What Is Holden's Trauma In Catcher In The Rye

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Recommended: Impact of world war 2 on american literature

World War II, the bloodiest war in the history of the world, as it was commencing a soldier fighting for the US army was writing a novel that to this day inspires people. As bombs fell, friends died, and as men stormed the beaches, this man carried this book through this hell. This man, J.D. Salinger, carried 3 chapters of “The Catcher in the Rye” as he stormed the beaches of Normandy. Through his experiences of the war and the trauma he experienced he felt an attachment to the innocence he once had before the war. This is vividly demonstrated in the novel as his own trauma is projected onto Holden. Holden's trauma stems from Allie's death, which causes him depression and loneliness and conveys the necessity for professional help after a traumatic …show more content…

Ever since his death just thinking about it causes Holden to be depressed and lonely. His loneliness comes from him isolating himself due to this trauma as he's still stuck in the time when Allie died and he's not moving past. Along with mostly negative emotions at the same time it causes him happiness to look at the mitt as he remembers Allie when he was alive. Also it is his last memento of his little brother who he cherished. When Allie's death occurs Holden began falling, unaware of the fact and he has never regained his footing since then. Mr Antolini describes this when he sees …show more content…

Allie was someone he loved and cared for more than anyone, he glorified Allie to the point of worship as he recounts that “it wasn’t just that he was the most intelligent member in the family. He was also the nicest …. God, he was a nice kid”(43-44). When he dies Holden passes his breaking point and never has recovered. Holden keeps everything inside, yet when his brother dies, a different side of Holden that is deeply real is revealed. This is exemplified when he describes when he hears of Allies death in the garage “I slept in the garage the night he dies, and I broke all the goddamn windows in the garage...I even tried to break all the windows on the station wagon...but my hand was already broken...I hardly didn’t know I was doing it, and you didn’t know Allie”(44). This shows a key factor in how Holden deals with pain, he would rather deal with physical pain than emotional pain as it is

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