63). He has an opportunity to cure his loneliness by calling his old friends but he never follows through. “Then I went over and laid down on Ely’s bed…. Boy did I feel rotten. I felt so damn lonesome”(62-63). This quote shows that even when Holden isn’t alone he still suffers from overwhelming loneliness, which is also a symptom of PTSD. In the novel Holden experienced many of the symptoms of PTSD and this story accurately showed the difficulties that PTSD sufferers experience when trying to live their daily
Holden’s signs of depression a very strong and frequent thought out the book. The first major sign of Holden’s depression is the lack of sleep sleeping. Holden finds it hard to sleep even in the early morning hours let alone all night. “It took me a while to get to sleep I wasn’t even tired but finally I did.” (Pg. 104). During the story there were many times when Holden could not sleep. One of those times was when Holden left Pencey. Holden left Pencey so late he could not even take a cab. Other times are when Holden went to the bars and drank ...
He definitely suffers from more than five of the symptoms. Holden has said in the book that he hates saying goodbye to people and hates when people leave, which is an example of the first symptoms on the list. Holden is obsessed with Jane Gallagher yet he gets mad at her when she goes out on a date with Stradlater, Holden’s roommate, which is an example of the second symptoms on the list. As a seventeen year old kid, he smokes lots of cigarettes and drinks lots of alcohol, in essence making him a substance abuser, which is the fourth example on the symptoms list. Holden ponders the thought of suicide multiple times throughout the book, like when he was in Central Park and thought about what would happen if he were to die or when he claims that he will volunteer to sit on the top of the atomic bomb if there is another war. These are some examples that fit the criteria of the fifth symptom on the symptoms list. Holden is depressed the entire book and towards the end of the book his depression takes a physical toll on his body as he is nauseous, dizzy, has a headache and eventually passes out. This is an example of the sixth symptom on the symptoms list. Holden is very prone to violence that is overly intense. Some examples of his intensely violent outbreaks in the book are when he breaks all the garage windows the night he learned that his brother, Allie, had died or when Holden gets in a fight with Stradlater when he
The 1940's were a time of nationalism. Men had to have an appearance of a tough attitude. They were never allowed to let their real feelings show. One of the major reasons Holden becomes depressed is the death of his brother Allie. He described is brother as being nothing but perfect. He keeps this guilt locked up inside him because he blames his death on himself. A memory that haunts him is when he excluded his brother from a b-b gun game. Another memory that he held on to and was never able to forgive himself for was when Allie asked Holden to go bike riding and he didn't go. Holden did not have a good relationship with his Mother or Father. He needed them the most right after the death of Allie. However, we see Holden crying out help and attention when he threw a baseball through the window and broke it and still nobody talked to him. His older brother went off to Hollywood. The only one he adores is his younger sister Phoebe. He is able to talk to her and he thought she understood him.
He also adds, "I wasn’t feeling sleepy or anything, but I was feeling sort of lousy. Depressed and all, I almost wished I was dead," (90). Holden states this during one of the first nights that he is staying in New York. Holden expresses many thoughts of depression. Compulsive lying is another characteristic that Holden exhibits.
President Barack Obama has said, “Too many Americans who struggle with mental health illnesses are still suffering in silence, rather than seeking help”. While many mental disorders can easily be treated, they are extremely taxing on the victim and are challenging to diagnose. In final analysis, Holden Caulfield suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder, bipolar disorder (manic depression) and psychosis. From a psychiatric point of view, there is hope for Holden in the future, but only if he is genuinely avid in getting back to a state of normalcy.