Theme Of Depression In Catcher In The Rye

In J.D. Salinger's novel The Catcher in the Rye, the main character, Holden Caufield, describes in detail the parts of his life and his environment that bother him the most. He faces these problems with a kind of naivety that prevents him from fully understanding why it is that he is so depressed. His life revolves around his problems, and he seems helpless in evading them. Among others, Holden finds himself facing the issues of acceptance of death, growing up, and his own self-destructiveness.

J.D. Salinger 's "The Catcher in the Rye" portrays a troubled teen in New York City. Over the few days the novel depicts, the boy displays his critical and unhealthy mindset. Eventually he has a mental breakdown. Through psychoanalysis of Holden Caulfield, one may suggest that Allie 's death, social development, and an identity crisis are large contributing factors in Holden 's mental breakdown.

In the novel The Catcher In The Rye, the main character Holden experiences a massive amount of struggle. One major struggle he experiences is depression. Many teenagers can relate to Holden because throughout the novel he shows some of the struggles that anyone could be going through. While I was reading I felt sympathy for Holden and wanted to reach out and help him get through his struggles. There are many red flags repeatedly showing Holden being depressed. These red flags are not only found in Holden but can be noticed in other people who are depressed.

The reader often searches for a glimpse of himself in the characters he is reading about, and this is especially true with the adolescent readers of The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger. The author paints a picture of a conflicted youth by emphasizing his idiosyncrasies, and although Caulfield’s traits may seem exaggerated and alien at times, he is a character who is relatable to American youth today. Holden Caulfield has a strong sense of civic duty that is overshadowed only by his suicidal tendencies, is exceedingly sensitive to the evil in the world and prone to angst, yet empathetic to the emotional upheaval other children will experience when entering adulthood.

Holden never understands how such an innocent child could be cursed with cancer, and this makes him extremely critical of people and of life, which he views as unfair. Holden’s underlying depression throughout the novel directly relates back to his brother’s death and ultimately stops him from enjoying the simple things in life. For instance, once his mom sends him skates in the mail as a present. Even though they were not the racing skates that he wants, he made a general statement saying: “Almost every time somebody gives me a present, it ends up making me sad” (58). He feels like he is not worthy enough to be given a gift to, as if he did nothing to be rewarded for. Nothing eases his pain from the death of his innocent brother and gifts

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.

Existential anxiety is the negative feeling that arises in a human being. In the novel, Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger, the main character, Holden narrates events that happen after his school, Pencey, kicked him out for his deficient grades.With signs of this anxiety, he quickly finds himself in a state of depression caused by his struggle of growing up. Overwhelmed and afraid, Holden runs the other direction when he is hit with the idea of aging and his immature and innocent characteristics allow him to wander astray. Holden deals with his existential anxiety from his greatest fear, but throughout the story, we distinguish him experience phases of self hate from childish impulses and attempting to move towards the path of self

Nineteen million American adults suffer from a major case of depression (Web MD). That is a staggering one in every fifteen people (2 in our classroom alone). Holden Caulfield is clearly one of those people. Depression is a disease that leads to death but is also preventable. Psychology, stressful events, and prescription drugs are causes of depression. Stressful events brought on Holden’s depression. Holden has been trying to withstand losing a brother, living with careless parents, and not having many friends. The Catcher in the Rye is a book that takes us through the frazzled life of Holden Caulfield, who appears to be just a regular teen. But by hearing his thoughts and through heart-wrenching events in the book, the reader learns that

The Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger, portrays Holden Caulfield as a manic-depressive. Holden uses three techniques throughout the novel to cope with his depression. He smokes, drinks, and talks to Allie. Although they may not be positive, Holden finds comfort in these three things.

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.

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.

Have you ever wondered why teenagers are the most vulnerable to committing suicide? Why they are afraid to become adults by taking responsibility for their actions? To shed some light on this particular situation, J.D. Salinger puts this burden on Holden Caulfield, a distressed teenager who struggles to find someone who he can trust after the death of his brother, Allie. He suffered psychologically, which causes him to subconsciously distrust anyone who is an adult, believing that they will corrupt the minds of the children. And even when he does have someone who is willing to trust him, such as Phoebe, his little sister, he decides to run away and confide in people whom he knows will leave his life. In The Catcher in the Rye, Salinger demonstrates that the sudden death of a loved one causes teenagers, especially, to isolate themselves from others because they feel as if they might lose another precious person in their life. In order to them realize this, there are people who are not willing to allow them to become more isolated as they already are.

‘The Catcher in the Rye’ is a classic novel set in the 1950’s. Holden Caulfield is a young 16 year old boy walking through life, hardships, and criticism towards life. Throughout Holden’s story, his odd behavior is displayed in a manner which opens the readers’ eyes to an entirely new persona. One that sees the worst in everything, one that doesn’t see the reality of things, a mind unable to decipher the beauty which the world holds within. Through his behavior and thoughts, the reader is led to believe that, from the start, there’s an abnormality to Holden’s thought process. His hopelessness and lack of motivation are signs of Major Depressive Disorder. Major depressive order is a mental health disorder characterized by mood swings,

The Catcher in the Rye features a multitude of examples in which Holden is overwhelmingly suicidal and represents undesirable viewpoints. At one point in the novel, Holden admits, “what I really felt like though, was committing suicide” (Salinger 116). His pessimistic attitude and outlook on life can have a negative effect on the reader. “[The book] has been banned on the lighter premises of using profanities and being sexually explicit/suggestive, while it has also been banned for darker interpretations of the book, such as being part of a Communist plot, anti-religious, and promotive of homosexuality and perversion” (Bohan). The supports for banning are prevalent throughout the book, with no doubt that they are factual reasons. Nevertheless, the literary value and representation of adolescents in any time period overwhelm the reasons for banning the book.

Teenage depression is a serious medical problem that causes a persistent feeling of sadness and a loss of interest in activities. It affects one in five teenagers today. It has an effect on how a teen feels, thinks and behaves and it can cause emotional, functional and physical problems. In Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, Holden Caulfield demonstrates many of the symptoms of clinical depression. Holden’s thoughts and actions indicate a personal struggle with depression, a psychological problem that strongly influences him. Holden’s depression causes his loneliness, and can be seen in his fear of growing up and inability to tolerate the phoniness he sees all around. Everyone feels depressed or sad at some time in their life, I know