Catcher In The Rye Preschool

Life would be a lot more “normal” for Holden if his brother had not died. He still may have his little quirks here and there, but he would not be struggling as much. Allie was one of the few things in Holden’s life that could make him happy. Holden’s admiration of Allie may not have been as strong as it was in the book if

(Salinger p8) Not being able to attend Allie's funeral really affected him. Ever since Allie died, Holden has struggled with change and growing up. Allie's death was a negative change for Holden and it made Holden have a negative association with change . Another main reason Allie's death caused Holden to be unstable is because it caused Holden's parents to

Allie’s premature death utterly broke Holden, which makes sense as it would break anyone if a sibling died. As shown throughout the book Holden idolized Allie which made it harder for him to let go. Because he refers to Allie throughout the novel the reader gets a sense that Holden isn’t dealing with this change very well, maybe not at all. Although he did learn from this, after the death he gained a sense of responsibility to protect children, even if

Holden constantly talks about his brother Allie, who had leukemia and passed away while they were still at a young age. Asking him how he felt during those grievous time he says, "I was only thirteen, and they were going to have me psychoanalyzed

Promptly after Allie's death, Holden struggles to process what has happened. Allie had leukemia, meaning that his parents and Holden likely knew that he was going to pass long before his death. However, when Allie dies, Holden still cannot fathom the thought that his little brother has passed. Feeling lost and helpless, he retreats to violence to express his feelings. His parents recommended a psychoanalyst evaluate Holden after he, “Tried to break all the windows on the station wagon we had that summer, but my hand was broken so I couldn't do it” (49). Clearly, Holden cannot confront or endure the pain that Allie's death inflicted on him besides resorting to destroying windows and taking his anger out on God for taking away his beloved brother. Holden did this because his emotional pain severely impacted his well-being, and he wanted to express his pain in a physical manner. Breaking the windows indicates how strong this emotional pain resonated in Holden. However, the long-term effects of Allie's death still resonate with him many years later. From what Holden tells the reader, Allie played a significant role in his life. In fact, he still talks to

Holden never going to Allie’s funeral gives us insight into why Holden is still holding onto Allie. After Allie’s death, Holden still went through experiences that caused his BPD, neglect and separation. During the time following Allie’s death, Holden’s family was in great grieving, making Holden feel isolated and not getting the attention he needed to fully grow mentally as a child (“National Allegiance on Mental Health”). Holden also expresses twice, that his mother is still grieving over Allie’s death by stating his mother, “still isn’t over my brother Allie yet” (Salinger 155). Holden is also never close to anyone. He meets with his family a limited amount of time throughout the year, and is kicked out of schools, giving him no permanent guidance in his life. Holden constantly describes his expulsion as, getting “the ax” (107). He shows a continuous changing in guardians, because of his attachment to both Mr. Spencer and Mr. Antolini, both old school teachers from schools he flunked out of. He also dealt with the separation from D.B. his other brother, who moved to Hollywood, Holden seems to be very inspired by him throughout the novel, but is mad that he left (1).

Holden’s deep depression arose from Allie’s death, and at Holden’s lowest moments, he starts to think about Allie. His depression started when Holden “broke all the goddamn windows with [his] fist” (39). Holden is unable to properly grieve for his brother leaving him in bitter depression with the lingering memories of Allie to bring him comfort. At the park, Holden’s contemplation on his own death leads him back to thoughts about Allie at the cemetery. Holden recalls the feeling of guilt he felt when he had to leave Allie at the cemetery so eventually he stopped going. Allie brings Holden back to reality at the park making him go see Phoebe and eventually Allie’s death reminds Holden of why he can’t leave Phoebe. The pain Holden constantly feels because of Allie’s death drags him deeper into depression, but also gives him some comfort in his toughest times. Holden’s contrast of emotions about Allie portrays his inability to stop thinking about Allie and to accept that Allie is gone.

J. D. Salinger, in his novel, “Catcher in the Rye,” reveals how Holden’s life and relationships are affected by the death of his brother. Holden’s brother, Allie, died on July 18, 1946 from leukemia. Before Allie died, the relationship between two were inseparable. Being the younger brother, Allie wanted to be like Holden. Holden often reminiscences times when Allie wanted to spend time with him. “I remember once, the summer I was around twelve, teeing off and all, and having a hunch that if I turned around all of a sudden, I’d see Allie. So I did, and sure enough, he was sitting on his bike outside the fence.” (explain).

Holden experiences extreme difficulty accepting his current realities and one of the main factors causing this is the lasting negative impact his brother Allies death had on his life. Firstly, when Holden decides to leave his school, he tells readers , “I don’t care if it’s a sad goodbye or a bad goodbye, but when I leave a place, I like to know I’m leaving it. If you don’t, you feel even worse” (Salinger, 4). Holden’s need for closure is evident in this quote. When Allie died, it was very unexpected and he was not prepared to let him go, resulting in his denial that his brother is actually

Death is a concept to which Holden is no stranger. He speaks lovingly of his brother, Allie, who died of leukemia. "He was terrifically intelligent....But it wasn't just that he was the most intelligent member in the family. He was also the nicest, in lots of ways. He never got mad at anybody....He used to laugh so hard at something he thought of at the dinner table that he just about fell off his chair" (38).

It seems as though Holden never had the chance to grieve over Allie in a proper way. He uses every opportunity he has to talk about Allie. For instance, Holden was suppose to write a essay about a descriptive room or a house, but instead he chose to write about Allie’s descriptive baseball mitt. He chose to ignore the main prompt of the essay and instead wrote about an object that was descriptive and meaningful for him. Due to Holden’s high regard for the glove, he viewed Stradlater’s little

One of the hardships Holden must cope with is his inability to come to terms with death, in particular that of his younger brother, Allie. Holden seems to have experienced a

Holden’s little brother, Allie, had died and Holden is still not over his death. “I get very depressed, I keep saying to him, Holden says, “Okay. Go home and get your bike and meet me in front of Bobby’s house. Hurry up.” (Salinger, 99). There is many moments where Holden thinks of Allie, and even talks to him. Whenever Holden thinks about Allie he gets very upset and doesn’t want to do anything.

The death of Holden’s brother Allie at a young age adds to Holden’s negativity as well as stopping Holden from accepting inevitable change. Allie dies immaturely of leukemia. “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” (p. 39). Holden is in the hospital because he broke his fist, and he was unable to attend Allie’s funeral. Holden has trouble accepting Allie’s death because he never said goodbye to Allie. His relationship with Allie is similar to his maturity. Just as Holden is unable to accept his brother’s death, Holden is not able to accept that

He did this in an effort to gain attention from his family and show them how upset he was about the death. With the secondary source, it supports the idea of Allie’s death being the price Holden had to pay to fulfill his dream job. The article states, “To be the catcher in the rye in this world is only possible only at the price of leaving it. To be good is to be “case” a ”bad boy” who confounds the society of men . So Holden seeks that one role which would allow him to be a catcher , and that is the role of children,” ( Article 1- Heiserman and Miller).For Holden, being the catcher “ is only possible only at the price of leaving it.”