Catcher In The Rye Rejection Quotes

Brandi Estes

Maggert

Honors English III

2 November 2016

A Misguided and Disillusioned Holden

“Don't ever tell anybody anything. If you do, you start missing everybody.” J.D Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye is about a teenage boy struggling to get through the emotional ups and downs of life. He leaves readers with this quote at the very end of the book as a warning. He says this to prevent everyone from experiencing the lack of emotional support he felt for so long. Holden Caulfield feels as though sharing details from his life with others opens up the possibility of emotional endangerment and depression leading to self alienation to protect himself from being disappointed and heartbroken when the bond is broken.

Although relationships are typically seen as a joyful and necessary part of life, Holden fears relationships because they

risk his happiness. He expects himself to feel completely empty inside when he no longer is involved in a deep relationship with someone. This is part of the reason why Holden has no interest in becoming close with anyone. He was also so close to his brother, Allie, and then suddenly he was gone. Holden was happy with Allie, and for him to be gone drains Holden more than anything ever could. No one could ever give him the happiness that Allie did. The depression Holden went through was so intense that he never got over it. After Allie died he will never emotionally attach himself to another person again. He becomes a lonely, depressed teenager looking for a way out of distress. Windows symbolize his depression and need for happiness throughout the book. Where did this come from, we never talked about this. Make sure you reference if it was someone else’s idea. He often looks out of windows in times of despair. He mentions his bad mood to Stradlater when he tries looking through the steamed glass. He could not get his mind off of Jane. Also, after Holden talks to Ackley, he says, “All I did was, I got up and went over and looked out the window. I felt so lonesome, all of a sudden. I almost wished I was dead” (Salinger 62). He even mentions the time he broke the window in his garage 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” (Salinger 50). It is ironic that a window is also where Holden sees the iconic red hat he wore because it gave him a sense of identity. Windows are where Holden looks for an escape out of his depression.
Because Holden never finds a companion, he is only by himself through his own journey.

He's so used to the idea of being alone that it becomes what he wants. Holden is so petrified of losing the people he is closest to, so he decides to not be close with anyone. He is afraid of the same repercussions from Allie. He would rather keep to himself than risk contentment, rationality, and stability. He for so many days after his removal from Pencey would by himself go to bars alone and try to drink away his pain. “I guess it was because I was feeling so damn depressed and lonesome” (Salinger 198). It’s during this time that Holden is falling down a dark, bottomless pit of depression and loneliness. It eventually almost became the death of him when he had isolated himself so much. He became sick, depressed, and full of anxiety. His decision to distance himself weakened him beyond his belief. “I still had that headache. It was even worse. And I think I was more depressed than I ever was in my whole life” (Salinger 252). His depression was starting to get the best of him and all he needed was to be comforted by someone other than

himself.
Although Holden wants to shut himself out, he still must face human interaction whether or not he likes it. It only takes a short amount of time before he can realize that he's growing too attached to these people and eventually will miss them when leave or even die. This happens at breakfast when he is approached by two nuns. They strike up a conversation and it is after they leave that Holden notices how humble they were, and he appreciated them for that. He says, “ I couldn't stop thinking about those two nuns. I kept thinking about that beatup old straw basket they went around collecting money with when they weren't teaching school” (Salinger 148). Sometimes he appreciates the bonds he has with people, but he turns them away for their quirks, which he sometimes regrets doing. He mentions an old roommate of his at Elkton Hills, “Dick Slagle, that had these very inexpensive suitcases… We only roomed together about two months. Then we both asked to be moved. And the funny thing was, I sort of missed him after we moved, because he had a helluva good sense of humor and we had a lot of fun sometimes” (Salinger 141-142). Holden also roomed with a boy named Harris Mackim, “But I roomed with him for about two whole months, even though he bored me till I was half crazy, just because he was such a terrific whistler, the best I ever heard” (Salinger 161). He nearly experiences yet another heartache when Holden goes out with his friend Sally Hayes. Things seem to be going well until he brings up his vision of a future with her. She tells Holden he is being unrealistic, and his immediate reaction is to insult her and begin to hate her (Salinger 173). Holden rejects the idea of getting his heart broken again and will do anything it takes to push his loved ones away if he senses heartbreak.
Holden truly is a lost boy in terms of his emotional behavior. He can't put aside his negative reaction to relationships for the better of another person. He's giving everything it takes to even interact with others because he's too emotionally unstable and distraught. He spends much of his time alone for his fear of loneliness and heartache. To Holden, a connection with someone means everything, because a connection is what he had with his little brother, Allie. Letting Allie go was never easy for him, after all, Holden is still heartbroken about the permanent distance between themselves. Holden learned that having a relationship with someone puts him in danger of emotional panic and fear that he could let someone he loves slip away again. In better words, “Don’t ever tell anybody anything. If you do, you start missing everybody.”

Works Cited
Salinger, J.D. The Catcher in the Rye. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1945.