Theme Of Anxiety In Catcher In The Rye

To begin with, Holden depressive state is evident as he displays feeling of hopelessness. For example, Holden realizes that his goals for preserving the innocence of the children are unrealistic. This occurs when all the children from the carousel are in attempts to grab the ring, and Holden realizes that he cannot stop the children from their inevitable outcome. This is evident through Holden’s comment, “if they want to grab for the gold ring, you have to let them do it, and not say anything. If they fall off, they fall off.” (Salinger 211).Holden realizes that he is powerless towards the society around. He believes he can preserve the innocence of children, being the catcher in the rye, saving them from falling from the cliff. However, he believes that all children will eventually border to adulthood and depart from their innocence is inevitable. Holden is made to believe that all children will eventually merge towards the corrupted side of society despite his desires. Another reason for Holden’s depression is because his desire for maintaining innocence is unrealistic which bring out emotional mental trauma. Moreover, Holden falls into depression as loses trust from the people that he admires. For example, he loses his trust in Mr.Antolini, who Holden respects, was caught inappropriately touching him. This incident also causes his internal turmoil as he was confused with regards to his teacher’s intention. This is depicted when Holden states, “but what did worry me was the part about how I’d woke up and found him patting me…the more I thought about it, though the more depressed and screwed up about it I got.” (Salinger 194-195). This reveals Holden’s loss of turn resulting in emotional disturbance. This event shows Holden that the society around him is corrupt, which makes him suspect others around him. Holden’s doubt highlights his internal conflict with himself. This betrayal

“Holden’s world provides no one he can truly emulate.” (Bryan, 33) .m in this novel JD Stanley narrates the secondary characters as personifications as either the exact opposite rejecting Holden wants to be. His fears are portrayed in ackley, stradlater and mr. Spencer. Ackley is described to be what every teenage boy doesn't want to be, ugly and disgusting. stradlater is described as one of the largest Playboy's in pencey prep. Holden describes them both as Big phonies, along with everyone else at pencey. Holden’s fears of death and sickness is shown in mr. Spencer’s sick room. he wants to be wise likes mr. Spencer but he doesn't want the illness and old age. “ Holden is a wonderful creation. So he throws himself around as if he disparages the human race, he does not have the misanthropy that you associate with that kind of disparagement. He has a real feeling for people, that's the richness of his character...” (Moss; Devices, 31) Holden isn't just cynical he sees the world for what it really is he sees boys soccer past the stereotypes right through to the reality and thickness of a person Holden's character is what people in the real world parentheses outside of just not want to see hate the most because these are the types of people that don't lie about who or what they are. Hold him. Want to be something that are played out in the

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.

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.

The psychoanalytic lens discusses an individual's actions based on their conscious and unconscious mind. The novel “The Catcher in the Rye”, written by J.D. Salinger, focuses on the life of a depressed protagonist, Holden Caulfield. Holden experiences the death of his young brother Allie and struggles with transition from his innocent childhood to his sophisticated adulthood. This transition eventually influences his mental state of mind, which causes him to suffer from loneliness, frustration and alienation. The novel is better understood from a psychoanalytic lens rather than an existentialism perspective because of Holden’s conscious actions and unconscious desires which are portrayed throughout the novel. The transition from an innocent

Holden does not realize his misconstrued state in life. He believes he is an adult; however he is clearly a young man who has lost his way in life. He has every confidence that the world works in the way he imagines and even says: “It’s funny. All you have to do is say something nobody understands and they’ll do practically anything you want (Salinger 84).” Holden displays a sense of arrogance in the way that he envisions that he is better than the rest of the world. Holden believes he is an adult who knows how to handle himself, but he must constantly rely on the guidance of his little sister Phoebe for direction in his life (Svogun n.p.). Holden is just a boy who portrays himself as more than he is, but soon realizes that what he believes himself to be is in fact not genuine.

As Holden begins his journey, he meets many possible companions in hope to fulfill the empty space in his heart, but is let down when he realizes it is not possible. While Holden is having a conversation with Mr. Spencer he thinks about how sometimes he is mature, but “people never notice anything” (Salinger 13). He wants to get close to others, but he feels as though everyone rejects him for who he is. This causes him to isolate himself from society and never take any chances. When he at the Ernie’s, he meets Lillian Simmons and the Navy guy, and has a conversation in which turns to be bad in the end. He then talks about how “people are always ruining things for you” (114). The idea of him generalizing society is the main reason

Holden does not only suffer from being kicked out of school and anticipation of his parent’s reactions or even punishment, but also his inner feelings on depression as well as maturing. He is shown to be a dreamer and as someone who runs away from struggles (a resolution).

In J. D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye, the character of Holden Caulfield does not convincingly embody a compassionate and caring character. Holden, after having a difficult year at school, finds comfort in his memories of his brother Allie. Another instance of Holden finding comfort, is when he spends time with Phoebe. In the same way, Phoebe is supportive when spending time with Holden. However, this takes a turn for the worse, as Holden reveals to Phoebe that he is leaving. Holden finds comfort and love through his memories of Allie, his experiences with Phoebe and the support from he receives from her.

In The Catcher in the Rye, J.D. Salinger uses literary elements such as tone, figurative language, and theme to create the overall effect of a teenager’s cynical and conflicted approach to dealing with the concept of adulthood. Salinger writes about Holden Caulfield, a sixteen year old boy, and his venture through New York City after he is expelled from his preparatory school due to academic failure. During his time in the city, emotional and mental problems surface, and his desperate want for companionship exposes his inability to connect with others.

Holden finds it almost normal to have recurring thoughts about suicide. Throughout the novel, Holden brings up scenarios of his defeat and even tells one of his schoolmates mothers that he has a brain tumor. This may be, because he thinks he’s better off with his brother, not forced to grow up in a society full of “phonies”. Holdens perception of adulthood makes him resilient to change, he’s focused on being real which in fact is sabotaging himself, by letting it control his life. He’s been negligent at school by not applying himself, failing classes, and ultimately getting kicked out of prep schools. Knowingly or not, Holden has been holding himself back, hoping to exempt himself from adulthood; which is not working in his favor as whether he accepts it or not, society will ultimately force him into adulthood. Holden experiences a push into adulthood with his encounter with Sunny the hooker. The encounter does not go as planned and once Holden dismisses Sunny, he becomes depressed, suicidal and turns to talking out loud to his dead brother Allie “I felt miserable. I felt depressed, you can’t imagine. What I did, I started talking, sort of out loud, to Allie” (Salinger 110). “Engaged in memories of Allie, lonely in his room, -so lonesome [... ] I almost wished I was dead" (p. 42), Holden sees himself in a Manhattan hotel room alone and overwhelmed in thought of -jumping out the window" ( p. 94).

One of the most common and detrimental psychiatric condition is depression. The state of depression has substantial e

The character Holden, in the Catcher In The Rye, is emotionally and mentally unstable. He tries to escape reality by living in his own fantasy world. He has difficulty coping with the problems in his adult world and retreats to his childhood memories. He has unrealistic dreams and adventures. He isolates himself into his own depressed and miserable world.

Many have to deal with anxieties and fears that follow them through everyday life. One such anxiety is existential anxiety, in which a person must discover his or her own self worth. In order to address existential anxiety, people either focus on their faults, committing to the path of self-hate, or finds the compassion to accept themselves including their faults. In J.D. Salinger’s novel, The Catcher in the Rye, Holden Caulfield, the narrator and main character deals with his fear of growing up as well as his existential anxiety of having to do so. The existential anxiety Holden exhibits is the want of returning to his childhood and is not coming to terms with him growing up. Holden expresses his existential anxiety by showing his self hatred through immature actions and attempts at self compassion while realizing his impact on others.

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.