Holden Caulfield is a troubled teenager overwhelmed by the difficulties of life and the new responsibilities he has to take on, along with his disturbing and traumatizing past. Holden 's struggles grow to be unbearable, leading to major mental breakdowns and growing distrust in society and people - even close friends - forcing him to retreat to a mental rehabilitation institution to recover. Holden 's mental instability is a direct result of the incident at Elkton Hills and is predominant during the times of Allie 's death, his summer with Jane Gallagher, his stay with Mr. Antolini, and the carousel ride with Phoebe. Holden is a rebel - he is continually failing out of his preparatory boarding schools and is having a difficult time finding Antolini was Holden’s former English teacher when Holden attended Elkton Hills. Mr. Antolini was the teacher that picked up James Castle’s body and took him to the infirmary - something no other person was willing to do. Upon hearing that Holden had been kicked out of Pencey Prep, Holden recollects how “He told me to come right over if I felt like it” (Salinger, 174). Having nowhere else to go, Holden accepts this invitation and heads over to Mr. Antolini’s house, a place he describes as “this very swanky apartment over on Sutton Place” (Salinger, 180). Mr. Antolini is very caring of Holden and provides him with advice to do better and keeps reminding Holden that he must find his place in society as he does not have much time left. Since Holden has arrived at Mr. Antolini’s place very late at night, he provides Holden with a place to sleep. Moments before Holden goes to sleep, Mr. Antolini tells Holden “Good night, handsome” (Salinger, 191). At first, Holden pays no attention to this remark and prepares to sleep, but realizes that Mr. Antolini had not provided him any pajamas which meant that he had to sleep in his underwear alone. Again, Holden pays no attention to this until later that evening when he Antolini touching Holden’s forehead is the epitome of his fear of being raped again. It was at the school with Mr. Antolini that he was raped - Elkton Hills. Holden and Mr. Antolini have been very close friends and would frequently go over to Holden’s house for dinner. It is very possible that Holden was reacting to this situation out of fear, and that Mr. Antolini is simply a caring teacher who is worried about his former student who lost his beloved brother Allie in hopes of preventing another James Castle incident - suicide. Nonetheless, Holden discloses how “When something perverty [sic] like that happens, I start sweating like a bastard. That kind of stuff’s happened to me about twenty times since I was a kid.” (Salinger, 193). Holden is predisposed to exaggerating but it is very possible that these twenty times could be overreactions to his interactions with people as he is still unable to cope due to the rape he has endured at Elkton Hills. Holden 's inability to differentiate between his emotions leads to his breakdown when he sees Phoebe at the
Holden Caulfield, he is a person who feels the need to be in control. of everything in his life, but the problem comes when he finds himself. in the transition between childhood and adulthood. Holden wants and tries to act like an adult, but is unable to accept the fact he is. becoming one, perhaps because of his association with adulthood.
So he stays the night at his former teacher, Mr. Antolini’s place. While Holden for the most part thinks of everyone as a phony, Mr. Antolini is one of very few exceptions. He makes it clear that this teacher was one that he trusted and was close to. Since Holden’s views holds him back from having close relationships with his peers, his relationship with his former teacher becomes more important. While he was sleeping on Mr. Antolini’s couch, Holden says that something happens. “Boy, it really scared the hell out of me.” He says. He wakes up to find Mr. Antolini patting his head. “Boy, was I nervous!” He admits he felt very uncomfortable in the situation and quickly ran out. An adult he had managed to form a trusting relationship with, something that was very rare for Holden, had done something to make him very uncomfortable. While it is unclear, it is very possible that Holden is misinterpreting Mr. Antolini’s actions. In his eyes, it is a “flitty pass.” It is made clear, however, that Mr. Antolini had been drinking and most likely he was not in his right mind. Once again, Holden’s views and the reality of the situation aren’t the same and he sees it as a
Antolini during chapter 24 and chapter 25 because the scene shows key factors of a depressive episode. As stated on SparkNotes plot overview of The Catcher in the Rye, “ Mr. Antolini asks Holden about his expulsion and tries to counsel him about his future. Holden can’t hide his sleepiness, and Mr. Antolini puts him to bed on the couch. Holden awakens to find Mr. Antolini stroking his forehead. Thinking that Mr. Antolini is making a homosexual overture, Holden hastily excuses himself and leaves, sleeping for a few hours on a bench at Grand Central Station”. This serves as a basic summary of Holden’s interactions with Mr. Antolini. And during Holden’s time in Grand Central Station, he states in the novel that he may have misjudged Mr. Antolini. At this point, on pages 214 and 215 of the novel, Holden becomes indecisive about whether or not to go back to Mr. Antolini’s apartment. “The more I thought about it, though, the more depressed and screwed up about it I got” is how Holden describes these thoughts. Some of the symptoms shown are, as quoted from PsyCom’s article, “indecisiveness”, “feelings of fatigue”, and “anxiety”. Furthermore, Holden’s mood swings seem to be in rapid cycling throughout the course of The Catcher in the Rye, further hinting at him being
Holden’s childhood was far from ideal, with Allie dying, his dysfunctional parents and the revelation that he had some “perverty” stuff happen to him when he was a kid. Due to this, he isn't ready to step into adulthood and leave his childhood behind. This is why Holden is mostly alienated from adults and connects more to the innocence of children like the girl at the park and his sister, Phoebe. However, Holden is disillusioned with both adulthood and childhood. He already knows how it feels to be an adult; drinking alcohol, being independent, living by himself and caring for Phoebe, but isn’t ready to immerse himself in it.
... is apparent that he is a troubled young man through not only what is said and done, but what is also left as unspoken thoughts inside his mind. Holden Caulfield is, beyond a shadow of a doubt, mentally unstable. He is not classified as a "crazy person" or a "loon" but he is a young man who, as a child, had innocence and purity ripped away with no warning or mercy. Instead of reacting more positively and growing older at a young age, the tragedies caused him to year for the innocence of childhood that he knew in some dark corner of his mind had been long gone and was never returning regardless of how much faith and stubbornness he had.
I believe that Holden Caulfield is mentally disturbed and shows many signs of it throughout the novel. Problems in Holden’s life that have led him to this rest home are the death of his brother Allie, his multiple failures throughout his academic career, and his distress about moving on in life. Holden deals with these problems by drinking and smoking throughout the novel. He also shows depression throughout the novel by being kicked out of multiple schools and being over-critical of people when he describes them. I feel that he is very disturbed and had not been able to deal with his problems before. Unfortunately his feelings such as the loss of Allie ha...
Holden is afraid to leave his precious/innocent childhood behind and enter the corrupted, evil society adults and ha trouble accepting adults and society. Mr. Antolini basically is saying He’s falling down the rye, and still hasn’t hit rock bottom because he can’t fully understand adults and society. Everything doesn’t make sense to him, from adults being complete phonies to sex. He can’t understand adults which is why his transition from childhood and adulthood is very difficult and complex for him. His own actions and decisions often contradict itself due to, to opposing “worlds” of Holden. Childhood and
It is evident that Holden Caufield has specific moments where he can recall and apply them wherever he is in life. His unleashing of children and their ability to explore the world without assistance has helped him transition to the real adult world. His fascination with ducks has made him realize that nothing is ever permanent and no one can always be there for when ever one falls. Lastly, the passing of a loved one can be times of despair but learning to grow and fight the internal struggle can help bring ease. Holden has really transformed from an egoistic individual to a genuine gentleman, he has grown from his experiences and is able to tolerate more pain. The reality has struck Holden no matter how distorted the outside world is to him, maturing is inevitable and using these moments will always be something for him to live for.
Holden never seems to have a pleasant time interacting with the adults and the world they've created. Holden describes the hotel he was staying at as being "lousy with perverts (Salinger 62).” At the hotel, Holden characterizes every adult he sees as a pervert. He does not know any of them but because they are grown up he sees them strictly as perverts, despite who they truly may be. However, Holden does try to fit in amongst these alleged “perverts” but later in the novel his inability to engage with a prostitute demonstrates how despite his efforts to belong in the adult world he is still childlike. Salinger uses Holden's childlike ways along with his inability to conform to societal normalities to express how he views the adult world as something he doesn't want to fully commit to. Salinger puts Holden is suspended development in order to prove how hard it is to fully belong in the adult world, especially if its occupants are already corrupt in their own ways. Throughout the novel Holden prefers the company of children over the company of adults as he believes adults to be fake and perverted. While at Ernie’s bar one of D.B.’s old acquaintances, Lillian Simmons, strikes up a conversation with Holden. Lillian hasn’t uttered the words to Holden when he prematurely deems her “strictly a phony (Salinger 86).” Holden wants nothing to do with
In the beginning of the story Holden is watching the Friday night football game from a hill. He had just gotten back from a fencing match that had to be cut short in New York because the captain of the fencing team, which happened to be Holden, left all of the equipment on the subway. Needless to say it was a long trip home for Holden. After all of this has happened Holden gets back only to learn that he has been released from Pency and placed on academic probation. Holden was not stupid by any means but if he did not desire to learn what was being taught he refused to try. The professors on the other hand did not agree with Holden’s reasoning. Therefore, he was failing all but one of his classes. Holden had a friend that was a teacher at Pency. He was probably the only person that halfway understood him. The only problem was that Mr. Spencer was old and senile and did not have much pull with in the school board, which meant he did not serve as much help in Holden’s current situation. Mr. Spencer was always trying to prepare Holden for life. Holden rarely listened but felt obligated to say good-bye to him because he had tried to understand him, which is more than most people had ever done for him. Holden went to visit Mr. Spencer before he left. Holden was a prime example of a spoiled little rich kid who had everything but acted as though he had nothing. He had no real friends to rely on, only other spoiled rich kids who were never deprived of anything. This time was different though. This was not the first time that Holden was removed from a school. Holden always knew there was always another boarding school that would be happy to accept him and his money. This time he was not going to just sit back and wait for the next school to pick him up, he was going to enjoy himself while he could.
He hated the world for taking away his role model and he felt desolate even though he was surrounded by people who cared about his well-being. The immense buildup of emotions only precipitated him to become abrasive to others instead of passive. “I took the bag off of her. I was almost all set to hit her. I thought I was going to smack her for a second. I really did” (Salinger). Holden loved his sister, however the powerful urge he has to hit her is uncharacteristic for him. Before he wasn’t one to lash out on others, except when things went out of his control. When he was no longer in control he lashed out, for example, after Allie died, Holden broke the garage window in resentment. These abrasive outbreaks only cause Holden to hurt those around him and force his estrangement from others as well as society even worse. As most readers notice when the story continues, Holden quickly becomes a loathed character. This critic proves this as well, “A year or so later I read it in my high school English class and concluded that he was a narcissistic wimp” (Bardi). Holden was so focused on his own emotions that he had no apprehension with the way he treated others. This lead to his own failure and separation from those who sought to guide
Holden struggles with himself mightily and cannot fulfill his responsibilities. One of Holden’s struggles is that he has a bad attitude towards everyone. For example, at the school he goes to, he hates his roommates and his teachers. In addition to not liking anyone, Holden
Mr. Antolini?s theory as to what is wrong with Holden is right on, it?s just too bad he was unable to get through to Holden. Due to the fact that Holden has already given up on himself and is unwilling to apply the valuable advice he has been given. He has lost the substantial ability to find happiness in life and therefore can?t find the energy to motivate himself in anything he does. It?s a tragedy that someone as bright as Holden Caulfield is unable to find the strength within himself to persevere in a world of insanity.
Growing up poses challenges to most people at some point in their lives. 16-year-old Holden Caufield is no exception. He is an apathetic teenager who’s flunked out of many schools. Underneath the cynical exterior, though, Holden is troubled. He has different methods for escaping his problems, but in the end they just cause him more problems.
He complains about his school, saying that it is just like any other school and uses language that makes him sound very obnoxious. Holden seems to focus on girls quite a bit, just like any other teenage boy. He seems to focus on one girl in particular, a girl named Jane. We soon learn that Holden’s personality is not your average personality. Holden does seem to have some friends but he does not fall into many peer groups with the type of personality he has. Holden isn’t able to read social cues like most teenagers learn to do. For this reason, he seems to play around a lot in the wrong situations. Even his friends have matured enough to recognise that Holden needs to ‘grow up’. Holden’s resistance to emerging adulthood is the cause of many of the problems he is faced with during the