Laurell K. Hamilton once said, “There are wounds that never show on the body that are deeper and more hurtful than anything that bleeds.” With this quote, it is implied that mental wounds and deficits that are not clearly visible, can be more damaging to a person opposed to those that are “skin deep”. These so called hidden wounds are carried with the characters and affect their thoughts and behaviors throughout the novels One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest and Catcher in the Rye. The hidden wounds in these novels take many forms throughout the different characters. The authors Ken Kesey and J.D. Salinger’s use of invisible wounds of characters was able to produce more complex reasoning and plotlines throughout the novels. Hidden wounds are important …show more content…
Chief Bromden dealt with many difficulties throughout his life in his village and in the army which ultimately caused him to become scared and anxious. This fear and anxiety made him believe that he “shrank” and became much smaller than he physically is. Previously in the novel it is said that Chief Bromden measures in at six feet and seven inches (Kesey, 23), but in the quote above, Bromden describes himself as small and weak, which is the shown effect of his hidden wound of fear and anxiety. Likewise, there are many hidden wounds in J.D. Salinger’s novel as well. Most of the afflictions found in Catcher in the Rye are those of the narrator, Holden Caulfield. Examples of hidden wounds in Holden’s narrative are found in quotes such as
“My brother Allie […] He’s dead now. He got leukemia and died when we were up in Maine, on July 18, 1946. […] People with red heair are supposed to get mad very easily, but Allie never did, and he had very red hair. […] God, he was a nice kid, though.” (Salinger, 49-50).
In this quote from the novel, Holden Caulfield is talking about his beloved brother Allie and his early death. The death of someone that Holden cared deeply for caused an immense emotional wound that became
“I know it’s only his body and all that’s in the cemetery,and his soul’s in Heaven and all that crap, but i couldn't stand it anyway.” the quote is self explanatory in the fact that he outright states that he knows that Allie is dead but still somewhat cannot truly accept it. The fact that- -Holden outright says this tells a lot about his character in the fact that he can be too outright at times .
Bromden, the narrator, always vies himself as small, even though he’s actually a large person. To him, McMurphy is big, which he says metaphorically. In the passage, McMurphy makes the patients big: “It started slow and pumped itself full, swelling the men bigger and bigger. I watched, part of them, laughing with them- and somehow not with them. I was off the boat, blown up off the water and skating the wind with those black birds, high above myself…” (Kesey 249-250). People who are small are weak and powerless, like Bromden and the patient’s, scared and willing to submit to power. Meanwhile, people who are big, like McMurphy, are confident and not afraid. McMurphy made the men “bigger”, more powerful, just by laughing and giving them confidence. All in all, the metaphor and contrast between being big and small reveal how McMurphy made them stronger and more confident just by being
The Catcher in the Rye by J.D Salinger is a popular novel that was originally published in the 1950’s. In the book, Salinger explores various themes through the main character Holden and his interactions with others. Some of these themes include, alienation, loss and betrayal. Holden constantly feels betrayed throughout the novel by several people, including his roommate, teacher, and sister.
There is one universal truth that will exist through out all of time and space that affects all that live to experience it. That truth is known as grief. We all experience grief, and for Holden Caulfield, grief is a major aspect of his life, the force that drives him to do everything he does in the novel, The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger. There are seven stages to this emotion known as grief: denial, depression, anger, bargaining, guilt, reconstruction, and finally, acceptance. There are many parts in the novel that could have influenced Holden’s grief, but the main one that most people who read the novel have figured it out was the death of his little brother Allie. The root to Holden’s grief lies with his brother which cause Holden’s to act and change the way he does in the novel.
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.
The narrative allows the reader to be exposed to Holden Caulfield’s mind to form a psychoanalytical perspective and emphasize how he goes through many experiences. An example of when Holden went through a violent outburst is when his brother, Allie passed away. “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.” (Salinger 39). This citation is meaningful and clearly shows what kind of person Holden becomes. He was very close with his brother Allie and that mentally broke him. He had a very strong and sad mental breakdown in the moment that affected his futu...
In the novel, Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger, Holden Caulfield is an example of a prosaic rich adolescent boy,with a pedestrian set of problems, but a psychoanalysis reveals that Holden has a plethora of atypical internal conflicts. Internal conflicts that other students at Pencey, such as Stradlater and Ackley, would not normally experience.
Holden Caulfield is very emotional, weird, and childish. His character who goes through a great deal of life experiences but it is particularly interesting because his grieving process is tremendous. He also recounts that the night Allie died, he slept in the garage and broke all the windows with his bare hands. “ I was only thirteen, and they were going to have me psychoanalyzed and all, because I broke all the windows in the garage. …………. 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. I even tried to break all the windows on the station wagon we had that summer, but my hand was already broken and everything by that time, and I couldn't do it.” (Salinger
Chief Bromden is a six foot seven tall Native American (half) who feels very small and weak even though by physical description, he is very big and strong. Chief does not have enough self-confidence and he is not independent. That is what makes him so small and weak. When Randle McMurphy, the new inmate in the asylum comes in, Chief is reminded of what his father used to be: strong, independent, confident and big. "He talks a little the way papa used to, voice loud and full of hell " (16) McMurphy helps Chief gains back his self-confidence and teaches him to be independent.
Birth. Life. Death. These are three things every living thing will experience during a forever changing world. Everyone will experience some kind of change throughout life. Change must be accepted and overcome because it helps correct the mistakes all humans will make in life. In the novel, The Catcher in the Rye, J.D. Salinger analyzes the battle against growing up in an unjust world. He conveys that everyone grows up showing the world who they are. Over time, the innocence and purity of children are masked by the instinct to conform to society. In conforming, humans lose their right to true freedom, but gain the negative habits of “phoniness”. This phoniness is what J.D. Salinger battles with while confronting the right to stay as an innocent
S.N. Behrman, in his review for The New Yorker, also took a sharp look at Holden's personality. Behrman found Caulfield to be very self-critical, as he often refers to himself as a terrible liar, a madman, and a moron. Holden is driven crazy by phoniness, an idea under which he lumps insincerity, snobbery, injustice, callousness, and a lot more. He is a prodigious worrier, and someone who is moved to pity quite often. Behrman wrote: "Grown men sometimes find the emblazoned obscenities of life too much for them, and leave this world indecorously, so the fact that a 16-year old boy is overwhelmed should not be surprising" (71). Holden is also labeled as curious and compassionate, a true moral idealist whose attitude comes from an intense hatred of hypocrisy. The novel opens in a doctor's office, where Holden is recuperating from physical illness and a mental breakdown. In Holden's fight with Stradlater, his roommate, he reveals his moral ideals: he fears his roommate's sexual motives, and he values children for their sincerity and innocence, seeking to protect them from the phony adult society. Jane Gallagher and Allie, the younger brother of Holden who died at age 11, represent his everlasting symbols of goodness (Davis 317).
Holden Caulfield suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder throughout the course of the novel. In fact, the root of all his problems come from Allie’s passing; he died from leukemia. Holden used to be extremely close with him and his imminent death changed his entire life and psyche. Holden seems to relive the event of his beloved little brother Allie’s death over and over. “What is clear, however, is that many of the symptoms Holden displays in the course of the novel mirror the classic symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder. The death of his younger brother, Allie was a traumatic event in Holden Caulfield’s life and is perhaps at the root of the depression he battles in the novel. The death of a sibling can trigger post-traumati...
There are several instances within J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye in which Holden expresses his misapprehension of death. In Chapter 5, on page 38 Holden provides a long excursus on Allie, specifying the particulars of his life and death. The consequential point comes at the close of the digression when Holden discloses his own reaction to Allie’s death. In this Chapter Holden first poses the question of why did Allie have to die at such a young age.
A major event in Holden’s life, in “The Catcher in the Rye” by J. D. Salinger is when Holden’s brother Allie dies. Allie’s death leads holden to being unable to let go of the past, he does not like any form of change, and he is afraid of being alone.
Holden Caulfield’s brother, Allie, is a negative impact on Holden's life, the death of Allie drives Holden on a downward spiral of depression and anger. An example of this includes when Caulfield is talking to his teacher, "You mean about my flunking out of Pencey and all?"( Salinger.12). Holden has been sent away because his parents lack an understanding of how to handle his depression caused by Allies death. Holden no longer feels the importance of