Laila Khonsari Ms. Zindulis Introduction to Literature & Composition 4 December 2023 Holden’s Experience of Grief Kicked out of three boarding schools and alienated from his family, Holden Caulfield, the main protagonist in J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye, is a troubled teenage soul. His deep depression stems from the death of his brother Allie, which propels him down a painful path of grief and self-discovery. Holden’s experience of grief demonstrates that in order to take care of his mental health and reach a place of acceptance where he can feel happy again, he needs to stop attempting to numb his emotions and isolate himself from those who love him. Holden’s reaction to Allie’s death is raw and visceral, as his sadness morphs into …show more content…
Holden has an extremely hard time living with the weight of his emotions; instead of talking about how he feels, he buries them deep inside of himself. Holden describes packing “a snowball with [his] bare hands” (36), similar to how he deals with his painful emotions. His “bare hands” (36) represent the same weapon he used to break all the windows in his garage the first night of Allie’s death, and feeling the pain of the frigid snow on his exposed hands is a sharp reminder of his grief. In response to this pain, he starts to throw the snowball at a parked car but changes his mind because the “car looked so nice and white” (36). Holden quickly refrains from throwing the snowball because he does not want to ruin something pure and beautiful. Instead, he begins “packing [the snowball] harder” (36), symbolizing the action of him packing his emotions deep down inside of him. The connection between the snowball and Holden’s feelings serves as a metaphor for his inner conflict and his inability to enclose his own weakness and shield himself from the world around …show more content…
The Holden realizes that the carousel continues to move up and down without coming to a halt, like the ups and downs of life. By embracing this metaphor, Holden accepts the necessity to keep moving forward and pushing past this low point in his life. When it begins to rain, instead of feeling pain in his hand like before, Holden sits “around on the bench for quite awhile” (212) and “[gets] soaked” (213). But this time, he “didn’t care” because “[he] felt so damn happy” (213). Holden’s hand being pain free reveals that he is finally coming to terms with Allie’s death. The carousel scene highlights not only the inevitability of change but also the possibility of healing and enjoying life in the future despite the rain or sadness of his loss. This understanding allows Holden to throw away his unhealthy coping mechanisms and finally accept Allie’s death. As the novel closes, the evolution of Holden’s character shows tremendous growth during adolescence. The death of his brother forces Holden to face the hard realities of life and
In J.D. Salinger’s novel The Catcher in The Rye Salinger writes about the main character Holden Caulfield and his life. Holden is a teenager who comes from a wealthy family, he loves his family and lives very happy until the death of his brother Allie. After his brother died Holden becomes troubled, being kicked out of school again and again developing a negative view of the world. Holden throughout the book shows anger,denial, and acceptance over the loss of his brother.
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.
The catcher in the rye by J.D. Salinger is about a boy named Holden Caulfield and his struggles in one part of his life. Holden seem very normal to people around him and those he interacts with. However, Holden is showing many sighs of depression. A couple of those signs that are shown are: trouble sleeping, drinking, smoking, not eating right, and he talk about committing suicide a couple times during the book. On top of that Holden feel alienated plus the death of Holden’s brother Allie left Holden thinking he and no where to go in life.
When Allie was alive, his company comforts Holden because of how friendly and happy he was around him. When he dies, Holden does not know how to react, and could not hurt a particular person, so he hurt himself: ”I slept in the garage the night he died, and I broke all the goddam windows with my fist, just for the hell of it” (39). Because he was so hurt by the death of his brother, Holden releases his frustration physically rather than verbally. Also, he talks to Allie in order to feel less depressive after the prostitute, Sunny, leaves. Holden has not yet found a resolution to comfort him because he is so familiar with telling Allie how he feels.
First, Holden attempts to cope with the loss of his brother Allie, but continues to feel depressed and alone. As a result of Allie’s death, it immediately affected Holden and his actions. This is where his anger began to develop. His immediate response was to lash out despite the consequences he would face. Later he would find out that consequence would be not attending the funeral. His parents “were going to have [him] psychoanalyzed and all, because [he] broke all the windows in the garage” (Salinger 44). Also, Holden breaking his hand could have been a cry for attention and his regret. At one point he had wished his brother was dead, but then when he actually died Holden was devastated. By lashing out and injuring his hand he was full of anger, but also “he received the attention and sympathy which were denied him during Allie's illness” (Miller).
The Catcher in the Rye revolves around Holden Caulfield, the protagonist of the novel, and his disillusionment. Holden’s disillusionment illustrates that he has a problem accepting such. Aforesaid is based upon multiple factors, most which have brought Holden lasting traumas. A remedy is required for Holden to accept his disillusionment and enable an improvement of his situation. For Holden’s remedy, the consultation of psychologists, and additional specialized health professionals would be the core of an apt remedy for Holden’s psychological and physiological state based upon the numerous causes of such and the everlasting trauma of some of the determinants of aforesaid situation. The origins of Holden’s disillusionment revolved mainly around the death of his younger brother Allie three years ago, of which he still experiences the trauma to this day. His disillusionment is caused by both
Early in the book, while Holden is still in Pencey, he takes a snowball and something quite odd and remarkable. Holden picks up snow, makes a snowball, looks at a car, gets ready to throw it, but he doesn’t because “the car looks so nice and white” (Salinger 36). Holden then decided he should throw it at a fire hydrant “but, it looked too nice and white, too” (Salinger 36). Both of these things were too perfect for Holden to destroy. If Holden didn’t want things to stay the same, he would have thrown the snowball maybe not at the car, but at least the fire hydrant. Holden then attempted to get on the bus, but the bus driver said he couldn’t take the snowball on the bus. Holden said, “I wasn’t going to chuck it at anybody, but he wouldn’t believe me” (Salinger 37). Holden seems to have respect for nature according to this story about him and his way of thinking. It could very well be the f...
One of the best known novels in English-speaking countries, J.D Salinger’s Catcher In The Rye deals with Holden Caulfield’s past trauma which is the triggering factor in his depression, anxiety and alienation. Holden tells an unnamed person what has happened in the three days prior to his mental breakdown. Through Holden’s relatable characteristics and Salinger’s narrative treatment, the book continues to engage audiences across generations.
Catcher in the Rye is one of the most famous books in American literature. Written by J. D. Salinger, it captures the epitome of adolescence through Salinger’s infamous anti-hero, Holden Caulfield. Holden Caulfield learns about himself and his negative tendencies, and realizes that if he does not do something to change his perspective, he may end up like his acquaintance James Castle whom he met at Elkton Hills. Holden tries to find help to mend his outlook on life through Mr. Antolini so he does not end up like James, who did not want to face the problems he created for himself. This is proven by the similarities between James Castle and Holden, Mr. Antolini’s willingness to try and help Holden, and Holden’s future being forecasted by James.
The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger is an enthralling and captivating novel about a boy and his struggle with life. The teenage boy ,Holden, is in turmoil with school, loneliness, and finding his place in the world. The author J.D. Salinger examines the many sides of behavior and moral dilemma of many characters throughout the novel. The author develops three distinct character types for Holden the confused and struggling teenage boy, Ackley, a peculiar boy without many friends, and Phoebe, a funny and kindhearted young girl.
The Catcher in the Rye has been described, analyzed, rebuffed, and critiqued over the years. Each writer expresses a different point of view: It is a story reflecting teen-ager's talk--thoughts-emotions--actions; or angst. I believe it is an adult's reflection of his own unresolved grief and bereavements. That adult is the author, J.D. Salinger. He uses his main character, Holden, as the voice to vent the psychological misery he will not expose -or admit to.
The Catcher in the Rye by J.D Salinger is a coming-of-age novel set in New York during the 1940’s. Holden Caulfield, the protagonist of the story, is a detached seventeen-year old boy harboring feelings of isolation and disillusionment. He emphasizes a general dislike for society, referring to people as “phonies.” His lack of will to socialize prompts him to find nearly everything depressing. He’s alone most of the time and it’s apparent that he is very reclusive. This often leads him to pondering about his own death and other personal issues that plague him without immediate resolution. Holden possesses a strong deficit of affection – platonic and sexual – that hinders and cripples his views toward people, his attitude, and his ability to progressively solve his problems without inflicting pain on himself. The absence of significant figures in his life revert him to a childlike dependency and initiate his morbid fascination with sexuality. In this novel, Salinger uses Sunny, Sally Hayes, and Carl Luce to incorporate the hardships of discovering sexual identity and how these events affect adolescents as they try to understand their own sexuality.
In J.D. Salinger’s controversial 1951 novel The Catcher in the Rye, the main character is Holden Caulfield. When the story begins Holden at age sixteen, due to his poor grades is kicked out of Pencey Prep, a boys’ school in Pennsylvania. This being the third school he has been expelled from, he is in no hurry to face his parents. Holden travels to New York for several days to cope with his disappointments. As James Lundquist explains, “Holden is so full of despair and loneliness that he is literally nauseated most of the time.” In this novel, Holden, a lonely and confused teenager, attempts to find love and direction in his life. Holden’s story is realistic because many adolescent’s face similar challenges.
Many young people often find themselves struggling to find their own identity and place in society. This search for self worth often leaves these young people feeling lonely and isolated because they are unsure of themselves. Holden Caulfield, J.D. Salinger's main character in the book The Catcher In the Rye, is young man on the verge of having a nervous breakdown. One contributor to this breakdown, is the loneliness that Holden experiences. His loneliness is apparent through many ways including: his lack of friends, his longing for his dead brother, and the way he attempts to gain acceptance from others.
Lies, failure, depression, and loneliness are only some of the aspects that Holden Caulfield goes through in the novel The Catcher in the Rye written by J.D. Salinger. Salinger reflects Holden’s character through his own childhood experiences. Salinger admitted in a 1953 interview that "My boyhood was very much the same as that of the boy in the book.… [I]t was a great relief telling people about it” (Wikipedia). Thus, the book is somewhat the life story of J.D. Salinger as a reckless seventeen-year-old who lives in New York City and goes through awful hardships after his expulsion and departure from an elite prep school. Holden, the protagonist in this novel, is created as a depressed, cynical, and isolated character and he expresses this attitude through his dialogue, tone, and diction.