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In The Catcher In The Rye by J.D. Salinger, Holden Caulfield, the protagonist of the novel, emerges as a juvenile who has a bleak outlook in life, accosted with the arduous challenges of both humanity and life as he seeks to define the meaning of existence. Holden has many obstacles being thrown at him such as the loss of his younger brother, Allie, which has him confused and trapped in recollections from the past. On his own Holden has made attempts to subside these conflicts, however, they have only left him managing with more problems: loneliness, addictions, delusions, etc. Holden is also depicted as a failure that struggles to maintain firm in one of the four schools he has been expelled from. As a result of said incapacity to remain stable, …show more content…
Holden manifests that often times he cannot seem to latch onto the idea that Allie is dead; it has been difficult for Holden not to embrace memories from the past. While speaking to Holden of said event he confesses, “I slept in the garage the night he died, and I broke all the goddam windows with my fist” (Salinger 21) Holden also admits that he carriers Allie’s baseball mitt “to have it with me, in my suitcase” (Salinger 39) Holden seems unable to maneuver past this stage in his life. As a result he has neglected the ideology of growing up; leaving him with a series of panic attacks, constant disinterest in his surroundings, and overwhelming feelings of hopelessness. It is evident he is unable to manage this immediate change in his life. Overall, these are symptoms that disclose posttraumatic stress …show more content…
Currently, Holden displays a serious case of unhappiness. As a result, he has grown a desire to end his life: a major symptom for depression. Holden expresses his melancholy and solitude through his dialogue; his usage of words persistently consist of depressed and lonesome claims. Holden admits, “Wished I was dead.” (Salinger 101) He does not possess any life goals; he is not concerned about his future. Holden treats life very unsignificantly, which may be the result of such thoughts for they continue to suppress his imperfect lifestyle. Holden is also unhappy due to his inability to maintain a stable relationship. He mainly tries to conceal his problems by being with someone else: a woman. Women play a big role in his life. Through Psychotherapy Holden has abruptly confessed, “In my mind, I’m probably the biggest sex maniac you ever saw” (Salinger 68) It troubles Holden to know that he might be alone forever. All he seeks is some sort of companionship, however, he has the tendency of looking in the wrong places. Once Holden has found companionship in others he will be able to decline his gloomy and unsettling
As Eugene McNamara stated in his essay “Holden Caulfield as Novelist”, Holden, of J.D. Salinger’s novel Catcher in the Rye, had met with long strand of betrayals since he left Pencey Prep. These disappointments led him through the adult world with increasing feelings of depression and self-doubt, leading, finally to his mental breakdown.
In J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye, the main character, Holden, cannot accept that he must move out of childhood and into adulthood. One of Holden’s most important major problems is his lack of maturity. Holden also has a negative perspective of life that makes things seem worse than they really are. In addition to Holden’s problems he is unable to accept the death of his brother at a young age. Holden’s immaturity, negative mentality, and inability to face reality hold him back from moving into adulthood.
In J.D. Sallinger's Catcher in the Rye, is based on the sullen life of Holden Caulfield, a 16-year-old teen-ager is trying to find his sense of direction. Holden, a growing adult, cannot accept the responsibilities of an adult. Eventually realizing that there is no way to avoid the adult life, he can only but accept this alternative lifestyle. What Holden describes the adult world as a sinful, corrupted life, he avoids it for three important reasons: His hatred towards phonies and liars, unable to accept adult responsibilities, and thirdly to enshrine his childhood youth.
In the novel The Catcher In The Rye by J.D. Salinger,Holden the main character tries to take on adult and mature situations but finds himself in reality not getting very far. Holden Caulfield who goes to Pencey has failed four out of five classes and gets the notice that he is being expelled from the school. He leaves the school and goes out and tries to adventure into the real world. Holden takes on many challenges and obstacles throughout the book . Although Holden wants to be independent many people perceive Holden in numerous different ways to his actions and feelings. Faith and Stradlater both perceive Holden as irritating, when in reality he tries to distract himself from being depressed. For example when Holden was in the phone
Holden never seems interested in anything that he does. When he goes back to New York, he goes to all kinds of shows and movies and ends up uninterested half way through. When Holden goes to see a movie at Radio City Music Hall he tells a little bit about the movie and then says, “I’d tell you the rest of the story, but I might puke if I did. There isn’t anything to spoil, for Chrissake” (Salinger, 139). This shows that Holden becomes easily uninterested in normal things, which is a common cause of depression. The whole time Holden is in New York, he goes out to things but ends up uninterested extremely fast. The first night he is in New York, an elevator operator gets Holden a prostitute and he is excited and felt sexy. Once the girl arrives and takes off her dress, his mood completely changes and he wants her to leave. He says “The trouble was, I just didn’t want to do it. I felt more depressed than sexy, if you want to know the truth” (Salinger, 96). Just like being uninterested in normal activities is a symptom of depression, so is being uninterested in sex. Holden gets excited and nervous when he talks about sex, but w...
In the novel The Catcher in the Rye, J.D. Salinger develops Holden Caulfield as a morally ambiguous character. Throughout the book, Salinger speaks as Holden and introduces him as a callous and subjective individual. However, the author permits the reader to be within Holden’s mind, giving the audience an alternative perspective of Holden’s true character. Without the obscurity of Holden’s personality, the work would lack a crucial element. As the protagonist, Holden serves as an equivocal adolescent that is relatable for the reader.
Holden Caulfield, portrayed in the J.D. Salinger novel Catcher in the Rye as an adolescent struggling to find his own identity, possesses many characteristics that easily link him to the typical teenager living today. The fact that the book was written many years ago clearly exemplifies the timeless nature of this work. Holden's actions are those that any teenager can clearly relate with. The desire for independence, the sexually related encounters, and the questioning of ones religion are issues that almost all teens have had or will have to deal with in their adolescent years. The novel and its main character's experiences can easily be related to and will forever link Holden with every member of society, because everyone in the world was or will be a teen sometime in their life.
The novel, The Catcher in the Rye, written by JD Salinger, touches on the themes of innocence, death, and the artifice and the authenticity in the world, while following the protagonist, Holden Caulfield, through his weekend trip to New York City. As the story unfolds, Holden, as narrator, becomes more vulnerable to the reader, and starts to express his feelings surrounding the death of his brother, Allie, as well as his feelings about himself. Holden is faced with a truth that has haunted him for many years: adulthood. Many of the qualities Holden exhibits, which he sees as negative, are those of the average person: struggle, loneliness, deep sadness. He is one of many classic protagonists that encourages the reader to relate to them on
The transition from a teen to an adult is one of the major steps in life. This major transition can be really scary. Some people are so scared of becoming an adult, that they try to keep their inner child alive. One person in the book The Catcher in the Rye is Holden Caulfield, Holden is the main character in the novel written by J.D. Salinger. A prominent theme in his novel, The Catcher in the Rye is the painfulness of growing up. As this theme is going on through the novel, Salinger weaves in symbols that Holden happens to use and talk about throughout the novel.
The second time was more intense. This time a classmate from his school. “There was this one boy at Elkton Hills,named James Castle, that wouldn't take back something he said about this very conceited boy, Phil Stabile...Finally, what he did instead of taking back what he said, he jumped out the window...and there was old James Castle laying right on the stone steps and all”(188). In this moment Holden is in shock to see his classmate dead. That fits in one of the causes that lead to Post Traumatic Stress. The witnessing of a scary or shocking event. So far Holden hasn't been this descriptive of an event as this event that might have lead to his illness. Holden shows more symptoms as becoming very upset when something causes memories of the event. When “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 …” (217). Showing intense ongoing and fear to be forgotten. Holding tightly to the memory of his brother Allie. Causing him to “talk to my[his] brother Allie. I’d[he] say to him, Allie don't let me[Holden] disappear… And then when I’d[him] reach the other side of the street without disappearing, I’d[he would] thank him”(218). That why Holden keeps saying he is feeling depressed in certain occasions, because he doesn't know he has Post Traumatic
Many young people often find themselves struggling to find their own identity and place in society. This search for self worth often leaves these young people feeling lonely and isolated because they are unsure of themselves. Holden Caulfield, J.D. Salinger's main character in the book The Catcher In the Rye, is young man on the verge of having a nervous breakdown. One contributor to this breakdown, is the loneliness that Holden experiences. His loneliness is apparent through many ways including: his lack of friends, his longing for his dead brother, and the way he attempts to gain acceptance from others.
The “hidden layers of Holden’s mind” can be exposed by looking back “on his childhood” and searching for a “significant or traumatic event,” and “one of the most traumatic, formative moments” in his life “was the death of his brother Allie” (Bennett). The loss of a young, innocent family member is another likely cause of Holden’s post-traumatic stress disorder, drawing him towards the dark subjects of death and hopelessness. Notwithstanding his usual caustic outlook, Holden has brief moments of excitable mania that can catch the reader off guard, introducing the possibility of bipolar disorder. During some social time with his friend Sally, he suddenly becomes excited by unusual and crazy ideas, such as wanting to “‘drive to Massachusetts and
Events in Holden's life lead him to become depressed. Holden's depression centers on Allie. The manner that Holden sees himself and how he sees others leads him to be expelled from school. The speaker expresses, "One thing about packing depressed me a little," (51). Holden expresses these feelings when he packs his bags after being notified that he is expelled. Holden leaves school and heads for New York City, where he finds himself to be more lonely and depressed than ever. He is all alone and he laments, " What I really felt like doing was committing suicide. I felt like jumping out of the window," (104). Holden says this while he is all alone in his motel room. He is too ashamed of himself to return home, he knows that his mother will be upset and his father will be angry with him. He also adds that " 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.
Most readers will not being going through the same exact circumstances, however the novel is written to teach a lesson to all. Holden may be struggling as he flunks out of his third private boarding school, yet the story remain applicable to everyone. Through the experiences detailed with “The Catcher in the Rye,” the author wants readers to understand that they are not alone with their frustrations. Every single person deals with moments of failure during their lifetime, and Holden is just dealing with it during his adolescent years of high school. Furthermore, Holden services as a mechanism to reveal that being frustrated with different aspects of you life is perfectly normal.
Holden and the Complexity of Adult Life What was wrong with Holden, the main character in The Catcher in the Rye, by J.D.Salinger, was his moral revulsion against anything that was ugly, evil, cruel, or what he called "phoney" and his acute responsiveness to beauty and innocence, especially the innocence of the very young, in whom he saw reflected his own lost childhood. There is something wrong or lacking in the novels of despair and frustration of many writers. The sour note of bitterness and the recurring theme of sadism have become almost a convention, never thoroughly explained by the author's dependence on a psychoanalytical interpretation of a major character. The boys who are spoiled or turned into budding homosexuals by their mothers and a loveless home life are as familiar to us today as stalwart and dependable young heroes such as John Wayne were to an earlier generation. We have accepted this interpretation of the restlessness and bewilderment of our young men and boys because no one has anything better to offer.