Acts of aggression and violent thoughts can cause psychological problems or disorders. In J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye the protagonist, Holden Caulfield, struggles against various recurring psychological problems such as alienation, intense depression, lack of responsibility, and a deep concern for the preservation of innocence against adulthood. Holden faces many obstacles whilst isolated that gradually start to tear away his innocence and throws him into a state of depression. It is not until he is reunited with his sister, who he believes to be pure and has yet to lose her innocence, when he overcomes these feelings of misery and isolation. In the novel, Mr. Antolini quotes world renowned author and psychoanalyst Wilhelm Stekel, …show more content…
stating, “The mark of the immature man is that he wants to die nobly for a cause, while the mark of the mature man is that he wants to live humbly for one” (Salinger 188). In accordance with the deeper meaning of the novel, the use of this quote proves that one’s resistance to mature can lead to rash actions and extreme thoughts, as well as episodes of sub-psychotic rage; whilst enduring the multifarious difficulties presented to him, Holden acts on a violent impulse and creates thoughts of depression and negative vehemence while trying to preserve his and others’ innocence. In order to maintain the remaining innocence Holden possesses, and the innocent views he has of others, Holden acts out of aggression, performing violent actions or speaking harshly without the concern of other’s feelings or actions.
On a few occasions, when the innocence of one dear to him or his own innocence is threatened, Holden looks to his anger and aggression to solve problems. The most notable account being when Stradlater discusses with Holden the events of the night he had just spent with Jane Gallagher, Holden’s childhood friend. Holden becomes enraged during the encounter and tells the reader, “[...] I tried to sock him, with all my might […]” (Salinger 43). Holden has a perfect image of Jane kept from his childhood memories made with her, memories from when they were both considered pure and innocent. When he hears of the actions Stradlater and Jane performed, he begins to lose that innocent image of her, forcing him to act out of aggression, his only way he can really express his thoughts. This aggression not only prevents Holden from fully maturing, it also leaves him with a feeling of utter depression and isolation: “People who express too much anger often end up feeling alone and distant from others because their sullen, hostile, or sarcastic behavior can make people turn away from them” (Scheingold 1). Holden feels compelled to protect the innocent image he has of the people he cares deepest for and keep them from reaching a high level of maturity or …show more content…
adulthood even by means of violent action. Holden’s psychological consistency in fabricating dire notions of depression and feelings of poor vehemence causes brash measures and inappropriate approaches at protecting ones who are deemed pure.
Holden’s resistance to mature and desire to keep others from maturing, constantly leaves him feeling isolated and disoriented. These recurring feelings as well as his superego give rise to impulsive actions and rage, working as a defense mechanism against threats to his psyche. An example of a moment in which Holden endures a feeling of depression due to the loss of one’s innocence being his thought of, “The salesman probably just thought she was a regular girl when she bought it. It made me feel sad as hell—I don't know why, exactly” (Salinger 96). Holden describes Sunny as adolescent, so that thought as well as the idea of her profession leaves him with that recurring feeling of depression and helplessness. This thought leads to no further sexual advance towards her although his anger and frustration towards the situation is soon present after encountering Maurice. Holden’s repeating problem with his own feelings of sorrow towards the lack of innocence directly result in hasty actions as well as his continuous
rage. Holden’s ambitious desires at preserving innocence through rash actions and aggression are fueled by his immaturity and depressed feelings, which aids in conveying the meaning of the work. Through the piece of Stekel’s quote, “[...] to die nobly for a cause “ (Salinger 188), it can be shown that Holden’s determination in keeping others and himself from losing complete innocence is not stalled by the ideas of consequences for his rage induced actions. This form of psychological disorder became the catalyst for many violent, rash, and depression fueled actions, forcing Holden to suffer negative consequences: “Psychological problems can aggravate, compound, and precipitate somatic problems [...] and depression can influence the reporting of symptoms and subjective health” (Kim 2). Holden’s inability to suppress his feelings shows his immaturity and gives the reader a better understanding of his psychological state. Consequently, Holden’s constant display of his aggression and hastiness is intertwined with the idea that he is unable to let go of his own innocence.
In his fight with Stradlater, Holden’s character is shown as a defender of innocence. He defends the memory of his brother through the report he writes for Stradlater. Because of Stradlater’s criticism on his brother’s death, Holden destroys the essay and says “All right, give it back to me, then,’ I said. I went over and pulled it right out of his goddamn hand. Then I tore it up.” Holden is tormented by the memory of his brother throughout the novel, and in this fight he defends his brothers memory by protecting the baseball glove. Later in this scene Holden is upset with Stradlater’s relationship with Jane. Holden explains, “If you knew Stradlater, you 'd have been worried, too. I 'd double-dated with the bastard a couple of times, and I know what I 'm talking about. He was unscrupulous.” Holden tries to defend Jane’s innocence and the reader is able to see Holden’s ethical code to protect the innocence and memory of others. In Holden’s confrontation with Maurice, Holden displays his detestation of the evil phony. “All of a sudden I started to cry. I 'd give anything if I hadn 't, but I did. 'No, you 're no crooks, ' I said. 'You 're just steeling five ' 'Shut up, ' old Maurice said and gave me a shove.” The scene between Maurice and Holden over the prostitute Sunny shows his emotions when it comes to fake people. In this scene he
Holden’s immaturity causes him many problems throughout the story. Although he is physically mature, he acts more like a child. “All of a sudden I started to cry. I’d give anything if I hadn’t, but I did” (p. 103). This occurs when Maurice argues with Holden about money that Holden owes to a prostitute. The situation becomes too much for Holden to handle, and he breaks down like a child. Holden also tries to have immature conversations with people who have become adults. Another example of imma...
Again, this is one of the few people that Holden likes and doesn’t consider a phony like everyone else. He talks highly of her and he sees himself in her in the way that she alternates between behaving like an adult and behaving like a child, the way he says he also does. It bothered him greatly when she asks him if he “got the ax again,” referring to his expulsion. She starts asking him questions about his future and what he likes (if he likes anything at all) and it forces him to wake up. Everyone has been telling Holden to realize his situation and put more effort into schoolwork and relationships and to start caring. Holden’s reality is very simple: he wants to be the catcher in the rye to protect children’s innocence and stop them from growing up because all adults are phonies. Again and again, being told that that isn’t plausible annoys him. He feels betrayed, when his own sister, someone who he thought would understand him, joins everyone else in telling him to put forth more
Holden's idealism is first brought forth when he describes his life at Pency Prep. It is full of phonies, morons and bastards. His roommate, Stradlater, " was at least a pretty friendly guy, It was partly a phony kind of friendly..." (26) and his other roommate, Ackley is "a very nosy bastard" (33). Holden can't stand to be around either one of them for a very long time. Later, he gets into a fight with Stradlater over his date with Jane. Holden is upset because he thinks that Stradlater "gave her the time" and that he doesn't care about her; 'the reason he didn't care was because he was a goddam stupid moron. All morons hate it when you call them a moron' (44). Holden not only sees his roommates as phonies and bastards, but he also sees his headmaster at Pency Prep as a "phony slob" (3). This type of person is exactly what Holden doesn't want to be. He strives to be a mature adult; caring, compassionate, and sensitive.
Holden experiences both alienation and disillusionment when meeting with people like Sally Hayes, Sunny and Ackley. Holden is so desperate to have human connection yet, when he starts to talk to them, he experiences them as ‘phonies’. This makes him more depressed, continuing his downward spiral. Holden is caught in a trap of his own making.
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... ...
It is made evident that Holden is enamored with Jane Gallagher, and this first manifests itself when Holden talks about her to Stradlater. “I used to play checkers with her,” Holden recounts. “ ‘She’d get [her kings] all lined up in the back row. Then she’d never use them. She just liked the way they looked when they were all in the back row.’ Stradlater didn’t say anything. That kind of stuff doesn’t interest most people” (41). In a world where almost everything is so “goddam depressing,” thinking about Jane’s minor traits actually makes Holden happy, even if it is the kind of stuff that does not interest most people. It allows him to channel his childhood, where he was oblivious to the phoniness around him. However, this silly nostalgia cannot get across to Stradlater, who is more interested in Jane as a sexual being than trivialities such as her checker tactics or struggles with ballet. This physical interest eventually becomes the root of their brawl in their dorm. Although Holden’s interrogative mood agitates Stradlater, Holden is only showing his genuine care for Jane. Unlike Stradlaer, Holden has enough sense to know that Jane, being the humble, intelligent girl she is, deserves to be treated right. So, even though Holden lets his anger get the better of him and eventually start a fight, he has reason to do
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
He is not innocent, but he is also not mature. Holden identifies with children, but they do not identify with him. “I passed by this playground and stopped and watched a couple of very tiny kids on a seesaw. One of them was sort of fat, and I put my hand on the skinny kid's end, to sort of even up the weight, but you could tell they didn't want me around, so I let them alone.”(81) In this example and others, Holden wants to be with the children, because he still sees himself as an innocent child. Although he is always reaching for a cigarette or drink, Holden has a difficult time accepting that he is no longer an innocent child. This is the foundation of Holden’s depression, which J.D salinger revales upfront. has a difficult time accepting he is no longer
In the Catcher in the Rye, Holden is an immature boy. Holden’s immaturity cause him many problem throughout the book. He is physically mature but not emotionally mature. He acts like a child. “All of a sudden I started to cry. I’d give anything if I hadn’t, but I did” (p. 103). Holden shows his emotional unstableness.
When one does not stand for something, one is bound to fall for anything. Because Holden lacked paternal figures in his life or a greater influence he took the idea of innocence as his mantra. His need to find an identity led him to find a role model in children, which led him to believe permanent innocence would mean happiness and sanity. He held on to his idea and sought out to find innocence in the dimmest of places. His intoxication with this idea and his disappointing encounters with adults ensure him that nothing but corruption is found once a child grows up. He rejected the idea of adulthood and created further problems for himself. In the process of this well-intentioned plan, Holden loses the little of himself he had. He is left standing only with a hunger for innocence. Because, to him, innocence is all and love is innocence.
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
Sunny embodies what Holden desperately wants and fears – physical affection. Prior to meeting Maurice, Holden is feeling “depressed and all” (Salinger 116) and “sort of lousy” (116). His negative feelings beforehand initiate him to make a decision he otherwise would not have made –agreeing to hire a prostitute - but acknowledges that “it was too late now” (119) to invalidate what, arguably, he commits to purely on impulse. He feels “a little nervous” (120) because sex is a novelty for him – he’s had “quite a few opportunities” (120) to engage in intercourse, yet hasn’t gotten around t...
Holden's nervous impulse to protect women seems to have sprung up in his psyche from a very young age. After his brother, Allie, started to experience more severe symptoms of leukemia, Holden notes that his mother seemed "nervous as hell." His own mother's emotional problems (Lombardi) transfer to Holden on a very deep, psychological level because he feels partially responsible for his brother's fate in the first place. Seeing his mother in such a distraught state makes him feel even guiltier. The unintended consequence of this is that Holden grows up with a constant fear that he is going to hurt any woman that he grows close to. This manifests itself many times during his time in New York, with one of the earliest examples being his meeting with Sunny in the hotel room. Holden protects her innocence, but not for any particularly noble reason. He hangs her dress back up and insists that he just wants to talk, but Holden did not do this in an attempt to be some paragon of righteousness. Holden, on a deep, psychological lev...
Through out The Catcher in the Rye, one of the most persistent aspects of Holden and the book are his obsession with innocence, and his inability to move to adulthood, which is inevitable. Holden has experienced one event of abuse yet he says, “I really hate when this kind of stuff happens, it always seem to happen to me” (213). This shows Holden has probably been abused before, and abuse as a child is likely to lead to psychological disorders. This may show why Holden is stuck in the past and wants to keep his innocence, which is futile.