Theme Of Mental Illness In Catcher In The Rye

Studies have shown that ninety percent of teens who commit suicide are due to a mental illness such as depression (Teen Suicide Statistics 1). This percentage is immensely prominent, and the suicide rate is only climbing. In 1975, there were 1,594 teen suicides, and the numbers have now escalated to 2,061 teen suicides (Holmes 1). Unfortunately, almost half of the teens who have seriously thought about attempting suicide, actually commit suicide (Suicidal Teens 1). Often Holden Caulfield, a victim of depression, thinks about suicide, but doesn’t attempt suicide. The author of The Catcher and Rye, J. D. Salinger, illustrates throughout the book that Holden is trying to run away from his problems by giving him many hardships to overcome in his life. Holden doesn’t have the average teenage lifestyle: he has dealt with being kicked out of four high schools, has witnessed the death of his brother Allie, and unfortunately does not have the guidance or support of his parents. Over the course of the three days, the reader sees Holden reach lower than rock bottom, the rarity of happiness, and Holden’s depression growing to the point of explosion. In The Catcher in the Rye, the author uses the fish and ducks, snowball, and Allie and his baseball mitt to reveal that for young and fragile people, depression can be overwhelming and debilitating because they don’t have the maturity and skill to deal with it properly.

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.

Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye has been into continuous dispute and controversy since its publication in 1951. Some critics think that Salinger 's narrative of the human plight is engrossing and enlightening, yet incredibly depressing. The leading character, Holden Caulfield, serves as the basis for critical discussion due to his psychological conflict. Salinger 's portrayal of Holden, which encloses incidents of dejection, nervous breakdown, impulsive spending, sexual exploration, and other wandering behavior, have all assist to the controversial nature of the novel. Yet the novel is praised by its piercing advocates, who argue that it is a critical look at the problems facing American youth during the 1950 's.

The loss of a loved one at a young age can cause disruption and irreparable damage to the mind. A child’s mind is pure and innocent and after a tragedy of losing a loved one, the mind is ill-equipped to deal with the loss, which can cause it to spiral out of control. In both the The Bell Jar and The Catcher in the Rye, each author creates a protagonist who loses a family member at an early age which results in a mental illness for each protagonist. The authors want the reader to understand that mental illness stems from exposure to traumatic experiences in early childhood. Throughout The Bell Jar and The Catcher in the Rye, Plath and Salinger use their protagonists’ to demonstrate the motif of loss of innocence, caused by tragic events in their youth, to teach the reader that buried childhood trauma can have a negative impact on mental health.

In J. D Salinger 's novel, The Catcher in the Rye, the protagonist, Holden, goes through many hardships in his journey to self-knowledge. In the beginning, Holden has to deal with being kicked out of school and not having any place to call home. He is also struggling with the unfortunate tragedy of the death of his beloved younger brother Allie. At the same time, Holden is trying to deal with growing up and accepting the adult world. Throughout the novel Salinger addresses the conflicts faced by a young man struggling with the trials and tribulations of growing up while also confronting personal loss and loneliness along the way.

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.

Lies, failure, depression, and loneliness are only some of the aspects that Holden Caulfield goes through in the novel The Catcher in the Rye written by J.D. Salinger. Salinger reflects Holden’s character through his own childhood experiences. Salinger admitted in a 1953 interview that "My boyhood was very much the same as that of the boy in the book.… [I]t was a great relief telling people about it” (Wikipedia). Thus, the book is somewhat the life story of J.D. Salinger as a reckless seventeen-year-old who lives in New York City and goes through awful hardships after his expulsion and departure from an elite prep school. Holden, the protagonist in this novel, is created as a depressed, cynical, and isolated character and he

According to the National Institute of Mental Health, about one in four American adults suffer from a mental disorder. This means that 57.7 out of 217.8 million people over the age of 18 are ill; never mind that mental illnesses are the leading cause of disability in Canada and the United States. Holden Caulfield, the controversial main character of J.D Salinger’s novel Catcher in the Rye, spends much of the book wandering through the streets of New York City. Kicked out of boarding school for the umpteenth time, he does many odd things: he calls a prostitute, tries to befriend a taxi driver, drinks with middle aged women, and sneaks into his own house in the middle of the night. While many of these things seem outré, some may even go as

‘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,

Rather than simply focusing on the mental illness itself, writers feel the need to mask any negative connotations associated with the topic at hand by adding unrealistic, lighthearted scenes, leading to portrayals in media that is too often overshadowed by frivolous romance and unprecedented hope. True depictions, however, will not fabricate an epic tale to complement mental illness. In J.D. Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye, he shows through Holden Caulfield that depression is not beautiful or glamorous, but instead an intensely lonely experience that leaves one unable to cope with reality. More than once does Holden expresses a need to escape, such as when he plans to leave the city and live near a farm. Other times Holden is more direct about how he feels, even going as far as expressing, “what I really felt like, though, was committing suicide.

One of the most controversial American Literature books, J.D. Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye, went into full turbulence and had all the attention of critics everywhere during its release in 1951. Holden Caulfield, a New York City teenager in the 1950’s with manic-depression is the protagonist, is a protagonist unlike any other in coming-of-age novels. What most critics don’t realize is that his actions are exactly those of a depressed teenager would endure: being an immature compulsive liar who is manic-depressive. The over-saturation from technology into the 21st century does not separate the direct similarities of teens today and those twenty to thirty years ago. Today’s teenagers being “less complex,” “confused,” “anxiety ridden,” or any

Salinger’s portrayal of Holden Caulfield in his realistic fiction novel, Catcher in the Rye, reveals the tragic effects of loneliness and alienation on the human psyche. Evidently, as a result of different and upsetting events Holden faces, he suffers immensely. Thoughts of depression and death reveal themselves throughout the novel, and Holden feels completely isolated from true and meaningful relationships. He resorts to abusing substances such as drugs and alcohol, yet this never solves his problems. Without a suitable solution to ending this feeling of complete alienation from others, Holden continually makes erratic and impulsive decisions. The degree to which a person can suffer from alienation and loneliness is immense, and can completely transform a person’s

Depression along with other mental illnesses have always been a huge topic that everyone is aware of, yet very little people actually talk about. J.D Salinger challenges society with the task of not only learning but also informing and educating the public about mental illness with this novel. One specific example of how he does this is with Holden's character. Holden gains depression because for his whole life he was constantly rejected by society, and he expresses it by rebelling. Unsurprisingly, since the 1950s teenage depression has skyrocketed. In the year where the book takes place 6% of American teenagers were depressed before they hit adulthood. Unfortunately, Holden is apart of that percentage. In 2016 teenage depression rates reached a shocking high of 20%.