Holden Caulfield's Depression

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In J.D. Salinger's Catcher in the Rye, the main character Holden Caulfield is shipped off to boarding schools at thirteen years old after the tragic death of his younger brother Allie. After flunking out of three boarding schools, he takes a trip by himself to New York before he has to go home to his ignorant parents for Christmas break. During his trip, he struggles with the symptoms of clinicals depression. Holden Caulfield is socially isolated, irritable, restless, cries, smokes cigarettes, drinks alcohol, has hallucinations, thoughts of suicide and a lack of concentration which are some of the lasting symptoms that show he is clinically depressed. When Holden was thirteen years old he was distraught by the death of his close eleven year old brother Allie. Depression After the Death of a Loved One by Timothy J. Legg on Healthline.com says that symptoms of depression are …show more content…

He is very isolated from his parents. He has not seen them for a few weeks and he does not want to. When he visits his sister at his house, he is very careful to make sure that he does not see his parents. He is also isolated from many friends. He was not very popular at school, and when he left he was always trying to call someone or find a time they could meet up. He called an old friend named Sally Hayes to ask if she would go on a date with him. She went on the date with him, but the main reason he wanted to go on a date was because he wanted someone to talk to. When he was in New York he took taxi cabs a lot. At the end of the ride he would always ask the driver if they would join him for a cocktail. In these situations he was really lonely because he was asking strangers. At one point in the book, he was so lonely that he paid for a prostitute to come to his hotel room but he just wanted someone to talk to. Social isolation is a common symptom of depression

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