Sadness Theme For The Catcher In The Rye

One interesting aspect of the books is each major event that occurs is an example of a problem Holden faces due to his condition. The first major event in the novel is his expulsion from Pencey Preparatory School due to his lack of determination and effort, as he believes it is not worth his time. In this is the first example of a problem he faces as a clinically depressed persons, quite frequently those who are depressed will take a less cautious foresighted outlook on life causing them to miss many potential opportunities. The second major event is when Holden decides to hire a prostitute named Sunny, however his interest is only because he wants someone to talk to. In this comes our second problem faced by Holden, loneliness. While there are countless examples of Holden's loneliness throughout the book, I chose this because I believed it speaks to the societal and physical ramifications this condition can have. Due to Holden's extreme desecration for company and his short sighted actions, ends up being robbed because Sunny does not think she was paid in full. The third major event I chose was Holden's interaction with Sally Hayes after going ice skating. In this scene Holden acting on his compulsive nature resorts to being harsh and cynical around Sally, and because of this loses a friend. This shows the

Have you ever had this feeling of being so stressed out that you would escape to hopeless dreams, causing you to withdraw yourself from others? Among many themes that J.D. Salinger expresses in his novel, The Catcher in the Rye, there is one that fits that type of feeling perfectly. That theme is: isolation is a product of the individual's reaction to the environment and often leads to downfalls and other negative consequences. This is clearly demonstrated through the influence of the allusions and symbols that Salinger uses to subtly apply the theme mentioned above.

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

Everyone jokes about having an existential crisis, but in reality, the root of the problem is the unspoken existential anxiety that affects all people. Existential anxiety is the anxiety caused by the morality of a person’s life span. This causes them to think about what purpose they have in life, or how they are significant to society. In J.D. Salinger’s novel The Catcher in the Rye, the main character, a young man named Holden Caulfield, recalls his memories of a weekend alone in New York. During this time, Holden attempts to cope with his existential anxiety through immature, childish impulses, causing Self-Hatred, but becomes Self-Compassionate due to his growing awareness of the effect he has on people around him.

In the novel, Holden states, “When you're dead, they really fix you up. I hope to hell when I do die somebody has sense enough to just dump me in the river or something. Anything except sticking me in a goddam cemetery. People coming and putting a bunch of flowers on your stomach on Sunday, and all that crap. Who wants flowers when you're dead? Nobody” (Salinger) I believe this is a good example of depression because he’s already thinking about his own death. He’s thinking about how he wants to be buried and he even considers having his body dumped in a river. Holden puts down the traditional idea of being buried in a cemetery and having loved ones put flowers on your stomach. I think that Holden shows depression multiple times throughout the book. For example, Holden states, “The best thing, though, in that museum was that everything always stayed right where it was. Nobody'd move” (Salinger). This is an important quote because Holden encourages the idea of continuity. The passage where this quote takes place has importance. Holden returns to the museum a few times in the book. The museum represents the world Holden wishes he could live in. The museum shows traits of simplicity and gives things a place in time. Holden dreams of being “the catcher in the rye”, this is a fantasy where nothing ever changes and the world is stuck in a place in time. Holden says that, while the displays stay the same, a person is different every time he comes back to visit. It’s not age, exactly: it's the changes you go through in order to become an adult. He refers more to the intangible qualities of youth and innocence than he is about the physical ones. This shows that he doesn't want things to change. He doesn't want Phobe and himself to grow up, and he didn't want Allie to die. This passage shows how much he misses Allie because he just wants time to stop, possibly even rewind. Holden wants to go back and

In the novel, Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger uses a variety of symbols to support the thematic idea that maturation and the loss of innocence are an inescapable rite of passage for all of humanity. Three significant symbols that signify the importance of alteration and losing one’s purity to become more suited to live in the real world are the ducks in the lagoon of Central Park, the “Catcher in the Rye”, and the carousel and the gold ring. Furthermore, these three symbols hold a significant meaning for the main protagonist, Holden Caulfield as well.

The author from The Catcher in the Rye J.D. Salinger utilizes motifs loneliness and depression to show how Holden a teenager from the book explains the struggles he had during the great depression. J.D. Salinger uses the motifs of loneliness and depression to illustrate the theme that when people feel lonely they try to connect with people to get rid of it.

In the first chapter of this novel, we get introduced to the protagonist and narrator of the novel, Holden Caufield, from a rest home in which he has been sent for therapy. He refuses to talk about his early life, although he does explain that his older brother “D.B” sold out to writing for Hollywood. His story and breakdown begins in the school of Pencey Prep, a boarding school set in Pennsylvania. The setting for the early chapters in the narration is his "terrible" school, to which he describes the atmosphere to be “as cold as the December air on Thomsen Hill”. Holden’s student career at Pencey Prep has been destroyed by his refusal to apply himself. We know this after Holden explains he failed four of his five subjects, passing only English. Due to his lack of effort and determination, he was forbidden to return to the school after the term. The Saturday before Christmas vacation began, Holden overlooked the football field, where Pencey usually

In Catcher in the Rye, the theme of death is dominant in life of Holden Caulfield (who is the main character). Holden compares death with the uncertainty of time. Holden is negative when it comes to his feelings towards death. In the following essay, the recurring motif of death will be explored. Motifs are repeating “structures, contrasts, and literary devices” which support the progress and also support the main themes used in the novel. The repeating motif of death will be analyzed by looking at past death events such as his brother dying from leukemia, his school mate James Castle’s suicide and also Holden’s own thoughts about suicide (The Catcher in the Rye 2010: [sp]).

Considered one of the best novels of the 20th century, The Catcher in the Rye has affected readers around the globe since its publication in 1951. Its contemporary critics, however, gave the novel mixed reviews. Compared to the ideals of 1950s America, Holden Caulfield, the emotionally immature, extremely judgmental, teen-aged main character of “Catcher,” embodies the antithesis. Holden was an affront to the new social order, which demanded conformity and propagated the “father knows best” mentality. Americans, however, despite the postwar economic boom, remained suspicious of authority. In idyllic suburban neighborhoods across the country, while families huddled around their new television screens, people discussed their neighbors’ movements, made distrustful even of their closest friends by the “Red Scare”. The American Dream seemed like a golden ring just out of reach, leaving people feeling like they were going around in circles without a clear destination or purpose. With his sense of nostalgia for better times, his bleak perspective of the future, and his contradictory nature, Holden speaks directly to this sense of confusion at the world that Americans felt during the 1950s.

1 in 6 people experience depression at some stage in their life. Depression is caused by hormonal changes, Holden is slowly making his way into adulthood and is going through those changes. Depression is something that a lot of people go through at one point or another. Holden commits many actions throughout the book that show he is depressed.

In the quote above Holden’s mood starts deteriorating. He becomes depressed, this is shown through the mood of a few things he talks about near the end of the book. All of this is necessary though because his emotional turmoil adds to his physical sickness. Holden talks about death making both the tone and mood both upsetting and morbid. The choice to show Holden’s joy slowly disappearing adds to the point of Holden’s over-all health deteriorating. This strengthens the reader's feeling of pity for him.

Holden is unable to accept realities of life because of his negative personality. He claims that many people are phony and that they try to do things to make them look better than they are. Holden also thinks of many things as depressing. “It was really nice sightseeing, if you know what I mean. In a way, it was sort of depressing, too, because you kept wondering what the hell would happen to all of them” (p. 123). Holden always finds a down side to a situation. He fails to recognize the good sides of life, and this prevents him from seeing advantages in adulthood that are not present in his life.

Everybody feels depressed at some time or another in their lives.  However, it becomes a problem when depression is so much a part of a person's life that he or she can no longer experience happiness.  This happens to the young boy, Holden Caulfield in J.D Salinger's novel, The Catcher in the Rye.  Mr. Antolini accurately views the cause of Holden's depression as his lack of personal motivation, his inability to self-reflect and his stubbornness to overlook the obvious which collectively results in him giving up on life before he ever really has a chance to get it started.

Though Holden focuses on his depression, he represents a large part of the United States’ population. On several occasions, he describes his desolation. Mentally lost and lonely in New York City, Holden finds himself with a headache and the inability to sleep, saying, “I think I was more depressed than I ever was in my whole life” (Salinger 214). Relatively, the highest rate of depression occurs from ages 12-17 (Pratt)