Holden Caulfield Mental Illness

Catcher in the Rye, written by J.D Salinger is a classic novel that is not only controversial but contains relatable characters such as Holden Caulfield. Holden is a 16 year old boy who has gone through so much pain and hurt throughout his life that he has given up in school and during the novel you start to see that he has given up at life itself as well. Holden struggles with depression, unhealthy drinking habits and with failing out of school. These three struggles are very relatable to teenagers these days. In the following paragraphs I will show you the connection between teenagers these days and Holden and the the similarities that make him such a relatable character. Holden is an ideal and universal representation of teenagers.

The Catcher in the Rye is one of J. D. Salinger's world-famous books about the disgruntled youth. Holden Caulfield is the main character and he is a seventeen- year-old dropout who has just been kicked out of his fourth school. Navigating his way through the challenges of growing up, Holden separates the “phony” aspects of society, and the “phonies” themselves. Some of these “phony” people in his life are the headmaster whose friendliness depends on the wealth of the parents, and his roommate who scores with girls using sickly-sweet affection. This book deals with the complex issues of identity, belonging, connection, and alienation. Holden senses these feelings most of the time and is guilty about many things in

J. D. Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye features a complex narrative surrounding a troubled young student, Holden Caulfield. Difficulties he faces throughout the story force Holden to confront his fears of adulthood and maturation and the responsibilities therein through the difficulties he faces throughout the story. Academic controversy surrounds whether Holden learns from these confrontations and adjust accordingly, maturing throughout the story. While initially this seems rather subjective, a thorough analysis of Holden’s actions throughout the story as well as of the symbolism injected by Salinger makes it quite clear that Holden does undergo a significant maturity arc as the story progresses. Holden’s social development and maturation

Throughout the novel Holden was experienced anger. For example, this is evident when at Holden was so mad with Stradlater because Holden wrote for him and Stradlater complains that it's not about a room or a house or something like he said.

In J.D. Salinger's fictional novel, "The Catcher in the Rye", the main character Holden Caufield is experiencing troubled times from being kicked out of three prestigious schools. As a result, he is constantly wondering what obstacle is coming his way next. Following his lack of intuition and drunken mind, he travels to New York City and aimlessly walks the faded streets looking for help. Many trips to city bars and rundown hotels lead him to meeting new friends and reconnecting with old ones, some encounters pleasant, while others disappointing. However, no matter how hard Holden tried to push through his terrible experiences, his health kept holding him back.

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.

In The Catcher in the Rye, J.D Salinger walks us through the struggles that Holden Caulfield faces after he was axed from his school Pencey Prep. Throughout the novel, Holden mental state gradually deteriorates until his fate of residing at a mental facility eventually catches up to him. What led Holden to his fall was that he was incapable of finding a coping mechanism to deal with the stress, guilt, loneliness, and failures of his life. Everyone he meets has a way of contending with the maniacal emotions that life throws at them. The nuns entrust their religion, Sally Haze leans on popular culture and her “phony” guy friends, the cab driver believes in the power of Mother Nature, but Holden has nothing.

Holden chooses to isolate himself many times throughout the storyline because of his sad past. Through the psychodynamic theory the reader can see that this trait (isolation and depression) is a defense mechanism that comes from the id. The emotional times where Holden gets depressed for instance when Holden gets depressed about two girls he danced with one night in Washington, clearly demonstrated in the quote “Some girl in an awful-looking hat for instance, comes all the way to New York-from Seattle, Washington, for God’s sake-and ends up getting up early in the morning to see the goddam first show at Radio City Music hall, it makes me depressed I can’t stand it” (Salinger 75) and later on in the novel Holden gets depressed because of watching some girls and wondering what would become of them in the future as depicted in the quote “In a way, it was sort of depressing, too, because you kept wondering what the hell would happen to all of them” (Salinger 123). During the times Holden gets depressed, he is using his id in the structure of his mind. He begins to feel emotional about many things and these come directly from his irrational thoughts that are located from the id in the mind. Because of Holden’s constant depression, he begins to isolate himself, which is also a defense mechanism that is common in teens. For instance, Holden can be seen isolating himself when

J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye presents a look into the mind of Holden Caulfield, a popular literary icon numerous teenagers have rightfully found themselves relating to at some point. While the familiar emotions of Holden were welcoming for me, his anecdotes and witty remarks proved entertaining as well. The story chronicles Holden’s exploration through New York post-expulsion, with his point of view influenced by his growing alienation with the world. He represents that growing sense of unease at growing up and facing a reality that is not always pretty, and, in his case, a need to save children from having to face that reality. I personally admired the fact that he was not just an angry teenager in the world as stereotypes suggest.

Holden recognizes and perceives to be alienated from the adult world thus causing himself to believe he is depressed. Holden believes he is depressed from viewing the adult world and thinking that it is phony. He believes that the world is phony, superficial, hypocritical, and shallow. He views this world everyday and realizes that one day he will have to step into it, but every time he thinks about the world surrounding him it causes him to become depressed. Holden becomes depressed because he desires to remain a child were innocence is preserved and not drastically taken away. In Holden?s scenario, he feels that his innocence was taken away by witnessing the suicide of his close friend and the death of dear brother. Holden sees the world that he has to become a part of and desires more to not be a part of it. This hatred of stepping into the adult world causes Holden believe he is depressed and

Holden Caulfield plays a timeless character in the sense that his way of life is common for the American teenager, in his time as well as now. Today parents dread the terrible and confusing adolescent years of their child's life. In J.D. Salinger's book, The Catcher in the Rye, Holden is in this terrible and confusing point of his life. At this point in his life, as well as in modern teenager's lives, a transition occurs, from child to adult. Holden takes this change particularly rough and develops a typical mentality that prevents him from allowing himself to see or understand his purpose in life.

In the story "The Catcher in the Rye" the 16-year-old protagonist, Holden Caulfield, experiences a conflict that makes him want to relive his childhood memories. Holden has so much hatred toward the adult world and he thinks adults are very phony and lame. J.D Salinger delves into the mentality of a boy that hates adult intimacy and sexuality. Holden ends up in a mental institution to recover from his problems and to overcome his fear of adulthood. This novel is set in the early 1950s and Holden is from New York. Holden is intelligent, but get 's a pink slip from school and leaves Pennsylvania. He went to Pencey Prep, a school where high class students went. Knowing that he went to Pencey, this says that Holden is from a wealthy family. His parents sent him away to Pennsylvania and got rid of him from their household. Ever since then, Holden felt alienated and has never had a proper relationship with anyone. The protagonist has trouble keeping his relationships in good shape, whether it is a friend, girlfriend or teacher.

‘The Catcher in the Rye’ is a classic novel set in the 1950’s. Holden Caulfield is a young 16 year old boy walking through life, hardships, and criticism towards life. Throughout Holden’s story, his odd behavior is displayed in a manner which opens the readers’ eyes to an entirely new persona. One that sees the worst in everything, one that doesn’t see the reality of things, a mind unable to decipher the beauty which the world holds within. Through his behavior and thoughts, the reader is led to believe that, from the start, there’s an abnormality to Holden’s thought process. His hopelessness and lack of motivation are signs of Major Depressive Disorder. Major depressive order is a mental health disorder characterized by mood swings,

In J.D. Salinger's Catcher in the Rye, a young man named Holden Caulfield is on the edge of adulthood. He is a bright kid but struggles with many mental diseases mainly because of the passing of his brother Allie. This has caused him to not focus on school and has got him kicked out of many schools. He did not have many friends and he did not like many people. He thought of everyone as phony. Holden does not want to confront adulthood in fear of losing his childhood because of the fear of change, conformity to the phony world and the passing of his younger brother Allie.

Although it’s not explicitly said, I can infer that Holden suffers from a mental illness.