The Personalities and Emotions of Holden Caufield
In the novel The Catcher in the Rye J. D. Salinger tells of Holden Caufield’s struggles in life. Holden is a somewhat troubled mind, who has very strong beliefs and thoughts. Holden has many problems going through adolescence. Holden is presented to the readers as being very different in a way that other characters were portrayed during the time period the novel was written. Everyone thinks Holden is crazy. Holden’s character is very casual towards society. People think if that is so then he must also be a very big psychological case.
At the opening of the novel Holden is kicked out of yet another school. He goes to talk to one of is older friends, maybe for advice, and learns that he, himself, has no discipline whatsoever. Holden’s older friend tells him that the grades do not particularly matter. It is no all about poetry or history anymore. He told him that a lot of people have been in the position he is in now, and they have all learned from each other, and that is what it is all about. The advice to Holden was to get back in school, but Holden does not listen because he is so tired. He does not want to hear a lecture, he wants to go to bed and sleep. This visit for advice left Holden sadder and more confused than he ever was before. He does not know what he wants to do now.
Holden is telling this story from some sort of a mental hospital. He is here simply because everyone thinks he is crazy. Holden even refers to himself as being crazy. He stands out in the cold without a coat or gloves. He calls himself crazy stating that he must have a screw loose in order to act in that manner. No one really
brings into account Holden’s childhood during they psychoanalysis. His family was not very stable and he lost his younger brother when Holden was thirteen. If more was known about Holden’s childhood, then we may know more about why he does the things that he does. Such as, provoking fights and then getting beaten, or making sexual advances that he does not carry through. Another thing, Holden has a red hunting cap that symbolizes his great need for protection and also of his rebellion. Holden lets off steam and bypasses a break down by horsing around and by lying.
During the short period of Holden's life covered in this book, "Holden does succeed in making us perceive that the world is crazy”1. Shortly after Holden leaves Pencey Prep, he checks in to the Edmont Hotel. This is where Holden's turmoil begins. Holden spends the following evening in this hotel which was "full of perverts and morons. [There were] screwballs all over the place."2. His situation only deteriorates from this point, as the more he looks around the world, the more depressing life seems.
Before we can understand why Holden leaves on his journey at all, we must understand his struggle. Holden cannot find a way to succeed. Even Mr. Antolini says, “This fall I think you’re riding for – it’s a special kind of fall, a horrible kind. The man falling isn’t permitted to feel or hear himself hit bottom. He just keeps falling and falling” (187). This fall that Holden is heading toward has started with flunking out of school. Holden’s largest failure appears to be his inability to apply himself at school, which makes his life even harder. Also, Mr. Spencer is concerned about his ability to apply himself as he is failing 4 classes and “getting the ax is something he is familiar with” (4). Holden just wants someone to talk to and wants to break his depression by succeeding.
In his fight with Stradlater, Holden’s character is shown as a defender of innocence. He defends the memory of his brother through the report he writes for Stradlater. Because of Stradlater’s criticism on his brother’s death, Holden destroys the essay and says “All right, give it back to me, then,’ I said. I went over and pulled it right out of his goddamn hand. Then I tore it up.” Holden is tormented by the memory of his brother throughout the novel, and in this fight he defends his brothers memory by protecting the baseball glove. Later in this scene Holden is upset with Stradlater’s relationship with Jane. Holden explains, “If you knew Stradlater, you 'd have been worried, too. I 'd double-dated with the bastard a couple of times, and I know what I 'm talking about. He was unscrupulous.” Holden tries to defend Jane’s innocence and the reader is able to see Holden’s ethical code to protect the innocence and memory of others. In Holden’s confrontation with Maurice, Holden displays his detestation of the evil phony. “All of a sudden I started to cry. I 'd give anything if I hadn 't, but I did. 'No, you 're no crooks, ' I said. 'You 're just steeling five ' 'Shut up, ' old Maurice said and gave me a shove.” The scene between Maurice and Holden over the prostitute Sunny shows his emotions when it comes to fake people. In this scene he
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.
Since Holden was isolated from his family, in order to not get hurt again he tries to find hypocrisy in people to stop himself from trusting others. Holden feels isolated after being sent to a boarding school that “was full of phonies” by his parents (Salinger 90). Salinger’s message to the audience with this quote is that when
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.
Holden lacks the essential ability to motivate himself, which he needs to survive in the 'real' world. He continues to be kicked out of every school he attends because he fails to apply himself, his simple reasoning being 'How do you know what you're going to do till you do it? The answer is, you don't' (213). Everybody else in his life tries to encourage him to care about school and his grades but it doesn?t make any difference. From the start of the novel Holden?s history teacher at Pencey tells him ?I?d like to put some sense in that head of yours, boy. I?m trying to help you. I?m trying to help you, if I can? (14). But the fact of the matter is he can?t help him, Holden has to help himself. The drive to succeed has to come from within him, ?I mean you can?t hardly ever do something just because somebody wants you to? (185). In order for Holden to succeed he has to want it for himself. The only problem being Holden is unable to will him into doing anything he is not genuinely interested in, therefore missing out on further knowledge he could acquire that would truly entice him. Holden gives up on school because he fears if ...
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.
As Holden Caulfield interacts with others and meets new challenges, he reveals his innermost feelings throughout The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger. Some may interpret his behaviors as teenage angst, but others find that Holden reveals traits of a mental disorder. Specifically, Holden suffers from Borderline Personality Disorder. Borderline Personality Disorder “is a serious mental illness marked by unstable moods, behavior, and relationships” (NIMH). He often experiences uncontrollable rage that results in altercations and behaves on impulse when handling money. He also shows signs of addiction when consuming alcohol. Additionally, Holden has trouble maintaining positive relationships with
Within the book The Catcher in the Rye written by J.D Salinger the protagonist Holden, forces us to view him and his actions as immature. He lacks the wisdom and maturity needed to be successful in a fast pace world. Holden’s adolescent mind struggles to keep up with his developing emotions, causing him to have immense amounts of social anxiety. As a result of these struggles Holden finds difficulty in taking ownership of his mistakes leading him to be seen as immature in the eyes of those who surround him. Holden persistently acts in ways that do not fit the certain criteria our society has set for young men. In a way there is a stigma around individuals that do not act in the way we wish them too. This factor also
The origins of Holden’s disillusionment and the reason that it all started is the death of his younger brother which he was very fond of and admired, Allie, three years ago. The death of Allie is very significant in Holden’s mind since it is an event which he remembers quite clearly at multiple occasions during the book. For example, when Holden is writing a descriptive composition for his roommate Stradlater, he decides to write about Allie’s baseball mitt since it is the only thing on his mind. “My brother Allie had this left-handed fielder’s mitt. He was
Holden had a tough time fitting in at his schools because he thought of almost everyone as phonies. "`It's full of phonies, and all you do is study so that you can learn enough to be smart enough to be able to buy a goddam Cadillac some day, and you have to keep making believe you give a damn if the football team loses, and all you do is talk about girls and liquor and sex all day, and everybody sticks together in these dirty little goddam cliques' (pg. 131)." He seems to have a history of expulsion and failure at various schools because of his lack of ability to cope with others. Ordinary problems of his had turned into major conflicts with other students. "I hate fist fights. I don't mind getting hit so much - although I'm not crazy about it, naturally - but what scares me most in a fist fight is the guy's face. I can't stand looking at the other guy's face, is my trouble. It wouldn't be so bad if you could both be blindfolded or something. It's a funny kind of yellowness, when you come to think of it, but it's yellowness, all right. I'm not kidding myself. (pg. 90)" Holden got into a fight with his roommate at school because he was going out with his ex-girlfriend. He's afraid that the guy is taking her from him, even though he's not with her anymore. These are problems that are normal, but Holden has trouble dealing with them.
Holden's idealism is first brought forth when he describes his life at Pency Prep. It is full of phonies, morons and bastards. His roommate, Stradlater, " was at least a pretty friendly guy, It was partly a phony kind of friendly..." (26) and his other roommate, Ackley is "a very nosy bastard" (33). Holden can't stand to be around either one of them for a very long time. Later, he gets into a fight with Stradlater over his date with Jane. Holden is upset because he thinks that Stradlater "gave her the time" and that he doesn't care about her; 'the reason he didn't care was because he was a goddam stupid moron. All morons hate it when you call them a moron' (44). Holden not only sees his roommates as phonies and bastards, but he also sees his headmaster at Pency Prep as a "phony slob" (3). This type of person is exactly what Holden doesn't want to be. He strives to be a mature adult; caring, compassionate, and sensitive.
Immaturity of Holden in J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye 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.
J.D Salinger’s novel, Catcher In The Rye is about a teen, Holden Caulfield, the protagonist of the narrative. Holden is full of unique problems and most of the time lost in his own world, that can’t face reality. The psychoanalytic theory arranges a lens of definition when working at Holden Caulfield. Holden is seen as a lonely, rebellious teen who flunked out of an all boys private school, Pencey Prep. Failing school exemplifies how Holden controls his own decisions in the real world. As stubborn Holden is, opening up his persona and experiences to people is very hard for him, “I’ll just tell you about this madman stuff that happened to me…” (Salinger 1). From a Freudian psychoanalytical perspective Holden would seem to keep all his thoughts all bottled up, not speaking, and opening up to people. “The preconscious holds information we’ve stored from past experience or learning. This information can be retrieved from memory and brought into awareness at any time.” (Nevid 469). Holden is one step closer to becoming a better changed person by speaking to his psychiatrist, and there is only way to find out if he did.