Catcher in the Rye Song Project

The whole book is set as a flashback of Holden's past year. When he starts narrating the story, he mentions that he got "pretty run-down and had to come out here and take it easy". This says that Holden has had a tough year, with a breakdown, he is in some kind of place where he's taking it easy. His previous diction/word choice gives us hints that he might actually be in a mental hospital(words like madman). He describes the place as 'crumby' and also says that his brother, D.B., visits him every weekend. And, at the very end of the book, last chapter (26), Holden says, "...this one psychoanalyst guy they have here, keeps asking me if I'm going to apply myself when I go back to school next September." 'Psychoanalysis' is, according to FreeDictionary, " The method of

Holden is perpetually forcing people to give him attention. He is incontestably a lonely kid, but instead of finding a healthy and mature way of dealing with his issues he needs to make up ridiculous plans of escape. And yet before he leaves for those ludicrous plans he must announce it to his little sister which he must have known would have caused negative accouterments. Yet, he goes and wakes her up in the middle of the night because attention is attention to him negative or positive. “That made her cry even harder. I was glad. All of a sudden I wanted her to cry till her eyes practically dropped out. I almost hated her.” (Salinger 121). This quote is said when Phoebe wants to go away with Holden, but he will not allow her. It depicts the idea that not only does Holden have zero compassion for the situation, but also the idea that Holden enjoys the idea that he is the reason for her sadness. Holden’s desire for attention is so strong that he does not care if the attention is negative or positive. In the end, he is sadistic in this moment and he does not even seem bothered by

Holden is unable to accept realities of life because of his negative personality. He claims that many people are phony and that they try to do things to make them look better than they are. Holden also thinks of many things as depressing. “It was really nice sightseeing, if you know what I mean. In a way, it was sort of depressing, too, because you kept wondering what the hell would happen to all of them” (p. 123). Holden always finds a down side to a situation. He fails to recognize the good sides of life, and this prevents him from seeing advantages in adulthood that are not present in his life.

He is afraid of his adulthood, and has no one to discuss the matter. He reaches out to people, but pushes them away. For example, Sally Hayes is a friend of Holden’s whom Holden takes out on a date. Holden purposes the idea of running away to an area where he doesn’t have to grow up. Sally refuses and tries to talk some sense into Holden, but Holden doesn’t listen because what she is saying scares him. He is scared because she is ready to taking on the next step in her life, but he is not. Holden’s time in New York is a constant cycle of this type of interaction. He calls many people and tries to talk to them but there are some that he can not call, like Jane Gallagher, or Phoebe his younger sister. Holden does not call them because they are symbols of innocents and his childhood. He is so afraid of his future, that he so desperately holds onto his

After that incident Holden grew up fast it was not helpful that he was set in a boarding school environment surrounded by other influences of teenage boys. After he Ally’s death he breaks all the windows in his garage. I think that he meant that to release the grief and anger, but he was sent in a downward spiral to trouble.

Holden reveals to the reader that he, “almost wished he was dead” how is the plight of his mental health shown?

Alphonse de Lamartine, a French writer, once said “Music is the literature of the heart; it commences where speech ends.” On other words, music speaks what cannot be expressed; it’s beautiful melodies produce a kind of connection we can't live without. “ Stop And Stare” can be said to be one of these songs, in which Holden Caulfield’s live can connect to. The song “Stop And Stare” is a single of the band OneRepublic, and in great number of ways it relates to Holden Caulfield's life in the novel The Catcher in the Rye. In the first line of stanza one of the lyrics it says, “ This town is colder now, I think it's sick of us,” it applies to the setting of the novel and Holden’s attitudes.

He is not intensely preoccupied with academic achievement like many more modern teenagers, having failed out of several prestigious preparatory schools, but he is clearly intelligent and tends to dwell on“heavy” topics like death and loss of innocence. His cynicism and sensitivity, in addition to the trauma he experiences from losing his brother Allie, suggest that he has depression or another untreated mental illness, an interpretation which is common among readers and supported by Holden’s visit with a psychotherapist at the end of the novel. Despite the risks he faces through having an untreated mental illness, shown when he is warned that he is “riding for some kind of a terrible, terrible fall” through self-destructive behavior, the conformist culture and social niceties of the 1950s prevented him from being able to discuss his thoughts for a large portion of the novel. (186) This culture, specifically the “phony” prep schools, is clearly toxic for Holden and likely contributed heavily towards his negative mental state, and therefore the negative image he often has of

Holden seems to struggle with depression. In many places throughout the novel, Holden describes to us his deep sadness. A lot of times his depression is unpredictable and triggered by tense situations. In one situation while he was explaining his feelings about the Elkton Hills headmaster’s phony and rather boring conversations with well-built and

This song speaks volumes as to what Holden is trying to find in life. He wants to be happy, but he is often depressed with his life. In the story it is revealed that the museum is his indeed “happy place”. In the story it reads “I get very happy when I think about it. Even now” (120). Holden admires the fact that nothing in the Museum changes and wishes that the museum could represent how his life would go. Simple, and manageable all characteristics he wishes he could trace into his real life. The song brings this all together because no matter how long it’s been since Holden’s last visit it still gives him the same spark of happiness as the last time. Being happy is definitely the main point of this

Instead of dealing with his problems Holden drank. This negatively affects him. Instead of getting help with his emotions he would drink them away so he would feel less. Drinking is seen persistently throughout the novel. Some may think that Holden has a severe drinking problem, which he does. A majority of his money is spent on alcohol at the bars he goes to. Holden is a minor and it is illegal for him to drink (57). Holden feels as if he is older when he drinks and likes the feeling because he does not want to be seen as one of the “phony” guys that he often speaks about throughout the novel. One night he gets so drunk he just does not know what is going on. It feels good for him. It is often mentioned that Holden drank when he had nothing else to do. He would stay out late because he wasn’t tired and had nothing else to do, and he was lonely. Holden feels a need to be drunk whenever he is around the “jerky preps” (85). He says “I can’t sit in a corny place like this cold sober” (70). He feels as if they are phony and he is unlike them. He often feels like getting out of the bars, but doesn’t because he doesn’t want to leave to become lonely. “I felt like getting out of the place. It was too depressing” (80).

One can see this because he clearly states in the dialogue that he felt like jumping out the window. Holden’s mental state of mind can literally visualizes his own suicide and how and where it would take place. This quote represents the extent of Holden’s depression and loneliness and how much of it consumes him.

“And the band started playing one of those really slow songs, like “Stairway to Heaven” or “Freebird” that probably have really great lyrics or something but the song itself just is awful-just awful. Then this real phony guy, with the hair all slicked back on the top of his head stood up with the Sax and did a solo. I almost died. I mean, almost completely died right there. It had to be the cheesiest solo I had ever heard. I mean he was swaying back and forth and he closed his eyes like he was really getting into it and all, but it was the fakest thing you ever heard. It was like something out of a bad Howard Johnson’s. I swear, he must record Muzak for a living or drive

This song is significant to this chapter because Holden talks about his ambitions and the troubles hes gone through in his past and this song is just about going after what you want in life and not stopping along the way and that represents Holden a lot.

Tone is a necessity in literature, but in film, music enhances the desirable feelings within a scene. In The Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger, Holden Caulfield’s tone transitions throughout the novel. His personal evolution in the scenes provides a diverse capability of soundtracks that could be used in a film adaptation. The major theme of evolution is demonstrated by a cycle in which he is isolated or broken down only to lead to a more confident and joyous state.