Grief In Catcher In The Rye

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

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.

However, Holden does not know how to handle many situations and obsessed with phonies. On the one hand, despises his room mates and headmaster of Elton Hills prep school ,but does have a favorite teacher. Holden is upset with the

In literature, a character’s unique perspective on common human experiences can both engage the reader, and vastly contribute to a text’s endearing value and significance. The Catcher in The Rye offers a rich portrayal of such themes as, the impact of alienation as a form of self-preservation, resistance to change, and the psychological effects of unresolved grief. By telling the story directly through the first-person narration of Holden Caulfield, Salinger offers an unusually in-depth perspective of an emotionally complex character, who is struggling to find his place in the world. Unlike many coming of age stories, the reader of Salinger’s novel is left with a strong sense that Holden will continue to struggle with the protective wall of

As humans we sometimes seek isolation rather than human interaction for fear of being overwhelmed emotionally. For some people, comfort comes with the knowledge that alone, they are the masters of their own emotions, free from the pain of the world's occasional bitterness and sting. In the coming-of-age tale "Catcher in the Rye," J.D. Salinger explores this phenomenon through the voice of the narrator, Holden Caulfield. Although Holden possesses a voice of intelligence, sensitivity and insight he is also bitter with the hypocrisy and ugliness that he perceives in the world around him. The vividness with which he expresses his discontent is seen manifested in the criticisms that Holden aims at various characters throughout the story. As the

Holden Caulfield encounters himself facing issues of acceptance of death, growing up, and parental neglecting that prevents him from completely understanding why it is that he is severely depressed. One of the hardships Holden must cope with is his inability to come to terms with death, of his younger brother, Allie. We often discover

What is grief and how does it affect someone? Throughout the novel The Catcher in the Rye, Holden Caulfield narrates his experiences during the “madman” period of his life (Salinger 3). As he tells his story, one can clearly tell Holden is grieving and is going through the five stages of Grief. Grief is a cycle of five stages that a person experiences after undergoing a loss of some kind. Before a person is able to move on from the loss, he or she has to go through the stages of grieving and make it to the fifth stage of acceptance. The time frame for this process varies from person to person but can range anywhere from six months to four years (staff). Holden grieves over the loss of his little brother, Allie, who died of cancer. By the time Holden reaches the acceptance stage at the end of the novel, he has been grieving for roughly four years. The stages of grieving include denial and isolation, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. Holden suffers from the five stages of grief, with depression being the stage he maintains throughout most of the novel, which leads others to believing that he is only clinically depressed; however, he clearly is suffering from more than just depression.

Death is a concept to which Holden is no stranger. He speaks lovingly of his brother, Allie, who died of leukemia. "He was terrifically intelligent....But it wasn't just that he was the most intelligent member in the family. He was also the nicest, in lots of ways. He never got mad at anybody....He used to laugh so hard at something he thought of at the dinner table that he just about fell off his chair" (38).

The feelings of anxiety and dread are formally defined as angst. Holden Caulfield brings us through his whirlwind of angst emotions. Although, when looking at Holden’s feelings compared to the denotation of the word angst, it seems that Holden’s feelings are more severe. As, we fall deeper into the novel Holden’s angst feelings continue to grow. Holden denies his angst feeling for almost the entirety of book, which causes him to surpass the angst feelings and go into almost a state of depression. His rough judgement of the people around him led him to loneliness, which made him fall deeper into the black dark hole of depression. This pit of anxiety, sadness, and depression swallowed Holden and continues to swallow millions of other people today.

Secondly, most teenagers have struggles grieving for the loss of of their loved ones. Holden struggles multiples of times to grief for the death of his younger brother, Allie, who died at the age of 11 due to leukemia. Holden writes about Allie for Stradlater’s english homework and tells the reader, “He was terrifically intelligent. His teachers were always writing letters to my mother, telling her what a pleasure it was having a boy like Allie in their class...But it wasn’t just that he as the most intelligent member in the family. He was also the nicest, in lots of ways. He never got mad at anyone...I was only thirteen, and they were going to have me psychoanalyzed and all, because i broke all the windows in the garage. I don 't blame them. I really don 't. I slept in the garage the night he died, and I broke all the

Holden lost Allie to cancer. Conrad lost his brother to a boating accident. Holden idolized Allie. Allie was special; he had red hair, he was left handed, he wrote poems on his baseball mitt. Allie was sensitive and caring, and to us Holden made Allie sound like a saint. Allie’s death played a major role in Holden’s life. The day Holden found out, anger took over, causing him to break the windows in the garage, hospitalizing him with a broken hand. Holden’s depression was caused by the death of his brother, and because of that, he is

One of the hardships Holden must cope with is his inability to come to terms with death, in particular that of his younger brother, Allie. Holden seems to have experienced a

The death of Holden’s brother Allie at a young age adds to Holden’s negativity as well as stopping Holden from accepting inevitable change. Allie dies immaturely of leukemia. “I slept in the garage the night he died, and I broke all the goddam windows with my fist, just for the hell of it” (p. 39). Holden is in the hospital because he broke his fist, and he was unable to attend Allie’s funeral. Holden has trouble accepting Allie’s death because he never said goodbye to Allie. His relationship with Allie is similar to his maturity. Just as Holden is unable to accept his brother’s death, Holden is not able to accept that

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.

After Allie died, Holden went into his family’s garage and broke all the windows with his bare hands. The result of this was a broken hand. His injury caused him to miss Allie's funeral and therefore he could not make a proper closure of the mourning process. This plays a meaningful role in the novel, because Holden did not attend the funeral, he has fails to accept Allie’s death. This is evident through his various “conversations” he has with Allie’s spirit. Death itself is in general an adult concept and is usually not likely to be understood by children. Coping with death is obviously difficult for everyone regardless of age, children, however, unlike adults, do not have the life experiences and knowledge that helps with such issues so they cannot really comprehend it. It is evident throughout the novel that the narrator is going through such trauma. One could support that Allie’s death influenced Holden’s attitude and perspective on life and human interactions, justifying death’s major role in the novel. Holden himself admits that he lost control and reacted without reason on the occasion. “they were going to have me psychoanalyzed and all, I don't blame them...the night he died,