Alyssa Valles
Mrs. Kehrmeyer
Ap language, period 1
04 March 2017
Perspectives of State of Mind
As one goes through some sort of traumatic experiences it impacts on the way they carry ourselves or how they interact with the world around them. According to Jeffrey S. Nevid, “Your personality is the sum total of the psychological characteristic and behavior patterns that define you as a unique individual and characterize the ways in which you relate to the world and adapt to demands placed upon you.” Post Traumatic experiences during childhood could lead to prolong inefficient behaviors. The Catcher in the Rye by J.D Salinger represents the life of a sixteen year old boy, Holden Caulfield and his resentment towards society. Holden’s life experiences
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His actions don’t revolve on the process of change because unconsciously he doesn’t like the idea of change. Jeffrey S. Nevid elaborates, “The conscious is the tip of the iceberg. It is level of consciousness that corresponds to our present awareness-what we are thinking or feeling at any given moment in time. 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.” Holden’s flashbacks of his deceased brother revolves around the unconscious mind. Holden expresses “God, he was a nice kid, though. He used to laugh so hard at something he thought of at the dinner table that he just about fell off his chair.”(Salinger 38). Holden unconsciously adds his brother into his life which becomes a big part of his behavior. Holden adds “I was only thirteen, and they were going to have me psychoanalyzed and all, because I broke all the windows in the garage.”(Salinger 39). Holden’s bizarre behaviour that seems so unattached to the moment would reflect a psychological state attached to his unconscious self which adds into his despise of change that he acts out aggressively. “The contents of the unconscious cannot be brought directly into consciousness simply by focusing on them; they are brought into consciousness only with great difficulty, if at all. With so much of the contents of the mind and mired in the unconscious, we remain unaware of our deepest wishes, ideas, and urges.”(Nevid 469) As holden deals with levels of depressiveness, he surrounds himself with the urge to interact unconsciously with his brother. Holden adds “Boy, I felt miserable. I felt so depressed, you can’t imagine. What I did, I started talking, sort of loud, to Allie. I do that sometimes when I get very depressed.”(Salinger 98). Holden can’t let go of the memories with his
Holden also has a negative perspective of life that makes things seem worse than they really are. In addition to Holden’s problems he is unable to accept the death of his brother at a young age. Holden’s immaturity, negative mentality, and inability to face reality hold him back from moving into adulthood. Holden’s immaturity causes him many problems throughout the story. Although he is physically mature, he acts more like a child.
He comes to some realizations, but nothing that makes him less pessimistic, making him a shining example of how being immoderately idealistic can disrupt your expectations for the world. It is glaringly clear that Salinger purposely portrayed Holden as a mess in order to show off the flaws of setting expectations above the healthy dose. If you only accept people without flaws and never leave room for air, you will always be
One of the best known novels in English-speaking countries, J.D Salinger’s Catcher In The Rye deals with Holden Caulfield’s past trauma which is the triggering factor in his depression, anxiety and alienation. Holden tells an unnamed person what has happened in the three days prior to his mental breakdown. Through Holden’s relatable characteristics and Salinger’s narrative treatment, the book continues to engage audiences across generations.
Holden’s apparent desire to be separated from the majority of his family and friends appears to have been triggered by the death of his younger brother Allie. From Allie’s there has been a downward spiral in Holden’s relationships, as he begins to avoid contact with others and isolate himself more. The reason I believe this is because we can see how immense his anger is after Allie’s death, ‘I slept in the garage the night he died, and I broke all the goddam windows with my fist’. The death of Allie has become like an awakening to Holden, and has alerted him how precious childhood innocence is, when Holden comes to this realisation he convinces himself to do everything within his power to protect the innocence of himself and those around him, to protect them from what he sees as a false adult world. Although Holden clearly fails to protect himself, as he falls into all sorts of situations which hardly boasts of innocence and virt... ...
Throughout the whole novel Holden has always been in denial of everything. As stated by Freud, denial is the “Refusal to recognize a threatening impulse or desire” (Sigmund Freud). When he visited his ten year old sister Phoebe, she was trying to communicate with Holden but she was nervous that it would displease him. She stated “Because you don't. You don’t like schools. You don't like a million things. You don't…Why the hell do you have to say that?” I said. Boy was depressing me” (Salinger 169). Even though Holden is very fond of Phoebe he didn't bother to listen to what she had to say, this demonstrates that Holden is very in denial because he got very upset when Phoebe said that he dislikes everything. Which furthers shows how he is unable to recognize that what Phoebe is
From a Freudian psychoanalytical perspective Holden seems to utilize defense mechanisms as an attempt to prevent the saddening memories of his past bubble up from his unconscious to his conscious. Freud suggests that “the ego uses defense mechanisms to prevent the anxiety that would result if troubling desires and memories residing in the unconscious were fully realized in conscious awareness” (Nevid 471). While Holden finds it difficult to leave memories from the past behind, Salinger definitely lays out examples of Holden exhibiting defense mechanisms. In Nevid’s book, Freud explains that repression allows people to remain calm and collected on the outside, while containing hateful
I believe that Holden Caulfield is mentally disturbed and shows many signs of it throughout the novel. Problems in Holden’s life that have led him to this rest home are the death of his brother Allie, his multiple failures throughout his academic career, and his distress about moving on in life. Holden deals with these problems by drinking and smoking throughout the novel. He also shows depression throughout the novel by being kicked out of multiple schools and being over-critical of people when he describes them. I feel that he is very disturbed and had not been able to deal with his problems before. Unfortunately his feelings such as the loss of Allie ha...
Psychological Problems in Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye Jerome David Salinger was a very famous American author who wrote several books. One of his most successful books was The Catcher in the Rye. Other works by Salinger include the short story collection Nine Stories, Franny and Zooey, and Raise High The Beam, Carpenter and Seymour. In the book The Catcher in the Rye Holden Caulfield, became a model of the rebellious and confused adolescent who detected the “phoniness” of the adult world. (Microsoft Encyclopedia 98). This showed that he had a serious psychological problem. He never wanted to grow up and, he also never wanted his sister to face the world. He thought that the world was too bad for her to go out to because of the problems he faced in his own life. Psychology of a person determines that person’s personality. This research paper will attempt to tell why Holden suffered from psychological problems.
This can be seen when Holden comes back from his fencing team’s trip to New York. He says “I left all the foils and equipment and stuff on the goddam subway. It wasn’t my fault” (Salinger 3). Holden continuously makes excuses for what he does, not admitting that leaving the “equipment” on the “goddam subway” was his fault, and therefore not living up to his ideal self. By not accepting responsibility, there is no clear path for self-improvement or growth, which does not allow him to manage his existential anxiety in a positive way. Along with not admitting his mistakes, he isolates himself from society by not reaching out to anyone. This is shown through the fact that when he is in the phone booth he wants to call someone but “ended up not calling anyone” (Salinger 53). This shows his isolation from society because he does not have strong relationships with friends or family, which is needed to get to the path of self-compassion. Holden does not reach out to people because he is afraid of getting rejected. This fear of rejection causes him to not be able to connect with anyone, making him stuck on the path of self-hate. Additionally, he judges everyone around him while believing he does nothing wrong. When he is at a
The negative light that Holden views the world under is a key contribution to his unhappiness. He is unable to see even a glint of sincerity in people’s actions which allows him to experience feelings of severe despondency and dejection. “People never give your message to anybody,” (pg. 166) shows how Holden no longer feels let down by people but instead expects the worst from them instead. He struggles to find genuinity in people’s actions, and in turn feels “lousy and depressed,” by nearly everything. Holden is constantly seen bringing down the adult world. It is shown he has an inner conflict between his adult and child self, leading him to feeling lost and without a place. He is disgusted by the adult world describing it as a place filled with “phonies” but, views adolescence as a source of happiness. He shows a direct fear of change by stating, “The best thing...was that everything always stayed right where it was.” (pg. 135). As Holden is being pushed out of his childhood and into an area where he feels out of place, it is only inevitable that this would be a source of his depression. Both of these internal conflicts add to Holden Caulfield’s
The origins of Holden’s disillusionment and the reason that it all started is the death of his younger brother which he was very fond of and admired, Allie, three years ago. The death of Allie is very significant in Holden’s mind since it is an event which he remembers quite clearly at multiple occasions during the book. For example, when Holden is writing a descriptive composition for his roommate Stradlater, he decides to write about Allie’s baseball mitt since it is the only thing on his mind. “My brother Allie had this left-handed fielder’s mitt. He was
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 struggles with himself mightily and cannot fulfill his responsibilities. One of Holden’s struggles is that he has a bad attitude towards everyone. For example, at the school he goes to, he hates his roommates and his teachers. In addition to not liking anyone, Holden
The 1940's were a time of nationalism. Men had to have an appearance of a tough attitude. They were never allowed to let their real feelings show. One of the major reasons Holden becomes depressed is the death of his brother Allie. He described is brother as being nothing but perfect. He keeps this guilt locked up inside him because he blames his death on himself. A memory that haunts him is when he excluded his brother from a b-b gun game. Another memory that he held on to and was never able to forgive himself for was when Allie asked Holden to go bike riding and he didn't go. Holden did not have a good relationship with his Mother or Father. He needed them the most right after the death of Allie. However, we see Holden crying out help and attention when he threw a baseball through the window and broke it and still nobody talked to him. His older brother went off to Hollywood. The only one he adores is his younger sister Phoebe. He is able to talk to her and he thought she understood him.
Mr. Antolini?s theory as to what is wrong with Holden is right on, it?s just too bad he was unable to get through to Holden. Due to the fact that Holden has already given up on himself and is unwilling to apply the valuable advice he has been given. He has lost the substantial ability to find happiness in life and therefore can?t find the energy to motivate himself in anything he does. It?s a tragedy that someone as bright as Holden Caulfield is unable to find the strength within himself to persevere in a world of insanity.