Holden's Leukemia In The Catcher In The Rye

Throughout the book, Holden discusses and makes several references to his younger brother Allie. Allie had died of leukemia roughly three years before Holden starts telling the story of his weekend adventure in the Big Apple. Leukemia is a type of cancer and almost all of the people diagnosed with it had passed away back years. According to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, doctors started to put the first chemotherapy drugs in use around the mid-1950s. Allie’s death affects Holden in so various ways during the course of the novel. However, if they were in the 21st century, Allie would have had approximately an 80% chance of survival (“Child Leukemia” 15). But if that were true, Holden would have been a much different character. Allie’s death had shaped him to who he was and essentially scarred him; he never stopped mourning.
The novel takes place during the post-World War II/start of the Cold War era. To begin with, in 1944, the GI Bill of Rights was ratified and that gave money to veterans coming from World War II to buy house, attend college, and/or to buy a farm. Holden’s brother D.B. participated in the war for four years. This decree probably

helped him. It aided returning soldiers in getting back on their feet and continuing their life in America after the war. But also during this time period, a ton of people were depressed and were drug addicts. “Over half a million civilians were using the drug psychiatrically or for weight loss” (Rasmussen). People who were depressed or had other mental disorders could relate to Holden and his overall mind-set and that is likely why the novel became so popular.
This is going to get a bit personal, but I feel as if I can relate to Holden. He is a fantastic liar and also very good at hiding his feelings. Holden and I have that in common. Throughout the book, he frequently complains how certain actions or events depress him. Although I do not get depressed about nearly as much as him, I do get sad often. It is actually fairly easy to lie and conceal your feelings from other people. In the book, it did not seem like anyone ever realized how perturbed Holden truly was. He was exceptionally good at faking. So am I; there is always a smile on my face and half the time it is completely fake. Holden had so much hate bottled up and in my experience it is particularly helpful to talk everything out. I was so relieved finding out that Holden went to see a psychoanalyst at the end of the book; I have gone to see people such as counselors and therapists and I know the psychoanalyst will help him immensely.
Location is another parallel between Holden and me. He lives in New York City and the book was mostly set in NYC. That is my hometown; I was born there and lived there until I was six years old. I had loads of adventures along the streets of New York when I was younger, going to the museums and zoos. Holden created quite a few memories during his weekend on the streets. He went to a museum and a zoo towards the conclusion of the book, too. Another location is Ivy League schools. In Chapter 12, Holden states that his father wants him to go to an Ivy League school such as Yale or Princeton. I can relate to this- my parents also want me and are pushing me to get accepted into an Ivy League school; I am supposed to aim high.
Readers are able to draw connections between Holden and Miles or “Pudge” in the John Green novel Looking for Alaska. The books have plenty of correspondences. They are both around the same age, juniors in high school. The two boys go to boarding schools; however, Miles willingly chose to be sent there. Nevertheless, at their boarding schools, the boys both show signs of rebelliousness in smoking and drinking. Also, because they are sixteen year old boys, they are curious and try to experiment with more adult-type things such as sex. Regarding that topic, they want to but they do not know how. The two novels have themes like coming of age. By the end of the novel, Holden and Miles have gained new knowledge of what life is actually like and they have matured. They both lose a loved one while coming to these understandings. Miles was in love with Alaska and Holden loved his brother. After experiencing Alaska’s death, Miles is changed and he realizes more about love and more about the “Great Perhaps”. Holden realizes that growing up is not as dreadful as he thought and he cannot avoid it. At the end of the books, as readers, we can presume that both Miles and Holden have a different outlook on life.
The Shakespeare play, Hamlet, shares some qualities with The Catcher in the Rye.

First of all, Holden mentions the play in chapter 16. He does not like it that much, but he does bring up the fact that Hamlet is supposed to be a “sad, screwed-up type guy” (Salinger 152). Little does he know, he and Hamlet have that in common. Holden was always calling everything depressing; he was very sad and miserable. They both had mental issues. Maybe this was because they both had a loved one that passed away. Hamlet had lost his dad and Holden had lost Allie. In Hamlet, he pretends to go mad. As the play progresses, though, the audience begins to question if Hamlet was even acting anymore. In the novel, Holden repeatedly refers to himself as crazy or a madman. The two main characters in these works had an awfully similar

mindset.
The Catcher in the Rye can connect to the television show Grey’s Anatomy. The carousel and gold ring at the end of the novel symbolize growing up and how you cannot possibly stop that. In Grey’s Anatomy, Meredith’s mother, Ellis, says to her, “the carousel never stops turning. You can’t get off”. The carousel symbolizes life. Life just keeps on going and there is nothing you can do to stop it. While Phoebe is on the carousel, Holden realizes he is not able to protect her from the real world and all the malevolence that comes with it. If she falls while reaching for the gold ring, then she falls and there is no way to avoid it; it is bound to happen and she needs to learn to pick herself back up. That is like the second part of the Grey’s Anatomy quote. You cannot escape off of the carousel once you are on it, meaning you have to cope with all of it and if you get hurt, the carousel will not stop for you.
Holden in The Catcher in the Rye correlates with Wendy from the Disney movie Peter Pan. In the movie, Wendy’s father pushes her to grow up and get her own room out of the nursery. He does not like the “childish stories” that she tells to Michael and John (her brothers) and because of the pressure from her father to stop being so childish and silly, Wendy develops a fear of growing up. Holden was also terrified of adulthood. Wendy and her brothers get taken to Never Land by Peter Pan- “the boy who wouldn’t grow up”. In Never Land you never grow up and that is pretty much where Holden wanted to go. It protects children from all the evils of the real world. Once Wendy got to Never Land, she soon realized that she in fact was ready to grow up. She kept maturing as a character during the trip and ultimately understands the reality that she will one day have to become an adult. Holden realizes this too. They both finally come to terms with the fact that growing up is an unavoidable part of life.