Catcher In The Rye And PTSD

After experiencing World War II first-hand, J.D. Salinger, author of The Catcher in the Rye, would know plenty of information about post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Holden Caulfield, protagonist of The Catcher in the Rye, undergoes the grief of losing a sibling to death which in turn, gave him PTSD. Symptoms that Holden displays of PTSD include: irritability, constantly reliving the past, and his self-destructive behavior. Salinger depicts Holden’s interpersonal communications to foreground his symptoms of PTSD from the death of his little brother, Allie.
First off, Salinger utilizes Holden’s interactions with others to highlight how easily and unreasonably Holden gets irritable. As Holden engages in conversation with three women in
As Holden is giving a cab driver instructions on where to take him, Holden offers to buy the cab driver, whom he did not even like, a drink. “Would you care to stop on the way and join me for a cocktail? On me. I’m loaded.” (Salinger 60). The fact that he would use his own money to purchase a drink for someone he expressed his irritation with, calling him “corny”, is an expression of the utmost impulsive self-destructive behavior. Next, as Holden craves attention while sitting alone in his hotel room, he acts destructively. “After a while I sat down in a chair and smoked a couple cigarettes.” (Salinger 63). Considering, Holden couldn’t get the attention he craved, he damages his body with multiple cigarettes. The same as Holden, many sufferers of PTSD are self destructive to “release” emotions they have kept bottled up since their tragedy. In brief, J.D. Salinger uses Holden’s interpersonal communications to emphasize his symptoms and struggle with PTSD, since his brother, Allie, died. The Catcher in the Rye is a novel J.D. Salinger wrote this novel to educate the general public about PTSD. After experiencing World War II, Salinger created Holden Caulfield to manifest the struggles people with PTSD go through. Understanding that The Catcher in the Rye created a glance at what it is like to have PTSD, gives the audience a better comprehension of Holden’s psyche and his