Holden Caulfield Enemies

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BP-1 Tests, Allies, Enemies The protagonist, Holden Caulfield, through interactions with other experience tests, meets allies, and enemies. Holden struggles with being socially accepted, so he tries to overcompensate to make up for the lack of social skills he possesses. Holden constantly feels inferior in comparison to others around him, and similar to Adler diagnosis on “compensation theory” suggesting, someone who feels “inferior” to other will constantly try to cover up their weaknesses such as pretending to be someone who they aren’t in Holden’s case(Compensation theory). Holden refuses to accept his maturity level and progress, so he tries to prove he is more “mature” than he actually is by having an “adult lifestyle” by attempting …show more content…

Likewise, Holden attempts to make an arrangement with a prostitute with the incentive of proving he is a mature man, but backs out due to nervousness(66-67). Holden realizes he isn’t mature or confident enough to sleep with the prostitute so ends up attempting to maintain a conversation with her for his time being. Holden’s love interest, Sally Hayes, is an ally who helps Holden begin to emotionally open up and trust her throughout their time spent together over the Summer break. Likewise, Holden becomes his own worst enemy due to his “black and white thinking” that forms his negative outlook on the world, causing coping challenges that further contribute to his crippling mental state. Ph.D Glenn Geher would reiterate that Holden posses the quality of this form of thinking because Holden simply tried to categorize aspects of the world or his life as “good or bad” without taking into consideration the natural fluctuation in mental state. The bullies Holden encounters such as Morease, who blackmail him into paying more for the prostitute put a strain on personal growth and his ability to form confidence (103). Holden is unable to stand up for himself because he doesn’t have the strength physically or emotionally to try to be able to defend …show more content…

Holden’s thoughts emphasized to the reader that he is state of mind is very disoriented and so Holden comes off as unsure of his opinions causing contradictions. Critics of the book highly disagree on why Holden comes of as contradicting throughout the novel. Dan Porter suggested Holden acts in a hypocritical manner to avoid taking responsibility for his actions (goodreads). I disagree with the perspective that being hypocritical has a correlation to him avoiding taking responsibility but his mental health is large aspect of him avoiding responsibility. While I will admit that Holden did have actions that cause contradictions and could be even referenced as being hypocritical, Holden doesn’t take responsibility for his actions because of the feelings of depression he experiences that distort his judgement making it difficult for him to efficiently progress throughout the novel to reach his goals. In addition, after being beat up and taken advantage Holden remarked how he feels suicide. “What I really felt like,though,was committing suicide...I was all gory” (104). Holden struggling to maintain good mental health eventually leads to his downfall. His mental state makes it difficult for him to succeed and motivate himself to do well when he sees so much negativity. Holden has emotional response after agreeing to take sister's Christmas money

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