Holden Stradlater

Throughout The Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger, Holden describes two traumatic events that could be the root of his PTSD. The death of his brother Allie, and the death of his old classmate James Castle. In chapter 5, Holden introduces his brother Allie and describes Allie’s death, “I was only thirteen, and they were going to have me psychoanalyzed and all, because I broke all the windows in the garage. I don't blame them. I really don't. 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. I even tried to break all the windows on the station wagon we had that summer, but my hand was already broken and everything by that time”(38-39). This quote shows how traumatic this experience

Holden’s desperation for friendship causes him to turn against the people around him because his actions lead continually lead him into with rejection. For instants, Holden shows an effort to gain attention and sympathy from Stradlater by letting him borrow his hound’s tooth jacket and agreeing to write a composition for him even though Stradlater goes on a date with Jane, someone who Holden has strong feelings for. Rejection comes into play after Stradlater reads the composition of his dead brother’s baseball glove, and angrily tells Holden that it's no wonder he's getting expelled: he does not do anything "the way you're supposed to”(Salinger 46). Stradlater rejection affects Holden because he subconsciously feels that he is never good enough and that he’s pathetic. After the two of them got into a fist fight over Jane Holden is so isolated, he turns to Ackley, his neighbor who he can't stand and continuously calls a “phony.” Holden says after Ackley won't even help him that he “feels so lonesome, he wishes he were dead”(Salinger 50). Holden goes to call someone but then realizes that he has no one to call. When Holden was “giving old Jane a buzz…” he quickly hung up, claiming it was because he “was not in the mood,” but he can't deal with confrontation that might end up causing awkwardness, rejection, or emotional pain. It is Holden pain of rejection that causes him to feel frustration in the world, leading him to his depressed state of mind.

I think that was what Salinger was trying to say when he wrote this part in the book. Holden and Jane were really close, which explains the bond between them, and how Holden can say this piece. In the book, Stradlater only saw Jane as a sexual being, someone who could satisfy his desires, but Holden saw Jane for who she really is. He remembered the ‘little details,’ about her, like how she keeps her Kings in the back. This shows that Holden really cares a great deal about Jane, so much that maybe his care for her could be romantic. I think Salinger wanted to express this, to show that Holden only cares a lot for a very few people, who holds a spot in his heart. This quote reflects the theme of “growing up and the idea of innocence” because I think, Holden saw Jane as a figure of some sort of innocence. He didn’t exactly see her as a maturing young women who went to school, but as the girl he used to play checkers with. Holden explains in the book, that her and Jane never have any sexual encounters, but yet, it bothers him when the idea of Jane being sexually assaulted comes to mind.

In this excerpt Salinger was able to highlight the “loss of innocence” as Holden Caulfield struggled with the realization that his roommate Stradlater may have taken away the innocence of his long term childhood friend, Jean Gallagher. Holden is in a mindset believing that he can remain innocent indefinitely as well as allow his childhood friends, if they continue to be behave similarly to children. He is unwilling to accept the fact that he must one day reach adulthood which contradicts from Stradlater’s ideology. Stradlater is more than willing to advance into adulthood and uses women as tools to gain experience; in hopes of reaching it sooner. This is supported by Holden’s comments to Stradlater “ I told him he thought he could give the time to anybody he felt like. I told him he didn't even care if a girl kept all her kings in the back row or not, (....)"You don't even know if her first name is Jane or Jean, ya goddam moron!”, showing that Stradlater valued a woman's body rather than her name or ethics and values. Holden believed that Jean was a girl that “kept all her kings in the back row” meaning that she preferred the security of playing safe. Thus, Holden is shocked and even nervous by the possibilities that could have occurred within Ed Banky’s car making him hostile to Stradlater. He is unwilling to comprehend that Jane Gallagher, the girl who always played it safe, may have transitioned into

Holden's childhood friend, Jane Gallagher, also needs protection. She is vulnerable because of her childhood. "` Her mother and father were divorced. Her mother was married again to some boozehound... [He would] run around the goddamn house, naked, with Jane around and all.'" (32) Holden was afraid that Jane's stepfather abused her. "I asked her on the way, if Mr. Cudahy- that was the boozehound's name- had ever tried to get wise with her." (79) Even though Holden likes Jane, he does not try to take advantage of her because she needs the safety of their friendship. Holden is angry with Stradlater because he threatened Jane, and could have harmed her.

Firstly, Holden’s PTSD derives from an event that happened in Holden’s past regarding his brother. He tells me that he had a brother named Allie who he was very close to, but sadly Allie passed do to Leukemia. Holden didn’t know how to deal with the death of

To start off with, Holden has symptoms of Post traumatic stress disorder, such as flashbacks and mistrust. He often has flashbacks about his disesaed brother Allie. One example from the novel says,”[Allie] got lukemia and died when we were up in maine, july 18th, 1946”. That is a very specific thing for somebody to remember, considering he doesnt do well in school, proving thatthis event still remains clear in his head. As does his brother. He describes him as” He

Stradlater doesn’t know or care. Holden becomes so overwhelmed by the thought of him “giving Jane time,” he gets into a physical altercation with his roommate. After this incident, Holden begins to idealize Jane’s image increasingly, leading to him imagining a fantastic scene after he gets robbed by a pimp, Maurice. “Then I’d crawl back to my room and call up Jane and have her come over and bandage up my guts. I pictured her holding a cigarette for me to smoke while I was bleeding and all” (Salinger 104). This is why Holden can’t talk to Jane; he has created another disjointed image of her in his mind that he uses to rescue himself. Jane saves him; but it’s not really Jane, more likely than not, the Jane in Holden’s head hasn’t existed for years. His image of her becoming more and more warped, and his cowardice in refusing to talk to her, show Holden’s inability to reconcile the past, his childhood, with the present: the fact that he and others around him are growing up. [ADD SOMETHING HERE?]

In the scope of things, Holden’s actions to alienate himself perpetuated his depression and triggered his downward spiral and mental decline. There was a clear internal conflict between his need to protect himself from the pain others cause and, his intrinsic need for companionship. A self-destructive cycle was born out of this conflict. Holden would alienate himself for protection, this resulted in him feeling lonely and depressed, this resulted in his reaching out to others, the interactions lead him to believe that people are destructive which ultimately leads to him alienating

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

Holden interprets people's action differently because according to him, they have different motives. Holden seems to think that all his surrounding is phony because it's not to his expectation. The only thing that he considers worth of value is a child's innocence. Holden has a significant attachment to his little sister and the warm memories they shared together. It’s probably the only thing that keeps him from carrying out his thoughts and keeps him from losing his mind.

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 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.

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).

Later on Holden recalls when he was attending Pencey College how his gloves were stolen by some crook. He continues describing the situation of confrontation hypothetically, at first with assertion and authority. Eventually he admits to himself, “Only, I wouldn’t have the guts to do it. I’d just stand there, trying to look tough” (Salinger P. 99). Holden goes on to describe to the reader his unaware fear of confrontation and violence, hinting at a dread of vulnerability and a closed off persona, another clear sign of Major Depressive Disorder. When Holden was a younger boy he knew a girl named Jane Gallagher whom he was childhood friends with, they often even held hands and had an emotional bond. Ever since he heard about Stradlator (his old roommate) taking her out on a date he’d been thinking of calling her up. Finally on page 130 he calls her up and her mother picks up. Startled, she hangs up and admits he should’ve asked for Jane, “But I didn’t feel like it. You really have to be in the mood for that stuff” (Salinger P. 130). His inability to feel motivated to make an effort for somebody he once loved shows his social-isolation.