Catcher In The Rye Essay Comparison With Freud

1452 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: The catcher in the rye holdens view on society

I think Holden Caufield is one of the few sane characters in The Catcher in the Rye.

List reasons why you think Holden is sane, or normal compared to the average teenager. I think holden is sane because he is like most other teens. They deal with emotions, mood swings, relationships with others, etc

List some other characters and show how they are stranger than Holden.

Mr. Antolini- holden awoke to him patting/petting his head, then asking holden not to leave afterward. P.192-193

Examine Holden’s interaction with society, including family, friends, teachers, etc.

Phoebe- Holdens little sister, he loves her most of the family, and she is one of the reasons that stops him from thinking about suicide, he thinks if he died she would feel pain and he doesn’t want her to be in pain

DB- Holdens brother, lives in Hollywood, nice car, writer, holden thinks he is consumed by the Hollywood genre

???- holdens little brother, holden mourns for him, died of leukemia

Stradlater- holdens roommate at pency prep, they get in many fights, asshole

Sunny- prostitute, holden ask for one because he is depressed, then wusses out and asks her to leave

Dick Slage- Holdens 1st roommate, holden thought he had awful suitcases, so holden judged dick by this

Compare Holden to Freud and then use at least two of Freud’s theories of personality to describe or compare and contrast Holden’s views.

Holden and freud were both hermits, they both dropped out of society. Freud thinks happiness is the meaning of life, even though he questions what happiness really is. Like holden he questions many things he says. Holden and freud have opposite views on sex, (What are their opposite views?) freud thinks it is every young boys dream to murder their fathers and get married with their mothers. Holden is insecure with it. The parents do not play a large part in this book.

What are the “root causes” of his desire to withdraw from society?

(Holden wants to be a catcher in the rye, He wants to save children from falling from a cliff . Children meaning innocence and falling down to society and losing their innocence) Elaborate

Holden wants happiness. One view on his happiness is to move away to Vermont in a cottage with Jane. He wants to live alone with her with no one else around. (withdrawing from society)

Dealing with emotions- On pg. 44-45 holden gets into a brawl with his roommate stradlater.

Show More
Related

  • Holden's Depression and Self-Doubt in Salinger's Catcher in the Rye

    722 Words  | 2 Pages

    Holden’s first betrayal was that of his memory and innocence by an egotistical peer. At Pencey Prep, he roomed with a student named Stradlater; the epitome of a teenage jock. Stradlater was openly very vain; as Holden stated as he watched Stradlater gaze at himself in the mirror, “he was madly in love with himself. He thought he was the handsomest guy in the Western Hemisphere” (27). Because of his inflated ego and good looks, Stradlater figured that he would steal the breath from any girl he wanted. To Holden, he admitted that the girl of the hour was a “Jean Gallagher” (31). Here was the betrayal: this “Jean” and the Jane that Holden had spent childhood summers with playing a cool game of checkers on the porch were one and the same. Holden had ...

    Read More

  • Immaturity of Holden in J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye

    566 Words  | 2 Pages

    “All of a sudden I started to cry. I’d give anything if I hadn’t, but I did” (p. 103). This occurs when Maurice argues with Holden about money that Holden owes to a prostitute. The situation becomes too much for Holden to handle, and he breaks down like a child. Holden also tries to have immature conversations with people who have become adults.

    Read More

  • Examples Of Lousy In Catcher In The Rye

    1269 Words  | 3 Pages

    After spending some time at Mr. Spencer, his history teacher's house and getting lectured regarding his poor efforts in school, Holden fabricates a story to leave his teacher’s house without seeming rude. On his way to his dormitory at Pencey, Holden claims that he is an exceptional liar, and would lie even about the most insignificant facts, such as where he is going. He then goes into detail about whom his dormitory is named after, and how much of a phony the man is.

    Read More

  • The Catcher In The Rye

    779 Words  | 2 Pages

    Holden is a pathological liar. He lies, some times for no reason. Holden says his name is Rudolf Schmidt, who is acutely the janitor, to Mrs. Morrow on the train. He continues to lie throughout the conversation and avoids getting together by saying he has a tumor in his brain. This is the type of lies Holden tells. One reason for this might be

    Read More

  • Free Essays - The Importance of Honesty in The Catcher in the Rye

    615 Words  | 2 Pages

    Holden's problems in the real world were too much for him, he had to make up things to make himself seem better than what he was.

    Read More

  • Catcher In The Rye: A Psychoanalytical Perspective

    1473 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...ality in the narrative is having to deal with alienation and how he deals with it, with the world. One of his other psychological features is having depression, which elucidate to Sigmund Freud. Holden’s last trait has to do with having immature relationships with women and focuses on both the author and Holden. Holden Caulfield could also be known as a wallflower. He is shy, always excluded to the world, and is always focusing in his own mind, which somewhat makes him have a normal trait. But that doesn’t cover his mental disorders.

    Read More

  • The Catcher in the Rye: Stuck In Adolescence

    692 Words  | 2 Pages

    ... has to go away. He runs to Phoebe’s school to leave her a note to meet him. While he’s waiting he notices “Fuck you” (201) on the wall. “It drove me damn near crazy,” he thought. Holden sees Phoebe with her suitcase as she tells him, “I’m going with you. Can I? Okay?” (206) Holden’s response was “No. Shut up”. Phoebe got angry and didn’t let up until Holden agreed that he wouldn’t leave. She went on the carrousel in the park and while she was going around and around, Holden felt so happy that, “[he] was damn near bawling”. (213)

    Read More

  • The Mental Health of Holden Caulfield

    725 Words  | 2 Pages

    Holden is not just abnormal, he has problems that other teenagers, including the students at Pencey, experience going through adolescence. An example of this is Holden's jealousy towards Stradlater when he finds out he is going on a date with Jane Gallagher, “Boy,was I getting nervous” (42). Every teenager has bouts of jealously especially about the opposite sex, and Holden is no different. Holden's rebellious nature, to an extent, is typical for a teenage boy. His rebellious nature of smoking when it is not allowed, “You weren't allowed to smoke in the dorm...I went right on smoking like a madman.” (41-42). Holden is also anxious about change, which again to an extent is normal, “Do you happen to know where they go, the ducks...”(60), and he has the right to be; change,especially during adolescence, is a terrifying but exciting ride into the unknown, and similar to other adolescents Holden is afraid but intrigued about the unknown.

    Read More

  • Catcher In The Rye Selfish Quotes

    936 Words  | 2 Pages

    It is made evident that Holden is enamored with Jane Gallagher, and this first manifests itself when Holden talks about her to Stradlater. “I used to play checkers with her,” Holden recounts. “ ‘She’d get [her kings] all lined up in the back row. Then she’d never use them. She just liked the way they looked when they were all in the back row.’ Stradlater didn’t say anything. That kind of stuff doesn’t interest most people” (41). In a world where almost everything is so “goddam depressing,” thinking about Jane’s minor traits actually makes Holden happy, even if it is the kind of stuff that does not interest most people. It allows him to channel his childhood, where he was oblivious to the phoniness around him. However, this silly nostalgia cannot get across to Stradlater, who is more interested in Jane as a sexual being than trivialities such as her checker tactics or struggles with ballet. This physical interest eventually becomes the root of their brawl in their dorm. Although Holden’s interrogative mood agitates Stradlater, Holden is only showing his genuine care for Jane. Unlike Stradlaer, Holden has enough sense to know that Jane, being the humble, intelligent girl she is, deserves to be treated right. So, even though Holden lets his anger get the better of him and eventually start a fight, he has reason to do

    Read More

  • Catcher in the Rye

    966 Words  | 2 Pages

    Everybody'd think I was just a poor deaf-mute bastard and they'd leave me alone.” These quotes establishes to the readers Holden as a bitter character who thinks he is the only good guy stuck in a bad, fake world.... ... middle of paper ... ... After reading about Holden, I am inspired to be the opposite of him.

    Read More

  • Holden's Cry for Help in The Catcher in the Rye

    1166 Words  | 3 Pages

    Holden is the main character of the book. He is a complicated boy how seems to get thrown out of boarding schools left and right. He is constantly thinking about depressive thoughts of his past, like times he was with his brother, who is dead. His thoughts of his brother bring serious rage for some reason. In one instance he tells about the day after his brothers death, and Holden was filled with such anger and loneliness, he punched through all the glass doors in his garage. This required him to go to the hospital, and unfortunately his stay at the hospital forced him to miss his brothers funeral. He also keeps thinking about his old girl friend Jane. Holden is reminded of past times with her, where her father upset her, and Holden was the only one there to console her. So with that in mind, he thinks he still may have a place with her, and Holden believes that all his happiness will rest with her. Holden is just a guy who is searching for something to get him out of his depression, but he has no idea what it is, and above all how to get it.

    Read More

  • Holden Caulfield's Psychiatric Evaluation

    1187 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...ect Phoebe and preserve her childish innocence. Luckily, under treatment, Holden is beginning to accept the fact that Phoebe cannot remain a child forever.

    Read More

  • Mental illness and Mental Disorders in Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger

    2034 Words  | 5 Pages

    According to the National Institute of Mental Health, about one in four American adults suffer from a mental disorder. This means that 57.7 out of 217.8 million people over the age of 18 are ill; never mind that mental illnesses are the leading cause of disability in Canada and the United States. Holden Caulfield, the controversial main character of J.D Salinger’s novel Catcher in the Rye, spends much of the book wandering through the streets of New York City. Kicked out of boarding school for the umpteenth time, he does many odd things: he calls a prostitute, tries to befriend a taxi driver, drinks with middle aged women, and sneaks into his own house in the middle of the night. While many of these things seem outré, some may even go as far as to say that he is mentally disturbed. From a psychiatric standpoint, main character Holden Caulfield exhibits the symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, bipolar disorder (manic depression), and psychosis throughout the infamous novel Catcher in the Rye.

    Read More

  • The Influence of Women in The Catcher in the Rye by J.D Salinger

    686 Words  | 2 Pages

    Holden's nervous impulse to protect women seems to have sprung up in his psyche from a very young age. After his brother, Allie, started to experience more severe symptoms of leukemia, Holden notes that his mother seemed "nervous as hell." His own mother's emotional problems (Lombardi) transfer to Holden on a very deep, psychological level because he feels partially responsible for his brother's fate in the first place. Seeing his mother in such a distraught state makes him feel even guiltier. The unintended consequence of this is that Holden grows up with a constant fear that he is going to hurt any woman that he grows close to. This manifests itself many times during his time in New York, with one of the earliest examples being his meeting with Sunny in the hotel room. Holden protects her innocence, but not for any particularly noble reason. He hangs her dress back up and insists that he just wants to talk, but Holden did not do this in an attempt to be some paragon of righteousness. Holden, on a deep, psychological lev...

    Read More

  • Catcher in the Rye: Holdens Relationships

    551 Words  | 2 Pages

    At Pencey, Holden meets Robert Ackley. Ackely has horrible hygiene, and does not hide it. Although this is disgusting, Holden has more respect for him than for his roommate, Stradlater. Holden calls Stradlater a “secret slob”. Stradlater is like many adults, because he tries to hide his imperfections. Holden is the complete opposite, because doesn’t care what people think of him, just as long as he feels go...

    Read More

More about Catcher In The Rye Essay Comparison With Freud

Open Document