Holden Caulfield Fella

Robert Zavaleta

Mrs. Kehrmeyer

AP Language

29 March, 2018

There is a psycho in every one of us

Human beings rely on the most complicated known machinery; a human brain. Without the brain, simple tasks such as moving our body, breathing, and trying to eat food would be impossible. The brain controls our movements, is an indicator to senses whether it would be pain, smell or pleasure, and is responsible for the release of emotion. As important our brains are and as it continues to grow more powerful, it is very vulnerable to illnesses that have been caused by actions that affects the individual negatively and leaves them in trauma. The brain holds so many secrets and mysterious to how it truly functions, how certain things can affect

Salinger’s novel Catcher in the Rye. Holden is lost in a big world with a mind of a child that he is desperately protecting but yet suffers from the pain that is caged in his head. Holden is depicted as a troubled, socially-awkward, rebellious kid who questions his life and hides behind the tears of a clown. Salinger discloses the crux of Holden's scared state early on in the novel by outlining Holden's childhood, ". . . what my lousy childhood was like. . ." Then, continues on to enumerate on the episode involving his brother Allie's death, "I slept in the garage the night he died.¨ (Salinger 39). This depiction leads readers to be in the shoes of Holden as it is a world of confusion, anger, and depression. Salinger deliberately sets up Holden’s troubled lifestyle to be comprehended by Sigmund Freud’s psychoanalytic theory as

Salinger’s personal life was very different from other author’s lives, in fact, his life was nearly identical to that of Holden. He belonged to a wealthy family, did not excel in school, did not have a healthy relationship with his parents, and his personality was different from others in society. Salinger’s early years as a child first sparked his conflicted personality. When Salinger was enrolled into a private school, he never had good grades. When he enrolled at New York University’s Washington Square College, he dropped out stating, “It was a waste of time” and this wasn’t the only college that he dropped out. “Choosing, for no apparent reason, Ursinus College in Pennsylvania. Again, he dropped out” (Lutz). Salinger’s school problems relates to Holden’s difficult time at Pencey prep. school. Holden did not excel in school, flunk, and didn’t seem very interested. He eventually dropped out of Pencey Prep. school as he made a dramatic exit, screaming , ¨sleep tight, ya morons!¨ (Salinger 59). This is of course not the only similarity to which the author shares with Holden. Salinger was a very different person as he had a mindset that was “unique.” That mindset shifted when Salinger was drafted into the United States Army when World War II erupted. The exposure of war left a scar on Salinger’s mental state. “Before the war, J.D. Salinger had been known as a loner. He was often thought of as being somewhat arrogant” (Wilson). Salinger’s arrogance gives a page of