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The Song Hurt is a promotional single featured on the album The Downward Spiral By Nine Inch Nails, released in 1994. The Downward Spiral tells the story of a man who psychologically breaks and begins a journey on a downward path to suicide, Hurt, the final song on the album, is his suicide note. Ultimately, feelings of worthlessness and the self destructive nature that Hold Caufield exhibits in the novel the Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger are akin to those Trent Reznor(lead singer of Nine Inch Nails) put into Hurt.
Feelings of worthlessness and depression are typical and routine for both the man in Hurt and Holden Caulfield. While talking about flunking out of school, Holden states that his parents will be “pretty irritated about
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it” and that “this is about the fourth school” he’s “gone to”(Salinger 9). Towards the end of his downward spiral through depression, the man in Hurt states that “you could have it all/ My Empire of Dirt/ I will let you down” (13-15 Trent Reznor). Both Holden and the man know that they are constantly letting others down and that they have never accomplished anything of value leading to constant feelings of worthlessness and depression. The man also states that he wears a “crown of shit upon” his “Liar’s chair”(17-18 Trent Reznor). After Caulfield gets into a physical confrontation with Stradlater, Caulfield states that he “feels rotten” and “so lonesome”(Salinger 48). The man feels as though he is an awful person and that his existence is meaningless. Comparatively, Holden feels as though he hates everybody and everybody hates him creating feelings of worthlessness and loneliness. Ultimately, the constant feelings of self worthlessness and depression lead both of these characters down a dangerous road of self destruction. From substance abuse to intentional self-harm and self sabotage both the Man from the Downward Spiral and Holden Caulfield exhibit self destructive behavior caused by feelings of loneliness, depression and worthlessness.
The man states that he “hurt himself today/ to see if [he] still feels” and that he tries to “kill it all away”(1-7 Trent Reznor). After the death of his brother, Allie, Caulfield reacts by “sleeping in the garage” and punching out “the goddamn windows...just for the hell of it” (Salinger 39). The man, constantly dealing with pain and substance abuse, takes the penultimate act of self harm by committing suicide to see if he will still feel the pain. Holden reacts to emotional pain in a similar yet less severe way by intentionally breaking and cutting his hand to distract himself from the death of his brother. The man speaks freely about his past substance abuse singing “A needle tears a whole/ the old familiar sting” (3-4 Trent Reznor). Throughout the novel Holden often drinks and attempts to solicit alcohol, at one point asking a bartender “Can’tcha stick a little rum in it or something?” (Salinger 70). The man talks often in the song about his heroin abuse, referring to shooting up as the “old familiar sting”, and as his “old familiar friend”. Both of these characters self destructive nature manifests itself in the form of substance abuse whether it be alcohol or heroin. Holden Caulfield also engages in another form of self destructive behavior through the way he acts towards others and his academics. For example, Caulfield is constantly getting kicked out of high end prep schools and can only pass one class: English. HIis history teacher told him that he flunked him in his class because he “knew absolutely nothing” (Salinger 10). This type of destructive behavior demonstrates Caulfield’s apparent utter lack of understanding that his actions have consequences. In the novel Caulfield also picks a fight twice that he has little to no chance of
winning, once with a fellow schoolmate of his by the name of Stradlater, and another with a Pimp, further demonstrating his subconscious self destructive behavior. Ultimately, both the man and Holden engage in various and similar forms of self destructive behavior that put their own well being at risk. Hurt by Nine Inch Nails and Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger both share themes of worthlessness, depression, and self destructive behavior which manifest themselves in the main characters of the song/album (the man) and the novel (Holden Caulfield). The themes portrayed in both stories hold prevalence in the contemporary world because many people share feelings of worthlessness and depression and at times do turn to self destructive behavior. Ultimately, because the topics covered in the song and in the novel can always find a common audience decades later they are timeless.
As Eugene McNamara stated in his essay “Holden Caulfield as Novelist”, Holden, of J.D. Salinger’s novel Catcher in the Rye, had met with long strand of betrayals since he left Pencey Prep. These disappointments led him through the adult world with increasing feelings of depression and self-doubt, leading, finally to his mental breakdown.
In the novel, Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger, Holden Caulfield is an example of a prosaic rich adolescent boy,with a pedestrian set of problems, but a psychoanalysis reveals that Holden has a plethora of atypical internal conflicts. Internal conflicts that other students at Pencey, such as Stradlater and Ackley, would not normally experience.
In the book, “The Catcher in The Rye” by J.D. Salinger, the main character is very strange in numerous ways. His name is Holden Caulfield and boy has he got something wrong with him. He rambles on and on about nonsense for the first 20-something chapters of the book. He only likes 3-4 people in the book. He smokes and drinks heavily at the ripe age of seventeen. He has been expelled out of numerous prep schools, and feels abandoned and not wanted. He has some sort of mental illness and I think I know what it is. I believe that Holden Caulfield has a mental illness known as Borderline Personality Disorder, also known as BPD. The reasoning for my thinking is that Holden’s actions match up with the symptoms of this illness and the isolation he
Holden Caulfield is the narrator of the novel The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger. At first introduction, Holden is very judgemental about different characters and seems annoyed about his life. At times, the narrator is rude and has a sarcastic tone towards others when speaking. Holden would be a friend of mine because I enjoy the company of a friend who makes corny jokes.
In summary, Holden Caulfield is a troubled adolescent whose personality, improper feelings and habit of running from his problems prevent him from receiving sympathy. Since his personality includes being lazy and insincere, it is difficult to feel sympathy for him when he fails to try or tells lies. His improper feelings depress him over nothing or leave him lonely and isolated. His habit of running away from his problems make it difficult for him to receive sympathy because he chooses not to face his problems. Holden is a character that causes his own sadness. His actions prevent sympathy from being felt for him because most circumstances are all avoidable. Sympathy will be felt for the distraught protagonist when he fixes his personality or makes better decisions. Until then, Holden Caulfield is a character that it will be difficult to feel sympathy for.
In The Catcher in the Rye, the plot shows the occurrence of depression in Holden in different ways. A few different occasions throughout the novel showcase Holden saying rude statements directed at himself. During Holden’s stay at the hotel in New York City, Holden mutters, “The whole lobby was empty. It smelled like fifty million dead cigars. It really did. I wasn't sleepy or anything, but I was feeling sort of lousy. Depressed and all. I almost wished I was dead”(Salinger 90). Holden clearly shows signs of depression as he believes that life is not worth living any longer.
As Holden Caulfield interacts with others and meets new challenges, he reveals his innermost feelings throughout The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger. Some may interpret his behaviors as teenage angst, but others find that Holden reveals traits of a mental disorder. Specifically, Holden suffers from Borderline Personality Disorder. Borderline Personality Disorder “is a serious mental illness marked by unstable moods, behavior, and relationships” (NIMH). He often experiences uncontrollable rage that results in altercations and behaves on impulse when handling money. He also shows signs of addiction when consuming alcohol. Additionally, Holden has trouble maintaining positive relationships with
Holden goes through this continuous road of feeling like a failure, disappointing those he loves like Phoebe, and acting like a child instead of taking charge of his life, but it is time to stop. Depression is a major concern today and takes a harsh toll on everyone, not only the person who is diagnosed with it, but also their family. It is not always obvious when someone is depressed. Everyone handles depression differently in their own way, but depression is a medical problem which should be handled professionally. Unfortunately, Holden let his depression escalate out of proportion, leading him to live a life full of emptiness, guilt, and compulsive lying and this is his way of dealing with his problem.
It is only natural for one to fantasize about living in unreal situations every so often; however, it becomes an impediment when that one person tries to make the dream into a reality. Those who attempt to construct imagination into actuality most likely suffer from a mental disorder known as delusional disorder. For instance, take Holden Caulfield from The Catcher in the Rye as an example. All throughout J.D. Salinger’s novel, Holden is seen trying to obtain the unobtainable; such as preserving youth or stopping time. Just seeing what Holden goes through on a daily basis, readers can perceive that he has some sort of mental malady. Therefore, one can draw out the conclusion that Holden Caulfield indeed is suffering from delusional disorder.
This is the first psychiatric hospital admission for the patient, a 17 year-old male. The subject freely admitted himself to care at 13:00 hours on November 28, 1958. Mr. Holden Caulfield arrived at the hospital in the company of his parents--whose consent was necessary given Holden's legal status as a minor--and his younger sister Phoebe. His induction took place without any incident.
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
Holden Caulfield conveys his melancholy, sarcasm, and seclusion greatly through his dialogue; his vocabulary constantly consists of depression and loneliness. He expresses such agony all throughout the dialogue of the book. An example of this would be when Holden quotes, “When I finally got down off the radiator and went out to the hat-check room, I was crying and all. I don’t know why, but I was. I guess it was because I was feeling so damn depressed and lonesome” (153). In this quote, Holden is expressing his confusion and unhappiness but mostly is just confused to why he is unhappy. He feels a severe amount of misery that devours him, all of which is shown greatly in all of his dialogue. He, at one point in the novel, feels like committing suicide because he cannot handle the pressure. He says that “I stayed in the bathroom for about an hour, taking a bath and all. Then I got back in bed. It took me quite a while to get to sleep- I...
Everybody feels depressed at some time or another in their lives. However, it becomes a problem when depression is so much a part of a person's life that he or she can no longer experience happiness. This happens to the young boy, Holden Caulfield in J.D Salinger's novel, The Catcher in the Rye. Mr. Antolini accurately views the cause of Holden's depression as his lack of personal motivation, his inability to self-reflect and his stubbornness to overlook the obvious which collectively results in him giving up on life before he ever really has a chance to get it started.
In the novel The Catcher in the Rye, J.D. Salinger develops Holden Caulfield as a morally ambiguous character. Throughout the book, Salinger speaks as Holden and introduces him as a callous and subjective individual. However, the author permits the reader to be within Holden’s mind, giving the audience an alternative perspective of Holden’s true character. Without the obscurity of Holden’s personality, the work would lack a crucial element. As the protagonist, Holden serves as an equivocal adolescent that is relatable for the reader.
J.D. Salinger, the author of The Catcher in the Rye, uses the behaviour of protagonist Holden Caulfield to shape his personality in the way he alienates himself from the rest of the world. Holden alienates himself from the society he lives in, his relationships with others and also the relationship he has with himself. Holden struggles to cope with the fact that eventually he will have to grow up and so will everyone around him. Holden see’s the world not being perfect as a huge problem that he alone has to fix because everyone else is too much of a ‘phony’ to do it. The novel explores Holden’s weekend after he got kicked out of his fourth school, Pency Prep, and the struggles he faces with alienating himself.