Holden Psychoanalysis

Holden Caulfield is a tragic hero in his journey to defend all children from becoming adults and saving their youth and innocence, which is simply an impossible task. Arthur Miller describes a tragic hero as one who attempts “to gain his ‘rightful’ position in his society” and in doing so struggles for his dignity. Holden’s downfall happens because his tragic flaw is that he is hypocritical about himself and doesn’t understand himself.

Holden has matured in many ways throughout the novel. He had grown from an immature child who only cared about himself to a mature adult who wanted to make something of his life. In the beginning of the story we are introduced to

Holden’s immaturity causes him many problems throughout the story. Although he is physically mature, he acts more like a child. “All of a sudden I

He may still be a young boy but he is very independent and basically lives on his own for the entirety of the book, but his negative outlook transforms independence into isolation. He is incredibly lonely but also pushes people away when he has a chance to get close to them. Such as his date with Sally Hayes which was going very well until he pushed her away with his harsh words, “You give me a royal pain in the ass, if you want to know the truth” (Ch. 17 pg. 173). Just because Sally wouldn’t run away with him and be independent with him he pushed her away. Holden may think he wants to be free and independent but his negative outlook just feeds his loneliness and

Looking into Holden’s thoughts about intimacy and relations, he is two-faced in his statements. He claims to believe that sex is intimate and should only be between two people who are in love, but acts on losing his virginity with just anybody. This is a strong statement about our society today. In this decade, we are losing intimacy resulting from the use of technology and lack of chivalry. When you go out, almost every person you see is holding a cellphone or a smart-device before his or her eyes. This loses human interaction in result to lack of communication. My conclusion: no one knows how to physically talk to each other anymore; therefore, “relationships” are censored to what the Internet says. Not only we’re losing human interaction,

The final symptom Holden experiences is his irrational behavior which is displayed several times throughout the novel. "You're a dirty...and you'll be-" (Salinger 103). Holden angrily backfires at Maurice, a man who began attacking Holden, clearly stronger than the teenager, thus only adding fuel to the fire. Holden's careless attitude results in him making ruthless decisions, such as agreeing to have a prostitute such as Sunny or willing to run away with Sally Hayes. "If you have post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), you're probably aware of the strong connection between your condition and impulsive behaviors. Most of the time, you do something impulsively as a way of finding relief from a stressful feeling--for example, a painful emotion"

Holden Caulfield is a very, very troubled young boy in a grown up filled world. In J.D. Salinger’s novel, The Catcher In The Rye, 16 year old Holden Caulfield is stuck in a rut. He has been expelled from numerous schools, including his current one, Pencey Prep. Holden has been a troubled kid since the death of his older brother, Allie. Allie has played a big role in Holden’s life, and was completely traumatized by his death. Along with those family struggles relating to Allie’s death, Holden has a hard time accepting his adulthood. He wrestles with mental illness and growing up with all of those “phonies”. Even more so, he struggles with the idea of the person he is going to grow into. The environment of The

“BPD has a higher incidence of occurrence than schizophrenia or bipolar disorder and is present in approximately 2% of the general public” (Johnston).Borderline Personality Disorder, or BPD, is an emotional disorder that creates unstable behavior and stress in an individual. Holden Caulfield, from J.D. Salinger’s, 1948 novel, The Catcher in the Rye has been psychoanalyzed by many readers. Psychoanalysis is insightfully looking at a characters action and behavior to better understand them psychologically. By psychoanalyzing Holden Caulfield’s behavior and thoughts, it becomes evident that he has Borderline Personality Disorder caused by his childhood trauma and neglect, and portrayed through symptoms that damage his relations

     One of the first relationships that is mentioned in the story, is Holden’s relationship with D.B., his brother. Throughout his childhood, it is obvious that Holden has idolized his older brother. Now that D.B. is a writer for Hollywood, Holden considers him a phony, and accuses him of prostituting himself by agreeing to work for the film industry.

    J. D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye is the chronicle of a young man's metamorphosis from immaturity to unsure manhood. Holden Caulfield, the protagonist, is a sixteen-year old boy who leaves the prep school he has been expelled from to escape the frightening reality of dealing with his parents. However, during his visit to New York City he is faced with the harsh reality that he cannot continue to hold onto his childhood. Holden is an extremely complex character and it is only by examining each layer of him that the reader is able to understand his painful metamorphosis.

Psychoanalysis is a psychoanalytical theory and therapy that aims to treat mental disorders by investigating the conscious and unconscious elements in a human mind by bringing fears to the conscious mind. According to Sigmund Freud, “The unconscious silently directs the thoughts and behavior of the individual” (Freud 95). Holden Caulfield, the main character in J.D Salinger’s novel, The Catcher in the Rye, is sixteen years old and does not act his own age for he is stuck in his own private world, filled with pain and suffering. In the novel, Holden can be observed through a psychoanalytical view, which provides the reader a clear understanding of his unconscious mind. Holden is displayed as a troubled and foolish teenager who is flunking

The Catcher In The Rye begins by introducing Holden, the protagonist whose point of view the novel is told from. Holden resides in a rest home to which he has been sent for therapy. Holden flunked out of Pencey Prep, a famous school he attended in Pennsylvania. Holden refused to apply himself and failed four out of five classes, passing only English. Holden holds much contempt for Pencey, as his cynical tone would indicate.

Life is a series of moments that defines us. These moments can be happy or they could be filled with disappointments. Life is about growing up. It’s to become a successful individual with the talent people receives. Other times people give up and that is why they become depressed and lonely.

“If you really want to hear about it, the first thing you’ll probably want to know is where I was born, and what my lousy childhood was like, and how my parents were occupied and all before they had me, and all that David Copperfield kind of crap, but I don’t feel like going into it, if you want to know the truth” (Salinger 1) does this quote sound familiar? Well if you don’t recognize the quote that's because you have not read the famous book by J.D Salinger entitled The Catcher in the Rye. This well written novel gives an insight on a teen’s life through a psychodynamic perspective (Sigmund Freud’s Psychodynamic Theory). Teen years are by far one of the most controversial stages of age in a person's life, and whether you currently are a teenager,

Experiencing trauma is an awful thing. Experiencing it as a child is a lifelong journey of healing. Something that has created me into the person I am today is my profound relationship with death. As overwhelming and terrifying as this topic is, I have come to terms with it. As a child, I lost my Mom at the age of four. This was most definitely a life-altering experience. Being four years old and watching your Mom get sick, dying slowly in front of your eyes makes you really think twice about life. My Mom died due to a rare disease called “GSS” which is an acronym for Gerstmann–Sträussler–Scheinker Syndrome, that runs in her side of the family. Her Dad died from it too, passing it on to her. This illness took 4 lives out of my family tree.