There is certainly no doubt Holden is struggling with severe depression all throughout the novel, making his many internal conflicts just that much challenging and arduous. Holden’s early life is traumatizing and complex, to say the least. In elaboration, "Holden Caulfield has to wrestle not only with the usual difficult adjustments of the adolescent years, in sexual, familial, and peer relationships; he also has to bury Allie before he can make the transition into adulthood" (Bloom 87 Holden). These hardships take an extremely strenuous toll on Holden and cause him to become an outcast as he participates in destructive behavior and has trouble controlling his sadness and anger. For example, Holden tells the reader, “I was crying and all. …show more content…
I don’t know why I was. I guess just because I was feeling so damn depressed and lonesome” (Salinger 153). Furthermore, another aspect of the novel that compels Holden’s depression is his feeling of isolationism. As Lingdi says, "Holden’s loneliness, a more concrete manifestation of his alienation problem, is a driving force throughout the book” (145). When Holden strives to fit in and feels rejected, he deals with this rejection by retreating from the world and climbing back into his shell. Indeed, Holden indisputably makes several endeavors in The Catcher in the Rye to adapt to adulthood, but when all these attempts fail, he reverts back to his old ways. "Even though Holden tries to imitate adult behavior, he realizes full well that he is an adolescent - still living in his parent’s home, depending on the parental hands that feed him, and so relieved of any responsibilities that he has an endless amount of leisure time to dwell on how lonely he is and on how crappy the world has become” (Pinsker 148). This depression consumes Holden’s life so much that he is unable to experience true happiness, and furthermore, his own personal pride refuses to let him deal with this pain and move forward. It is very common throughout the novel that a reader catches Holden critiquing another character, although very rarely does Holden critique himself. Moreover, perhaps the most significant driving force behind why Holden is depressed is simply due to his own perception. Holden believes the world and society are dominated by individuals who are “phonies”. Holden constantly encounters people and situations he describes as “phony”, or in other words, shallow and fake. Even though Holden exaggerates and tends to be slightly dramatic, for the most part, he is accurate. Many characters in the novel - from Ackley and Stradlater, to Sally and Mr. Spencer - are often phony, as they strive to keep up appearances rather than reflect what they truly believe and feel, and this deeply troubles Holden and often times leaves him severely depressed. Moreover, although Holden enjoys pointing out the faults in others, he himself is a phony, and he is well aware of this. Furthermore, "As the book opens, Holden is already well on the road to countering his own phoniness with a kind of undiscriminating, universal love” (Bloom 62 Holden). Indeed, he is aware of his inauthentic behavior from the exposition of the novel, and he tries to rid himself of this by focusing more on others’ flaws than his own. Due to the fact that Holden is unwilling to face these imperfections and, likewise, unwilling to mature into a young adult, he is doomed to fail. In O’Donnell’s words, "Holden refers to such people as phonies but he is a hypocrite because he is disgusted when people are different from what he believes, yet lies about who he himself is to strangers; he partakes in the activities he despises; and he is fiercely critical of others, yet feels isolated and desperately yearns for a connection with anyone” (1). As the novel progresses, the reader can evidently conclude that Holden’s alienation is his way of protecting himself from the phony adult world and from the connections he is unable to make. When Holden is finally able to accept these facts, "he goes over the brink into insanity" (Engel 94), often misleading others to believing that he is heartless and barbaric. Consequently, Holden’s hatred of phonies is closely connected with his protective nature. There are many instances in the novel in which Holden desires to protect not only his own innocence, but the innocence of those around him, and ultimately, "(he) conjures up the daydream of himself as catcher in the rye, protector of child innocence" (Bloom 44 Holden). Holden believes that by doing this, he will finally obtain a heroic role, and additionally, he will be able to share his state of mind with those whom he protects. As Holden himself explains, I keep picturing all these little kids playing some game in this big field of rye and all. Thousands of little kids, and nobody's around - nobody big, I mean - except me. And I'm standing on the edge of some crazy cliff. What I have to do, I have to catch everybody if they start to go over the cliff - I mean if they're running and they don't look where they're going I have to come out from somewhere and catch them. That's all I'd do all day. I'd just be the catcher in the rye and all. (Salinger 173) This dream of Holden’s illustrates his immaturity and unrealistic view on life.
To elaborate, instead of coming out of his stressful teenage years more mature and grown up, he still possesses his same childish views on life. Additionally, this desire to be the “catcher in the rye” proves that Holden is far from cold and cynical, but that he is just an extremely confused and lost teenage boy. Perhaps the best example of Holden’s desire to protect child innocence shines through with his younger sister, Phoebe. "With Phoebe, Holden is at home in a world of innocence and integrity" (Engel 44). Some readers argue that it is almost as if Phoebe is a younger version of himself, which explains why he desires to protect her so badly. Likewise, Holden exhibits this same behavior when visiting the museum. As he explains, “The best thing, though, in that museum was that everything always stayed right where it was. Nobody'd move. Nobody'd be different. The only thing that would be different would be you" (Salinger 121). This clearly illustrates his reluctance to change and mature. As Barlow relates Holden’s younger sister and the museum he explains, "Phoebe is one of those things Holden would like to stick in one of those glass cases to keep her from changing. She is this terrific, smart, kid, and Holden doesn't want her to change" (1). Eventually, Holden does evolve, and ultimately, his acceptance of Phoebe's need to grow and mature indicates that he is taking a step forward from believing he needs to be her protector and thus, his own maturation begins. He seems to truly surrender to the inevitability of growing up, and ultimately, "Holden would like to be able to keep little kids pure, and to prevent people from getting hurt or corrupted — but he can't, and he knows it, and this is what leads to his breakdown” (Barlow
1). As a result, those who would describe Holden as cruel or inhuman, simply do not bother to look beyond his words and actions and into his psychological state and idiosyncrasies. Some critics even describe The Catcher in the Rye as an “overly simplistic book” (Sutter 1), and Holden to be nothing but a poor example for the youth in society. Cruz’s response to this simple-minded explanation is as follows: "For a better understanding of this book, the reader should always keep in mind how important and revolutionary this book has been and how Caulfield’s trajectory and behavior have changed not only literary concepts, but, maybe most of all, people’s way of thinking about literary concepts and about life itself" (16). Overall, "Those who find the book nothing more than a satirical attack upon the phoniness that irritates Holden's condition are probably as disturbed as the boy himself" (Bloom 57 Holden). Although Holden may not be the most compassionate character in literature, any practical reader can genuinely empathize with him and see beyond his apparent flaws. Additionally, those willing to understand Holden on a deeper level will understand the impact he has made since the novel was written and the impact he will make on society for decades to come.
Nineteen million American adults suffer from a major case of depression (Web MD). That is a staggering one in every fifteen people (2 in our classroom alone). Holden Caulfield is clearly one of those people. Depression is a disease that leads to death but is also preventable. Psychology, stressful events, and prescription drugs are causes of depression. Stressful events brought on Holden’s depression. Holden has been trying to withstand losing a brother, living with careless parents, and not having many friends. The Catcher in the Rye is a book that takes us through the frazzled life of Holden Caulfield, who appears to be just a regular teen. But by hearing his thoughts and through heart-wrenching events in the book, the reader learns that Holden is not the innocent boy that he once appeared. In his book, The Catcher in the Rye, J.D. Salinger shows that Holden’s depression is not only affecting him, but also the people around him through Sally, Phoebe, and Sunny.
Catcher in the Rye is a complicated book about a young man going through, what appears to be a nervous break down. This is a book about the boy’s negative self-talk, horrible outlook on life, and a life itself that seems to keep swirling down the toilet. He keeps trying to fill his life with something, but the reality of it is he doesn’t exactly now what he needs. It’s complicated to understand at parts, because all he does is think of things in the worst possible conditions.
One of the recurring themes throughout The Catcher in the Rye is Holden’s indecisiveness and his indecision takes over at key moments. For example, the first thing he did once he got off his train in New York City was enter a phone booth. He knows he wants to call someone but he continues to deny all of his options. D.B. is in Hollywood, Phoebe is sleeping, he ‘doesn't feel like’ calling Jane's mother, he's afraid Sally's mom will pick up the phone at her house and he doesn't like Carl Luce. Holden steps out of the phone booth after twenty minutes, having not called anyone. This is a prime example of how Holden doesn’t have the strong decisive personality needed to get things done. The whole novel comes off as him just wasting his time and his life because of his lack of a definitive objective. This idea of Holden having an indecisive, objectiveless and procrastinating mindset is enhanced by the way in which the novel was written. Throughout the novel there is no strong sense of continuity and there is no sense of events following each other in a natural sequence of cause and effect. It seems that Holden simply has one impulse after another and has no sense of direction.
Which is the kind of world he wants to live in. Holden expresses his desire to preserve the innocence of others when his sister Phoebe tells Holden that he doesn't like anything, and that he has no ambitions of what he wants to be when he is older. Holden then explains that he wants to be the catcher in the rye. He says that he imagines little children playing on top of a hill and that his job is to protect children from falling of the hill. This symbolizes catching children from losing their innocence and falling into the adult world. Holden tells Phoebe, “I know it crazy, but that is the only thing I’d like to be” (172). This unrealistic desire is contributes to why Holden is struggling to transition from adolescence to adulthood. Critics of the novel have said Holden would like to suspend time stating, “Holden's desire to protect children shows his desire for suspending time, for inhabiting a space of young people conserved endlessly” (Yahya 3). Not letting go of childhood memories or accepting the harsh realities of adulthood are damaging when transitioning from
Holden soon finds himself searching for a record to buy his sister Phoebe. He sees this family walking out of church—a mother, father, and a little kid about six years old. Holden hears the child singing the song, “If a body catch a body coming through the rye” and it lifted his spirits. “It made me feel better. It made me feel not so depressed anymore” (Salinger 150). Holden and his friend Sally go ice skating and then have lunch together. During lunch, Holden complains that he is fed up with everything around him and suggests that they run away together, where they can live in a cabin in the woods. When she declines the idea, it brings down Holden’s mood resulting in him to say “You give me a royal pain in the ass” (Salinger 173). This causes Sally to cry and Holden repeatedly tries to apologize to her but she won’t accept it. Defeated, he leaves and ends up getting drunk. He then decides to sneak home to see his sister but make sure his parents wouldn’t know.
Some reasons why we can infer this is because throughout the novel he leaves clues that signify he is uncomfortable with changes and that he can not handle adult situations such as facing death, like that of his brother Allie. When his brother passed away of leukemia he quoted, “I slept in the garage the night he died, and I broke all the goddam windows with my fist...”. (Salinger 22/23) As a result of Holden’s actions, his parents thought that he needed to be psychoanalyzed. This supports the idea that Holden’s has not accepted his brother’s death and refuses to, just like adulthood.
The ducks in Central Park are first mentioned in the novel during Holden’s conversation with Old Spencer and they are used to teach the reader about Holden’s feelings regarding flunking out of Pencey and give the reader a status report on Holden. Throughout the conversation, Holden stays relatively on topic and the few tangents he goes on are very short and related to what he talks about. The only time in the whole conversation when Holden really blanks out is when he “[thinks] about the lagoon in Central Park” (16). Holden wonders if the lagoon will be frozen over when he arrives home and where did the ducks go if it was frozen. When Holden’s focus returns to his conversation with Old Spencer, the conversation turns in a different direction.
“Holden says that he has a lousy childhood” (Salinger 1). I think that no one can understand Holden’s world since he lock himself up after Allie’s passing. The only person that Holden can trust and talk to is his little sister Phoebe. As Holden goes through his mourning and adolescent stages, he develops lots of anger and anxiety. This leads him to lose motivation in life and not care about others ex-cept those who he cares. After Holden flunked out of Pency Prep, he plans to go to West living by himself. “Before Holden start hitchhiking his way out West, Phoebe is the only one that Holden would like to say goodbye to” (Salinger 218). But Phoebe tries to go with Holden to-gether to the West. This freaks Holden out and he says that: “I got sort of dizzy and I thought I was going to pass out or something again” (Salinger 226). Holden cares about Phoebe’s educa-tion and expects her to be in the school play, instead of dropping the school and wandering the world with him, so he strongly refuses to go to the West with Phoebe. It makes Phoebe cry and doesn’t talk to Holden for a short while. At the end, Holden gives up going to the West because of
The setting of my “Found poem” is when Holden is thinking about his brother D.B. on page 154, and when he went to war, then wrote a story about it. Holden expresses an extreme distaste towards being a soldier and doesn't understand why his brother who hated being a soldier would write such a nice story about a kind General.
All of these obstacles in his life connect to the given quote in that his loneliness, hardships, and experiences of death have led him to treasure children and their purity, to the point where all he wants to be is the “catcher in the rye” for their sake. Without any ambitions, this is the single time Holden expresses something he truly wants to do—protect Phoebe and other little kids. Holden, deprived of it himself, craves the untainted virtue that these children all hold. He wishes to keep them from being exposed to the adulthood which has brought him endless hardships and painful memories. By surrounding himself with them and becoming their protector, he fools himself into shutting his eyes from his depression. This is ineffective because he is just continuously running away from his problems—problems emerging from adulthood. The previously mentioned setbacks weighing him down are only lightened by the presence of his younger sister, an innocent child, full of faith in her brother. Avoiding his parents and indifferent to D.B., the only one Holden openly shows concern for and thinks of in his family is Phoebe and her happiness. Likewise, Phoebe is the only one who manages to make Holden open up. Holden is looking for an escape from adulthood through
In The Catcher in the Rye, Holden’s ambivalence is the most impressive thing. He has ambivalence between his external expression and his wish in inner heart. For example, he says countless rude words himself, but when he finds the rude words on the wall of his sister’s school, he is angry because he thinks it is a bad thing. In fact, as a teenager who is superficially irresponsible, rebellious and hates everything, he still longs for love, being understood and tries to help others. Various of contradictions interweave together and finally causes Holden’s ambivalence. This essay is trying to analyze several reasons that directly and indirectly influence and cause Holden’s ambivalence.
While in the city, he encounters many people who he believes are “phony.” This is one of the main reasons why Holden is afraid of growing up, he realizes that adults are phony and fake. He decides to go back to his house to visit his younger sister, Phoebe, who seems to be the only one who understood him at the time. He realizes that he wanted to be a catcher in the rye, someone who catches innocent kids before they fall into the trap of adulthood. But when he takes Phoebe to ride a carousel in the park, he realizes that growing up is inevitable, and he cannot do or saying anything to prevent
Holden Caulfield’s rough childhood events are the explanation of his struggle with Maniac Depression throughout the novel. In the novel, Holden claims that “When you're feeling very depressed, you can't even think”
“The best thing, though, in that museum was that everything always stayed right where it was. Nobody’d move. . . . Nobody’d be different. The only thing that would be different would be you.” -J.D Salinger. The novel, The Catcher In The Rye by J.D Salinger, is set in the 1950’s and is narrated by Holden Caulfield a 17-year-old boy how goes on an excursion to New York after beginning kicked out of another private school. Throughout the novel holden’s unpredictable and Paradoxical behavior point him not being a normal teenager and even being mentally ill. some people may say that his actions as those of an average teenager. I’m not one of those people, many of holden’s actions have shed light on signs of major depression and borderline personality
Holden constantly find ways to escape from the path of growing up such as escaping to a cabin or moving to the west. He explains that adults are phonies and they are so phony that they can not see their own phoniness and this is one of the reason why he wants to protect Phoebe’s innocent and stop her from growing. Alongside Holden does not want Phoebe to faced the issues that he faced while growing up ranging from sex to intimacy to death. Holden’s protectiveness is shown when he went to Phoebe’s school and sees a profane word written on the wall and Holden states, “ It drove me damn near crazy. I thought how Phoebe and all the other little kids would see it, and how they'd wonder what the hell it meant, and then finally some dirty kid would tell them...” (201) Holden’s anger come from his thoughts of how kids would ask and learned this world and how it would be the moments of corruption of innocence and departure from childhood. Holden scratched the word off the wall as an act that he wants to protect children from falling into these types of sensibilities, moreover Holden had become more selfless. To preserve kids innocent is also a prime reason for why Holden is so fascinated to become the catcher in the rye and to protect the kids from falling into the adult world of sickness and ugliness. Holdon actively seek to find ways to withdraw Phoebe from the crushing reality of growing up but however adolescence is a stage in life that no one can avoid and Holden seems to be slowly understanding the matter of that. As Holden watches Phoebe on the carousel and he thought about how the kids kept making mistakes. “The thing with kids is, if they want to grab for the gold ring, you have to let them do it, and not say anything. If they fall off, they fall off, but it's bad if you say anything to them”(211). This marks a significant change in Holden as