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Catcher in the rye psychological perspective
Symbolism analysis of the catcher in the rye
Message of Salinger throughout Catcher in the Rye
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Recommended: Catcher in the rye psychological perspective
C.S. Lewis once stated in The Problem of Pain, “The frequent attempt to conceal mental pain increases the burden”. In the story Catcher in the Rye, J.D. Salinger’s character Holden Caufield struggles with facing his depression and reality. Throughout this novel, Holden tries various methods such as drugs, hiding, and denial to escape his problems with depression, but ultimately discovers that escape can only be found through acceptance. Salinger uses symbolism to reveal that feelings of depression can spiral downwards if one does not face their issues and accept reality. Holden’s reaction to the profanity he comes across reveals that his depression will worsen until he realizes that his fixation is pointless and the corruption is indelible. …show more content…
While walking through the city, “…the more depressed [he] got…[he decides]…to stop off and have a drink somewhere”(100). The worse he feels the more he drinks. However, alcohol has never been known to solve problems. Holden also uses cigarettes in attempt to obscure his sorrow. After a stressful and disturbing meeting with Sunny, a young prostitute, Holden “…smoked a couple of cigarettes…[he] felt so depressed you can’t imagine” (110). Holden feels dejected, but even after he smokes, he still feels terrible. Due to the fact that he is trying to escape his emotional issues instead of facing them, his depression seemed to worsen. Yet another incident involving alcohol displays the same thing. While contemplating his sadness and disappointment in the human race, Holden “…sat at [a] goddam bar…getting drunk as a bastard […] I started that stupid business with bullets in my guts again […] I was concealing the fact that I was a wounded sonouvabitch” (166). Once again, he is trying to ignore the fact that he is wounded. The alcohol’s point is to help smother the pain, but really the drunkenness causes Holden to blatantly reveal he’s in a terrible state emotionally. Holden’s attempt at suppressing his sadness using drugs instead of fronting it seems to only worsen his emotional
The first way J.D. Salinger shows that Holden’s depression is not only affecting him, but also the people around him, is...
Holden experiences both alienation and disillusionment when meeting with people like Sally Hayes, Sunny and Ackley. Holden is so desperate to have human connection yet, when he starts to talk to them, he experiences them as ‘phonies’. This makes him more depressed, continuing his downward spiral. Holden is caught in a trap of his own making.
Holden Caulfield is a typical depressive teenager that exhibits negative views about growing up. Depression is made up of many categories of symptoms, such as emotional, physical, behavioral, and how one perceives life. These symptoms, take over Holden, due to his lack of knowledge on how to control his feelings.
The Catcher in the Rye has been described, analyzed, rebuffed, and critiqued over the years. Each writer expresses a different point of view: It is a story reflecting teen-ager's talk--thoughts-emotions--actions; or angst. I believe it is an adult's reflection of his own unresolved grief and bereavements. That adult is the author, J.D. Salinger. He uses his main character, Holden, as the voice to vent the psychological misery he will not expose -or admit to.
It is a mental illness that can sometimes occur in teenagers as a response to a sudden traumatic experience or abandonment. Symptoms of depression that directly relate to Holden’s behaviour include: loss of appetite, depressed or irritable mood, failing relations with family and friends, faltering school performance, fatigue, feelings of worthlessness or self-hatred and obsessive fears or worry about death. Holden lost his younger brother Allie to cancer when he was only thirteen years old. An event such as this is can be traumatic to a young person and cause feelings of sadness and/or depression. Thoughts about suicide is another common symptom of depression. Holden expresses thoughts about committing suicide in Chapter 14 after Maurice assaults him: “What I really felt like, though, was committing suicide. I felt like jumping out the window. I probably would've done it, too, if I’d been sure somebody’d cover me up as soon as I landed. I didn't want a bunch of stupid rubbernecks looking at me when I was all gory” (Salinger,
Every person has their own unique way of coping with situations in their life. The goal of coping is,“to deal effectively with something difficult” (OED). While there are many effective ways of coping there are also many ineffective ways to cope. Holden Caulfield , the protagonist The Catcher in the Rye written by J.D. Salinger, is a character who addresses stressful moments in his life with unhealthy coping methods. According to Sigmund Freud,a doctor who studied the human mind, Holden’s “ID” and “Super-Ego”, or his unconscious mind, was at conflict and the coping strategies that presented themselves through his actions, thoughts, and words were to deal with this internal conflict. An unhealthy coping strategy that Holden uses often is fantasy.
The Catcher in the Rye revolves around Holden Caulfield, the protagonist of the novel, and his disillusionment. Holden’s disillusionment illustrates that he has a problem accepting such. Aforesaid is based upon multiple factors, most which have brought Holden lasting traumas. A remedy is required for Holden to accept his disillusionment and enable an improvement of his situation. For Holden’s remedy, the consultation of psychologists, and additional specialized health professionals would be the core of an apt remedy for Holden’s psychological and physiological state based upon the numerous causes of such and the everlasting trauma of some of the determinants of aforesaid situation. The origins of Holden’s disillusionment revolved mainly around the death of his younger brother Allie three years ago, of which he still experiences the trauma to this day. His disillusionment is caused by both
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.
Holden’s signs of depression a very strong and frequent thought out the book. The first major sign of Holden’s depression is the lack of sleep sleeping. Holden finds it hard to sleep even in the early morning hours let alone all night. “It took me a while to get to sleep I wasn’t even tired but finally I did.” (Pg. 104). During the story there were many times when Holden could not sleep. One of those times was when Holden left Pencey. Holden left Pencey so late he could not even take a cab. Other times are when Holden went to the bars and drank ...
He also pretends to do unnecessary things like walking around imagining himself with bullets in his guts. On chapter 20, page 149 Holden says “When she was finished, she beat it out of the room so fast I didn't even get a chance to invite her to join me for a drink” I chose this because this is an example of how Holden is desperately trying to talk to someone so he can vent himself and get everything off his mind. But it always seems that when he talks to someone he puts himself in a bad position. On chapter 20, page 150 Holden also says “When I was really drunk, I started that stupid business with the bullets in my guts again. I was the only guy at the bar with bullets in their guts.” This goes back to what I was saying about him being depressed and being physically and mentally ill because who in their right mind, even though he’s drunk, would imagine having bullets in their guts and blood dripping everywhere. Last but not least, on page 151 Holden says “When I’m drunk, i'm a madman” Holden comes right out and says that he’s not a responsible drinker and this also proves that even though he drinks, all of his problems still exist and the effects of those problems come down harder on him than they did when he is
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.
The Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger, portrays Holden Caulfield as a manic-depressive. Holden uses three techniques throughout the novel to cope with his depression. He smokes, drinks, and talks to Allie. Although they may not be positive, Holden finds comfort in these three things.
The novel “The Catcher in the Rye,” revolves around the protagonist Holden Caulfield as the story is told from his perspective. J.D. Salinger constructed Holden Caulfield as a cynical person who cannot accept to grow up. Throughout “The Catcher in the Rye,” J.D. Salinger uses symbolism to reveal and reinforce critical aspects of the protagonist Holden Caulfield. Three important aspects Holden acquired through Salinger’s use of symbolism are: his stubborn, uncompromising mentality; his softer, more caring respectful side; Holden’s cowardly way of acting and thinking.
According to the National Institute of Mental Health, about one in four American adults suffer from a mental disorder. This means that 57.7 out of 217.8 million people over the age of 18 are ill; never mind that mental illnesses are the leading cause of disability in Canada and the United States. Holden Caulfield, the controversial main character of J.D Salinger’s novel Catcher in the Rye, spends much of the book wandering through the streets of New York City. Kicked out of boarding school for the umpteenth time, he does many odd things: he calls a prostitute, tries to befriend a taxi driver, drinks with middle aged women, and sneaks into his own house in the middle of the night. While many of these things seem outré, some may even go as far as to say that he is mentally disturbed. From a psychiatric standpoint, main character Holden Caulfield exhibits the symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, bipolar disorder (manic depression), and psychosis throughout the infamous novel Catcher in the Rye.
Holden becomes obsessed with the idea of innocence, especially when it relates to children. He feels compelled to