Essay on Overcoming Trauma in J.D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye

A final conflict in the life of Holden Caufield is his own self-destructiveness. That he is

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

In Chapters V and VI, Holden’s feelings of anguish and anger are expressed in his actions. Holden describes the death of his younger brother, Allie. As a result of his overwhelming emotions, he broke all the windows in his garage with his fist. “It was a very stupid thing to do, I’ll admit, but I hardly didn’t even know I was doing it, and you didn’t know Allie.” (page 39) Holden couldn’t control his actions and acted recklessly. He does acknowledge that it was dumb to take out his anger by punching windows, but he did it on impulse.

From Holden’s testimony of the event that led to his enrollment in my program, I have concluded that Holden suffers from anxiety disorders. More specifically panic attacks, and more seriously, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. In the story that Holden I see many examples of these two disorders, along with a strong fear and resentment of impending adulthood. This Mixture of confusion and dread, led him to me. I do, though, believe that Holden can recover and be admitted back into society.

As previously mentioned, it is obvious of Holden’s intentions from the first chapter. The reader learns that they are not going to be following the life story of some random kid; they are going to read about the introversive thoughts and assumptions everyone makes at some point of their lives. Throughout the tale, it is obvious that Caulfield is depressed and as the story progresses, he seems to lose himself in the real world. As he moves

Holden Caulfield is an insane person in a sane world. What is insanity? Insanity is when you’re in a state of mind that prevents normal perception, behavior or social interaction. This state is mental illness. Insanity is when you do things in deranged or outrageous ways that could frighten people, or make people feel uncomfortable when around you. It’s when you do things out of the ordinary; yet feel as if they are ordinary. Insanity could come about when you’re depressed, or after a traumatic event, and sometimes even by keeping all your feelings bottled up inside of yourself. Sane people are sensible, reliable, well-adjusted and practice sound judgment. It’s behavior that is expected in a society. By these

Depression, a common mental disorder that presents with depressed mood, loss of interest or pleasure, feelings of guilt or low self-worth, disturbed sleep or appetite, low energy, and poor concentration. This mental illness demonstrates to affect teens as much as it affects adults. Studies show that 20 percent of teens will experience teen depression before they reach adulthood. When you deal with depression, you often find it difficult to live an everyday normal life. The “Catcher in the Rye” written by J.D Salinger, narrates on the main character Holden Caulfield, a hostile and negative person, who suffers from severe depression.

The concept of being a child who was glorified by his mother at a young age, and who was flat out just spoiled, gives context to Holden 's inability to deal with issues on his own, reflecting on his social skills and behavior challenges.(Yardley) So when Holden 's younger brother Allie passes away his initial reaction is to break the windows because he doesn’t know how else to deal with these types of issues. This aggressive reaction that Holden takes is understandable, but at the same time unnecessary; most kids would deal with the loss of a loved one by seeking comfort from others, but in this situation Holden no longer had his mother to pamper him because they were busy grieving the loss as well. Leaving Holden Caulfield alone.( Irving 84)

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

Judging from the patient's behavior and tone, I believe that Holden Caulfield shows more symptoms of Antisocial Personality Disorder (APD), the symptoms that the patient shows is most possibly caused by the traumatic death of his brother,but this should not to be mistaken as Teen Grief. Based off of the transcripts, the patient shows all the symptoms for Antisocial Personality Disorder: he exhibits disdain for authority, impulsiveness, aggression, amusement in lying, irresponsibility, and disregard for the well-being of others. As in the transcripts, it states that he "broke all the windows in the garage... [Holden] broke all the goddam windows with [his] fist, just for the hell of it." (39) venting his aggression that stemmed from the grief

It is never really stated what is the cause of this, but most readers have their guesses. Many people believe that Holden is either depressed or suffers from PTSD- post traumatic stress disorder. Both mental illnesses are most likely stemming from the death of his older brother, Allie. For example, Holden is always in some sort of detached state- he rarely ever eats, sleeps, or takes part in any social activities. He even mentions how he feels as if he is going to pass out from lack of eating. And as readers, we can truly see that Holden is lost and feels as if he has no place to go. He wanders around aimlessly through the city, barely communicating with anyone throughout the whole novel. He does not know who he wants to become, but he knows that he does not want to end up like all of those ‘phonies’ out there in the world. You can also assume that Holden is still in the grieving process over Allie, which could be why he is still in his depressed state. The whole novel is written about Holden wandering through New York City by himself. He is trying to make connections with other people and relate to them, but he can’t quite seem to communicate correctly. He’s always criticizing others actions, calling them ‘phonies’, isolating himself even farther away from others. Anger is one of the soul emotions that Holden portrays throughout the story. He mentions how he punched out all the windows in his garage when he found out about his brother’s

Psychoanalysis would suggest that Holden lacks the maternal affection that he so desperately desires and fails to receive. Upon reviewing Holden’s behavior it appears as if he is a victim to various disorders such as Bipolar and PTSD disorder. HealthResources.info explains the differences between emotional and psychological trauma and also the possible effects in their article, “Emotional and Psychological Trauma: Causes and Effects, Symptoms and Treatment." One key factor in that causes traumatic stress is a product of, “traumatic stress in childhood that influences the brain is caused by a poor or inadequate relationship with a primary caretaker.” It is coherent that Holden’s world of pain is a result of the absence of both his mother

“I swear to God I’m crazy. I admit it.” It is very easy to automatically assume that Holden Caulfield is crazy. It’s even a logical assumption since Caulfield himself admits to being crazy twice throughout the course of the book. However, calling Holden Caulfield crazy is almost the same as calling the majority of the human race crazy also. Holden Caulfield is just an adolescent trying to prevent himself from turning into what he despises the most, a phony. Most of Caulfield’s actions and thoughts are the same as of many people, the difference being that Holden acts upon those thoughts and has them down in writing.

Another issue that Holden struggles with is depression. While Holden does not outright say that he is depressed, he still exhibits many of the signs. The most obvious sign, of course, is his suicidal thoughts. According to Mental Health America, between 30% and 70% of suicide victims suffer from depression. Since suicidal thoughts are a precursor to actual suicide, there is a clear correlation between the two. Multiple times throughout the novel he talks about killing himself, such as after Stradlater's date with Jane. As he lay in Ackley’s roommate's bed, he thought about Stradlater and Jane in the back of Ed Banky's car, and “felt like jumping out the window” because of it (Salinger 63). Again, Holden “felt like jumping out the window” after getting beat up by Maurice, and said that he would have done it if he knew someone would cover up his body afterwards because he “did not want a bunch of stupid rubbernecks looking at [him] while he was all gory” (Salinger 136). The only thing that stopped him from killing himself was his pride -- that is how close he was. Over and over again (even more times than were mentioned earlier) Holden talks about killing himself. These constant suicidal thoughts are not a sign of good mental health --they are a sign that he is depressed.

Jerome David Salinger’s only novel, The Catcher in the Rye, is based on the life events shaping main character, Holden Caulfield, into the troubled teen that is telling the story in 1950. The theme of the story is one of emotional disconnection felt by the alienated teenagers of this time period. The quote, “ I didn’t know anyone there that was splendid and clear thinking and all” (Salinger 4) sets the tone that Holden cannot find a connection with anyone around him and that he is on a lonely endeavor in pursuit of identity, acceptance and legitimacy. The trials and failures that Holden faces on his journey to find himself in total shed light on Holden’s archenemy, himself.