Holden Caulfield's Internal Conflicts

Holden Caulfield - is unable to cope with many of his Internal Conflicts

In the catcher in the rye novel, the main character, Holden Caulfield faces many internal problems or conflicts, and as a result, he is unable to cope with those problems. Throughout the novel J.D Salinger(the author) portrays Holden's internal problems or conflicts through his experiences and interactions with others in Pencey Prep and New York. Holden's internal problems include the death of Allie, addiction to smoking and drinking, and his failing grades.

One of Holden's internal problem is his inability to cope with Allie's death. Allie was Holden's younger brother who died of leukemia three years ago. Holden was really close to Allie, which was why Allie's death was a shocker for Holden. On the day of Allie's death, Holden slept in the garage and ended up breaking all the windows of

I had trouble with him anyway, though. "I'm sorry, sir," he said, "but do you have some verification of your age? Your driver's license, perhaps?" I gave him this very cold stare, like he'd insulted the hell out of me,and asked him, "Do I look like I'm under twenty-one?" "I'm sorry, sir, but we have our--" "Okay, okay," I said. I figured the hell with it. "Bring me a Coke" (Salinger 38). In this scene, Holden was arguing with the waiter because he desperately wanted to order a scotch and soda but he wasn't allowed to at his age so instead, he ordered a coke. After reading this passage from the book and other similar passages from the book we can make an inference that Holden is addicted to drinking. This is because he desperately wanted an intoxicating drink which was why he lied about his age but he was caught. In another scene from the book Holden was in the elevator when he had this conversation with an elevator operator named Maurice: the elevator guy said to me, "Innarested in having a good time, fella? Or is it too late for you?"