Examples Of Trauma In Catcher In The Rye

On July 18, 1946, Holden Caulfield suffered the loss of his younger brother, Allie, beginning his life of despair and grief. It is often understood that grief consists of seven emotional stages: shock, denial, bargaining, guilt, anger, depression, and acceptance. In The Catcher in the Rye, J.D. Salinger's utilizes death as a motif so as to show how the grieving process affects an individual throughout all aspects of his or her life. The stages of coping are represented during the course of the book, appearing whenever death is mentioned. As Holden’s journey starts with shock and denial, it comes to a close with acceptance of what he has gone through.

J.D. Salinger 's "The Catcher in the Rye" portrays a troubled teen in New York City. Over the few days the novel depicts, the boy displays his critical and unhealthy mindset. Eventually he has a mental breakdown. Through psychoanalysis of Holden Caulfield, one may suggest that Allie 's death, social development, and an identity crisis are large contributing factors in Holden 's mental breakdown.

Holden has either left or been expelled from about four prep schools, three of which are: Whooton School, Elkton Hills, and Pencey Prep due to his poor academic effort and his dislike of those around him, he feels .."surrounded by phonies." (pg.13) When the novel first begins, Holden informs the reader he is not allowed back at Pencey, his most recent school, as he has failed all but his english class. "They kicked me out. I wasn't supposed to come back after Christmas vacation, on account of I was flunking four subjects and not applying myself at all." (pg. 4) Although Holden is fully capable of excelling in his classes, his only real reasoning for the failure in his education is because he just does not care enough to put forth any effort. Failure does not seem to concern Holden, which itself is concerning. However, disapointing his parents

He does not have many friends because he chooses not to make any. He also has a total lack of interest for his studies and for his school. Holden feels that school work is unnecessary and he doesn’t even try to succeed. In the beginning of our session, Holden mentions his old teacher Mr. Spencer. He then talks about a letter he wrote to Mr. Spencer and it said, “It is alright with me if you flunk me though as I am flunking everything else except English anyway. Respectfully yours, Holden Caulfield (The Catcher in the Rye).” From that point, I can already observe that he doesn’t care about any of his studies. In addition to this, Holden doesn’t seem to want to grow up. The fact that he’s failing every school he attends, drinks underage, and rebelling against every grown up, shows this detachment. Everyone just wants Holden to grow up and live a decent adult

During the novel Holden lies to cover up his real feelings or as an excuse to not tell the truth. In Chapter 3 Holden says, “I’m the most terrific liar…” he continues by saying how frequently he lies to get himself out of trouble (Salinger, 2010:17). After Holden is expelled he decides to leave Pency and life it up for three days in New York because he cannot stay longer. Holden cannot go home sooner because he’s not feel like telling the truth to his parents (Salinger, 2010: 54). Holden choses to do the wrong thing because it is easier than to stay at Pency till Wednesday or to face his parents. Holden is contradictory he says, “I’m quite illiterate but I read a lot.” (Salinger, 2010:19). One cannot be illiterate if you read a lot. Holden is even more contradictory when he speaks of Allie in heaven but admitted that he is an atheist (Salinger, 2010:107). It is clear that Holden’s words and actions are contradictory when he says that the movies are phony but attends the movies a few times during the three days (Salinger, 2010:30).Holden’s character is riddled with dishonesty, wrong choices, and contradictions and true to an

In J. D Salinger 's novel, The Catcher in the Rye, the protagonist, Holden, goes through many hardships in his journey to self-knowledge. In the beginning, Holden has to deal with being kicked out of school and not having any place to call home. He is also struggling with the unfortunate tragedy of the death of his beloved younger brother Allie. At the same time, Holden is trying to deal with growing up and accepting the adult world. Throughout the novel Salinger addresses the conflicts faced by a young man struggling with the trials and tribulations of growing up while also confronting personal loss and loneliness along the way.

Throughout The Catcher in the Rye, J. D. Salinger, incorporates numerous themes. However, the two most important themes throughout the book were innocence and loneliness. Holden’s innocence is constantly changing as he matures throughout the story. Furthermore, Holden has to deal with the effects of embarking on his journey throughout the story with loneliness. Salinger’s message during the 1940’s shows how American society and the growth of the teenage boy remains the same throughout

One of Holden’s main defense mechanisms in the novel is isolation and same isolation can derive from his constant depression.. Holden chooses to isolate himself many times throughout the storyline because of his saddening past. An article by Debbie Roome acknowledged “Depression is another prime cause of isolation. A depressed teen loses interest in everyday activities and drops out of social groups at school” (Roome). The reader will in fact see this early on in the book demonstrating Holden flunked out of his school! The quote “Where I want to start telling is the day I left Pencey Prep. Pencey Prep is this school that’s in Agerstown, Pennsylvania” (Salinger 2) is an example of where Holden flunked out of his school, he in fact failed

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.

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

Although Holden enjoys reading books, when it comes to doing any work beyond reading, he does not apply himself. He has flunked out of four prep schools, including Pencey, for “not applying himself.” For example, when he speaks with his history teacher who flunked him, he admits to being a “moron.” However, it is not that he is a moron, but rather that, like a child, he cannot stay focused on the task at hand: “Well you could see he really felt pretty lousy about flunking me. So I hot the bull for a while.

Holden Caulfield in The Catcher in the Rye exhibits unusual behavior during the course of the novel. His actions resemble those of one who suffers from Post-traumatic stress disorder. After his younger brother, Allie, dies of leukemia, Holden’s feelings toward the world change drastically. He begins to isolate himself from others. Even when he feels a connection with someone, he finds something to dislike about them and pushes them away. Holden also experiences frequent flashbacks to times when Allie was alive. He holds on to these memories and blocks Allie’s death from his mind. His PTSD also causes Holden to endure anxiety attacks. These attacks further push away the people he loves and makes it difficult for him to cope with his feelings.

One of the greatest American Literature writers, J.D. Salinger, was familiar with a rough childhood by experience. He was able to parallel his experiences to the experiences of Holden Caulfield, the protagonist in The Catcher in Rye. In this novel, Holden experiences conflicts that most youth are not familiar with. The conflicts in Holden Caulfield’s life are caused by various forces and circumstances.

Throughout the novel Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger the main character Holden Caulfield Shows Valid signs of suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder or PTSD. Holden exhibits PTSD Through his thought process and actions during his journey through New York City until the end of the novel. Holden without a doubt experiences a psychological journey and shows PTSD like symptoms from his departure at Pencey Prep till he ends up at a mental institution. Holden is burdened with this mental illness most likely by the death of his younger brother, Allie as Holden shows signs of his feelings towards the death and how he is coping with it.

The death of a loved one can be difficult to understand especially when it involves a child. People often use an experience like the loss of a loved one as a chance to redefine their own life and to change the way they view and experience life. In the novel Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, Holden Caulfield’s life is forever altered by the death of his brother. When Holden’s kid brother Allie passes away, he does not have the expertise to handle the emotions that flood him, and he has a mental breakdown and chooses to run away from any potential emotional relationship.