Catcher In The Rye Love

There are great sorrows buried within everyone; some choose to move on and others choose to mask their sadness. In the book The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, the main character Holden Caulfield initially gives the impression of an careless and rebellious teenager, and his behavior and attitude cause him much trouble. However, as the story progresses, he begins to show his softer side and becomes very loving. Love can be expressed in many ways, and for Holden, he shows his affection by constantly thinking about the people precious to him. Because he cares about them so much, they strongly influence his decisions and actions, for good or for bad. Therefore, he is best described as a "loving" character because of his vivid remembrance

of his deceased brother Allie; furthermore, Holden’s grief over his beloved brother’s death is so great that it overwhelms him and drives him on the brink of insanity.
Though Allie has passed away, Holden clearly remembers many specific details of his brother and guards Allie’s greatest treasure.

For instance, when Holden first mentions him in the book, he recalls that Allie “never got mad at anybody...had very red hair...[and] was left-handed,” but he “got leukemia and died when [they] were up in Maine, on July 18, 1946” (Salinger, 38). Even four years after his brother’s death, Holden still vividly remembers the exact date, location, and cause of Allie’s death because his passing obviously holds great importance and significance to him. Also, Holden even recalls the best aspect of his personality, his patience, and his prominent physical trait, his bright hair. From his thorough remembrance of Allie, the narrator clearly treasures his brother, and he also carries with him a memento of his sibling wherever he goes, a baseball mitt. Holden says that his “brother Allie had this left -handed fielder’s mitt..that had poems written all over...in green ink. He wrote them on it so that he’d have somebody to read when he was in the field” (Salinger, 38). Holden even keeps the mitt with him in his suitcase. Once again, he clearly recalls specific details about his brother’s glove, from the green ink to the purpose of writing the poems on it. He even carries it with him as a constant memory of his sibling. Because of his vivid remembrance of Allie and safeguard of his brother’s keepsake, Holden proves himself to be a loving person at

heart.
However, his strong affection for his brother collides with the fact that Allie has passed away, and Holden becomes trapped in his grief and pushed towards insanity.

The day that his brother died, the narrator “broke all the windows in the garage” and “slept in the garage”; even now, his “hand still hurts [him] once in a while...and [he] can’t make a real fist anymore” (Salinger, 39). Because he loved his brother so much, Holden was heartbroken by Allie’s death, and he ruined his hand out of grief. However, he does not care about the damage to himself and does not regret breaking it; to him, Allie’s death was a much greater loss than his marred hand. All of Holden’s revolt shows that he is unable to accept the fact that Allie has passed away, which is why he begins to have hallucinations of his brother reappearing. He confesses, “I’d make believe I was talking to my brother Allie. I’d say to him ‘Allie, don’t let me disappear...’ And then when I’d reach the other side of the street without disappearing, I’d thank him” (Salinger, 198). Holden misses Allie, who has disappeared from the physical world after his death, so he fears dying and disappearing just as his brother did years ago. Therefore, he has developed a trauma, or a neurosis in psychoanalytic terms, from his brother’s death, which causes his hallucinations and irrational fears. Luckily, when the author tells this past occurrence, he realizes that his behavior was eccentric and odd; most likely, he later becomes

psychoanalyzed and gets over his neurosis. Holden’s creates a knot within himself because of his beloved brother Allie’s death; his love is so great that it causes his health to deteriorate.
Therefore, because of how much he treasures the memories and mementos of his beloved brother and his self-harm inflicted due to Allie’s death, Holden shows that he is a loving character. Not only does he constantly reminisce his time with Allie and carry around his brother’s treasured glove, but he also becomes traumatized from the grief of losing his brother. He never directly proclaims “I love Allie” in his narrative, but Holden’s actions say more than any words ever could. Fortunately, Holden overcomes his grief of losing a loved one and shows that he has regained his rationality after being spending time with a psychoanalyst. In the end, love can be both constructive and destructive; Holden had precious times with his brother but also received horrible scars from Allie’s death.