Theme Of Anxiety In Catcher In The Rye

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.

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.

Holden is very immature and cannot act his age for anything. In the beginning of the story, Holden was very immature and self-centered and he often did very immature things, but he wanted to be an adult. This is very contradicting considering that he is very immature. In the novel, Holden states, “Boy! I said. I also say Boy! quite a lot. Partly because I have a lousy vocabulary and partly because I act quite young for my age sometimes. I was sixteen then, and I'm seventeen now, and sometimes I act like I'm about thirteen.” (Salinger 16). This shows how Holden is very immature and needs to start acting his age and this could be dangerous to society. This is why he needs to stay inside the mental facility. In the mental facility, he will be safe and he will not cause any harm to anyone or to himself

A large part of Holden’s depression stems from his hatred of the adult world that Holden believes is full of “phonies.” To Holden, phony people are not limited to purely “fake” people, but also people who act in a stereotypical way. For example, if a Catholic preached to him and asked him if he was a Catholic, they would be “phony” in his eyes, because they behaved in a way that is generally expected of them. However, this view that Holden holds is hypocritical of him, because he is constantly making generalizations and lying at impulse to almost everyone he meets just because he “feels like it” (Salinger 58). Holden cannot control his compulsive lying which shows that his control over his primal instincts is restricted which is likely a

Furthermore, Holden starts daydreaming and thinking about his ideal future. He thinks, “I got excited as hell thinking about it. I really did. I knew the part about pretending I was a deaf-mute really decided to go out West and all” (Salinger, 199). As seen before, Holden is running away from his problems like a child and displays symptoms of helplessness because of his existential anxiety. Instead of facing the problem head on, Holden acts as if he is unable to live his idea self. Ultimately, Holden shows that he is in the path of self hate due to his childish and immature behavior.

He is not intensely preoccupied with academic achievement like many more modern teenagers, having failed out of several prestigious preparatory schools, but he is clearly intelligent and tends to dwell on“heavy” topics like death and loss of innocence. His cynicism and sensitivity, in addition to the trauma he experiences from losing his brother Allie, suggest that he has depression or another untreated mental illness, an interpretation which is common among readers and supported by Holden’s visit with a psychotherapist at the end of the novel. Despite the risks he faces through having an untreated mental illness, shown when he is warned that he is “riding for some kind of a terrible, terrible fall” through self-destructive behavior, the conformist culture and social niceties of the 1950s prevented him from being able to discuss his thoughts for a large portion of the novel. (186) This culture, specifically the “phony” prep schools, is clearly toxic for Holden and likely contributed heavily towards his negative mental state, and therefore the negative image he often has of

Holden also talks of innocence as if he isn’t innocent himself, and he always remembers to show us his pure side from time to time, “Then, all of a sudden, I started to cry. I couldn’t help it…” (Salinger 198) This is a defining moment because of how in touch he is with his emotions, this seems to be him breaking out of his shell to notice that he can’t always be the tough one, and he needs someone to be there for him during some of his hardships. It’s these types of instances that we can see Holden evolving to become a genuine young adult, and is trying his best to stay calm in these struggles of his, “What I did, I started talking, sort of out loud, to Allie.” (Salinger 110) He expresses his feelings to Allie, his late brother, when he feels out of place. He tries his best to keep his feelings locked up, because he thinks that’s the adult act to take on, yet when he shows us his true side in these occasions, we can really see him thrive.

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

In this quote Holden is fighting with his roommate Stradlater about Stradlater how he goes around giving girls “the time”, but not even caring about them and how they feel. “He didn’t care was because he was a goddamn stupid moron. He hated it when you called him a moron… ‘you don’t even know if her first name is Jane or Jean, ya goddamn moron!” (Salinger 44). Holden is acting like a child, calling Stradlater a moron knowing that he hates being called a moron, just to annoy and aggravate him.

In the beginning of Catcher in the Rye Holden is displayed as immature. Holden’s character demonstrates he does not care, an example his him not writing his paper well about egyptians. Throughout the novel, Holden slowly matures, by getting a grip onto his life. Holden matures very steadily due to pain. Holden fears change and refuses to acknowledge fear. Fear of maturing into adulthood involves sex. Holden does not fully understand the adult world, turning down sex with Sunny. Holden makes a statement “if you like a girl, you shouldn't horse around with her at all, and if you do, then you’re supposed to like her face” (Salinger 62). Since Holden doesn’t understand how to real world works, he is uneasy about trying to have sex. From this statement, the reader can acknowledge Holden is stuck between childhood and adulthood. Holden is stuck not knowing what to choose, as it pains him. Holden’s pain contributes to his downhill spiral. Pain influences Holden to want to be a catcher. Holden wants to be able to use his experience of pain to help save other adolescents, from making mistakes while entering the risky adult world. Holden wants to catch those who fall down and return them back to childhood. Pain of growing up also causes Holden to need of warmth and

One reason that shows that Holden is insane and childish is the quote “I smoked a couple cigarettes…” (Salinger page 98). This shows that Holden is insane because when you smoke cigarettes that may be a sign that he doesn’t care. So, if he has a problem, he either is “smoking away” his problem or not caring about it

In the novel Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, the protagonist Holden Caulifield views the world as an evil corrupt place where there is no peace. Holden has a phony phobia that restricts him from becoming a fully matured adult. In Holden's attempted journey in becoming a fully matured adult, he encounters many scenarios involving friendship, personal opinions, and his love of children. His journey is an unpleasant and difficult one with many lessons learned along the way; including the realization that he is powerless to change the world.

Throughout the novel, Holden feels very intense emotions of depression and “boy I felt miserable. I felt so depressed, you can’t imagine. What I did, I started talking, sort of out loud, to Allie,” (Salinger 110). Holden experiences serious mental stress that is affecting his well being from the stress crashing down on him from being alone. This example shows that overtime with enough stress, it can be a big problem for a teenager in coping with it that it can affect his or her mindset.

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.

It is the prime time of the American Revolution, and a meer woman has written this poem on the frightful times she is facing. In the poem this we see a series of eventful occurrences happen. We start the poem with a question of a distant sound, then we delve into the fight as the scarlet soldiers siege this woman’s property, and all the neighboring farms. As this woman watches all of this play out, her husband finds himself caught in the middle of having to leave and his wife begging him not to, threatening the sacredy of their wedding vows.