J.D. Salinger’s novel The Catcher in the Rye explores the life of a dramatic teenager, Holden, who struggles with the death of his younger brother at a young age and the realities of growing up. Holden’s main conflict throughout the novel is understanding and dealing with the authenticity and innocence of childhood versus the phoniness and impurities of growing up. This conflict often manifests itself in the form of a personality disorder and Holden’s need to be a protector of innocence. Holden’s borderline personality disorder and his tendency to associate with young, innocent people instead of with corrupted adults stems from the trauma of the loss of his brother and the neglect of his family during that difficult time. A personality disorder …show more content…
is generally defined as a pattern of behavior, typically manifested by the time one reaches adolescence that causes long-term difficulties in personal relationships or in functioning in society. This describes Holden to a tee. Some characteristics of Holden that would classify him as having a borderline personality disorder are his pessimism, jealousy, low self-esteem, unrealistic goals and ideals, tendency to lie and his difficulty forming relationships with people. For example Holden states about himself that he is “the most terrific liar you ever saw in your life. It's awful. If I'm on my way to the store to buy a magazine, even, and somebody asks me where I'm going, I'm liable to say I'm going to the opera. It's terrible” (Salinger 16). His acknowledgement of his lying even pushes the personality disorder further because he is aware that he is not properly functioning in society, but continues to follow this pattern of behavior. Another large part of his personality disorder is his inability or unwillingness to form relationships with adults. Holden sees adults as phony and much prefers the company of innocent children. The only people Holden enjoys and has a good relationship with throughout the novel are Allie, Phoebe, and Jane. His tendency to assimilate with innocence is a main theme of the book, as noted by the title “Catcher in the Rye”. Holden desires to be a protector of innocence and a protector of children (who he sees as innocent). There are many possibilities to why Holden has a personality disorder and why he desires to be a protector of the innocent, but perhaps the most prominent is because of the loss of his brother Allie.
Holden loved Allie and admired him a lot. He states, “but it wasn't just that he was the most intelligent member in the family. He was also the nicest, in lots of ways. He never got mad at anybody” (Salinger 42). In a way, Allie symbolizes innocence and goodness to Holden, and his death to something so unpreventable showed him just how easily innocence can be taken away. This contributes to his desire to be a protector of innocence. In addition to losing Allie, which was a traumatic enough experience for Holden, his parents were consumed in their own grief and failed to help Holden properly deal with the intense feelings he had. As seen in the following quote, Holden had a very dramatic reaction to the death of his brother, Allie. I was only thirteen, and they were going to have me psychoanalyzed and all, because I broke all the windows in the garage. I don’t blame them. I really don’t. I slept in the garage that night he died, and broke all the goddam windows with my fist, just for the hell of it. I even tried to break all the windows on the station wagon we had that summer, but my hand was broken and everything by that time, and so I couldn’t do it. It was a very stupid thing to do, I’ll admit, but I hardly even knew I was doing it, and you didn’t know Allie (Salinger
42). These intense feelings at a young age with no healthy coping mechanism contributes to the way that he acts out and treats others. This also contributed to his belief that adults are phony because they did not show any authentic emotion or compassion to Holden during this difficult time. They only threatened to have him psychoanalyzed instead of just being loving, supportive parents. When Allie died, there were several factors out of Holden’s control that caused him to have deep depression and behavioral issues and his yearning to be a “Catcher in the Rye”. The death of his brother, and the response of his parents to his grief contributed to his behaviors. Although many may see Holden’s actions as just a “typical teenage boy” who doesn’t know how to cope with his emotions, it is clear that there is something deeper there when the examples are all lined up, especially considering his attitude toward children compared to his attitude toward adults. The death of Allie is the puzzle piece that explains why Holden acts the way he does.
“I know it’s only his body and all that’s in the cemetery,and his soul’s in Heaven and all that crap, but i couldn't stand it anyway.” the quote is self explanatory in the fact that he outright states that he knows that Allie is dead but still somewhat cannot truly accept it. The fact that- -Holden outright says this tells a lot about his character in the fact that he can be too outright at times .
Allie's death was tragic but maybe it is the death that Holden wanted for himself , he wanted to preserve his innocence. One example of Allie's innocence is " He was also the nicest, in lots of ways. He never got mad at anybody" Holden valued the mitt he only showed it to one person outside his family, Jane , "She was the only one, outside my family, that I ever showed Allie's baseball mitt to, with all the poems written on it. She'd never met Allie or...
To begin with, you must first take in to consideration Holden’s feelings towards his little brother Allie. Holden consider Allie “the smartest person in their family”. “..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, though” (5.7).This means that Holden looked
When Allie was alive, his company comforts Holden because of how friendly and happy he was around him. When he dies, Holden does not know how to react, and could not hurt a particular person, so he hurt himself: ”I slept in the garage the night he died, and I broke all the goddam windows with my fist, just for the hell of it” (39). Because he was so hurt by the death of his brother, Holden releases his frustration physically rather than verbally. Also, he talks to Allie in order to feel less depressive after the prostitute, Sunny, leaves. Holden has not yet found a resolution to comfort him because he is so familiar with telling Allie how he feels.
Allie, Holden's young brother who died several years earlier, was a major symbol throughout the story. When Holden remembers incidents from his past involving Allie, his attitude changes, such as when he writes the composition about Allie's baseball glove or when Holden broke his hand after punching all of the windows after Allie died. "I slept in the garage the night he died, and I broke all the goddam windows with my fist, just for the hell of it". (39) He feels that Allie was one of the few people who were not phony in a world full of phonies. More importantly, Allie represents the innocence and childhood that Holden strives to find throughout his three-day journey. In Holden's opinion, Allie represents the purity that Holden looks for in the world. Holden admits that he admires Allie more than he admires Jesus, and even prays to Allie at one point, rather than Jesus. Allie is Holden's role model, whom he judges the rest of the world according to. When Allie dies, it creates turbulence in Holden's life.
One of the most impactful events in Holden’s past is the death of his brother. Jos death definitely took a big piece of Holden’s innocence. One of the main causes of his depression is the death of Allie’s and it had a tremendous impact on his life. Allie inset rarely mentioned, his passing had a great impact on Holden. Leukemia took is younger brothers innocents and this deeply saddened him and he promise himself to that he would do whatever he could not to let that happen to other innocent kids. “I slept in the garage the night he died, and I broke all the goddam windows with my fist, just for the hell of it. It was a very stupid thing to do, I’ll admit, but I hardly didn’t even know I was doing it, and you didn’t know Allie”
for Allie and knew that if anyone could save him, Allie could. During one incident, Holden
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.
However, his feelings suggest that the true reason for his depression is his loss of innocence. When he was 13 years old, he lost his little brother Allie to leukemia. Allie meant a lot to Holden. He even became a symbol in the book. Allie is the one who keeps Holden from falling off the cliff, he’s the reason that he hasn’t lost his innocence yet.
Holden’s little brother, Allie, also influences a lot on him. For example, Holden states, “…You’d have liked him. He was two years younger than I was, but he was about fifty times as intelligent…He was also the nicest member of the family in lots of ways. He never got mad at anybody…” Holden always thinks of his brother Allie as a good and intelligent boy. When Holden thinks about Allie, Holden shows his love for him and how much he likes him. Another important scene is when Holden says, “…I kept walking and walking up Fifth Avenue…Then all of a sudden, something very spooky started happening. Every time I came to the end of a block and stepped off the goddam curb, I had this feeling that I’d never get to the other side of the street.
If there were one word to tell what the theme of the book was it would be innocence. How we are all innocent at some point, how to try to keep our innocence, and how no one can keep their innocence forever. We all fall from our innocence. Adam and Eve fell from grace and innocence and set the tone for all of our lives. Throughout the whole book Holden is trying to make people keep their innocence and he wants to hold onto it himself. What he needs to learn and does learn through the course of the book is that no one can keep his or her innocence. We all fall at some point, but what we have control over is how hard we fall.
One of the relationships that is mentioned within the story, is Holden's relationship with Allie, his brother. Holden loves Allie and is very upset about his passing and how Allie was so young. According to Holden, Allie was one of the most lovable people ever. "You'd have liked him... He was terrifically intelligent . . . But it wasn't just that he was the most intelligent member in the family. He was also the nicest" (Salinger 38). Allie’s death caused Holden to have trouble and be unable to form relationships and bonds because he is afraid the people he meets and gets close to are going to leave him like Allie did.
Holden wished that Allie did not die. Melinda Smith and Jeanne Segal said that some of the signs and symptoms of depression are “Sadness or Hopelessness, poor school performance, and feelings of worthlessness and guilt” (2). Holden had to deal with guilt when he couldn't come to Allie’s funeral since, he was in the hospital. Holden feels guilty for not going and he mourns Allie everyday since his death. According to the article Depression, “Depression differs from grief, bereavement or mourning, which are appropriate emotional responses to the loss of loved persons or objects” (1). In conclusion, Allie’s death played a huge part in Holden’s
Holden has a near obsession with the death of his younger brother Allie, who died at age thirteen due to leukemia. Holden had punched and broke all the windows in the garage out of anger; he says that his hands still hurt from the incident. Throughout the novel, Holden dwells on Allies’ death. From Holden's thoughts, it is obvious that he loves and misses Allie. In order to hold on to his brother and to minimize the pain of his loss, Holden brings Allie's baseball mitt along with him where ever he goes. The mitt has additional meaning and significance for Holden because Allie had written poetry, which Holden reads, from the baseball mitt. Towards the end of the book, Holden proves again that he can’t cope with death. Phoebe, his younger sister, is putting him on the spot by asking him what he likes, but Holden can only think of two nuns and a boy, James W. Castle. James W. Castle was a boy who Holden had lent his sweater to, Castle died unfortunately by being thrown out of a window wearing Holden’s sweater. Another thing that haunts Holden is the fact that during roll call in class, his last name always is called after Castles’ last name. After the brief moment of reminiscing, Holden irritates Phoebe by saying, “I like Allie…”. He has trouble acknowledging the death of his brother.
Growing up and becoming mature can be an intimidating experience; it is difficult to let go of one’s childhood and embrace the adult world. For some people, this transition from youthfulness to maturity can be much more difficult than for others. These people often try to hold on to their childhood as long as they can. Unfortunately, life is not so simple. One cannot spend their entire life running from the responsibilities and hardships of adulthood because they will eventually have to accept the fact that they have a role in society that they must fulfill as a responsible, mature individual. The novel “The Catcher in the Rye” by J.D. Salinger follows the endeavours of Holden Caulfield, a sixteen-year-old teenage boy who faces a point in his life where he must make the transition from childhood to adulthood. In an attempt to retain his own childhood, he begins hoping to stop other young children from growing up and losing their innocence as well. As indicated by the title, “The Catcher in the Rye” is a book that explores a theme involving the preservation of innocence, especially of children. It is a story about a boy who is far too hesitant to grow up, and feels the need to ensure that no one else around him has to grow up either. His own fear of maturity and growing up is what leads to Holden’s desire to become a “catcher in the rye” so he can save innocent children from becoming part of the “phoniness” of the adult world.