Holden Caulfield Adolescence Essay

Holden has shown many signs of having post traumatic stress. Some of the signs Holden had was as stated “triggers that can bring back memories of the trauma accompanied by intense emotional and physical reactions.” Holden always bring up Allie his brother, even when he wrote compositions for Stradlater, “So what I did, I wrote about my brother Allie’s baseball mitt,”(Salinger,38) Holden always tends to bring up the past. This is one of the many signs that Holden shows as the book progress. In the text, “All of a sudden, on my way out to the lobby, I got old Jane Gallagher on the brain again,” (Salinger, 76). Holden continuously brings up many people that has made him feel this way about people. Holden also demonstrates a lack of control when it comes to talking to people. When Holden brother Allie died when Holden was just 13, he punched out all the windows out of the garage saying, “It was just for the hell of it,” (Salinger, 39). This indicates that Holden is not a healthy psychologically adolescent, as he can’t articulate the thoughts of his actions. Holden’s lack of control and ability not to let go of the past shows how Holden is not mentally

The whole book is set as a flashback of Holden's past year. When he starts narrating the story, he mentions that he got "pretty run-down and had to come out here and take it easy". This says that Holden has had a tough year, with a breakdown, he is in some kind of place where he's taking it easy. His previous diction/word choice gives us hints that he might actually be in a mental hospital(words like madman). He describes the place as 'crumby' and also says that his brother, D.B., visits him every weekend. And, at the very end of the book, last chapter (26), Holden says, "...this one psychoanalyst guy they have here, keeps asking me if I'm going to apply myself when I go back to school next September." 'Psychoanalysis' is, according to FreeDictionary, " The method of

Holden's past has caused him to be dealing with a lot on his plate. He shows very vibrant signs of having PTSD following the death of his dearly loved brother Allie. When Allie passed away, Holden never got closure, which deeply impacted him. The night of Allie's death, Holden begins to show signs of distress and takes it out in a violent way. “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.

When he met up with Sally, Holden was so excited. He got to the meeting place early and eagerly awaited her arrival. Instead of going to see a movie, as previously planned, they went ice skating. Sally and Holden have a wonderful time ice skating. After skating, and during dinner, Holden has this peculiar idea about moving away with Sally to Massachusetts or Vermont. She firmly rejects the idea. “Why not, why the hell not?” says Holden (132). Holden has a strong negative reaction to Sally, asking her why she won’t go with him. Holden acted in an irrational manner. After they argue Sally leaves him abruptly. Holden’s unrealistic request and overreaction to Sally’s response was induced by his depression.

To commence, in the novel, it becomes clear that Holden Caulfield suffers from mental illnesses that impede his ability to apply himself in his education and take care of himself properly. Essentially, the center of these problems is the death of his brother, Allie. For example, Holden describes the night Allie died and how he reacted. He states that, “ [he] slept in the garage the night he died,” and “ broke all the [windows in the garage] with [his] fist” (39). Furthermore, as Holden leaves Pencey Prep to a hotel, he spends time alone with his thoughts. In this hotel, Holden replays memories he

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).

Holden has experienced clusters of severe trauma throughout his entire life. His brother Allie died of Leukemia a few years ago and Holden was so upset that he punched all of the windows out in his garage that night. Neither Holden, nor his family have yet to deal with the loss of Allie, which clearly affected Holden very much. Also Holden was a witness to James Castle’s suicide at a private school that he once attended. James Castle had been bullied and could no longer handle the situation, so he resorted to suicide by hurling himself out of a building window and falling to his death. Although Holden was not incredibly close with James Castle, he was still affected deeply by the sight of the incident.

What does it mean to be an adult? But then again, what does it mean to be a child? An adult is one who is seen as responsible and independent while a child is the complete opposite, dependent on others and irresponsible to the point where it became ridiculous. Yet, what about those who are in a limbo between both adult and child and shows both of these characteristics, because in the position of a young adult, they are somewhere in between since they look old but might still have a couple thoughts those of a child might have. They still do not have all of the responsibilities an adult might have but they don't have as much freedom as a child might have. This is where Holden Caulfield

Holden’s deep depression arose from Allie’s death, and at Holden’s lowest moments, he starts to think about Allie. His depression started when Holden “broke all the goddamn windows with [his] fist” (39). Holden is unable to properly grieve for his brother leaving him in bitter depression with the lingering memories of Allie to bring him comfort. At the park, Holden’s contemplation on his own death leads him back to thoughts about Allie at the cemetery. Holden recalls the feeling of guilt he felt when he had to leave Allie at the cemetery so eventually he stopped going. Allie brings Holden back to reality at the park making him go see Phoebe and eventually Allie’s death reminds Holden of why he can’t leave Phoebe. The pain Holden constantly feels because of Allie’s death drags him deeper into depression, but also gives him some comfort in his toughest times. Holden’s contrast of emotions about Allie portrays his inability to stop thinking about Allie and to accept that Allie is gone.

Grievance, a controversial theme, has higher infection rates than even the common cold ; Everyone, regardless of appearance, stature, and social status will indefinitely experience it some time in their life. In the novel “The Catcher in the Rye”, Salinger depicts a boy called Holden whom flunks and runs away from school, only to unexpectedly embark on a journey through the streets of New York City. He hires prostitutes, fights with gargantuan 250 pound pimps, and gets drunk from alcohol at bars. Not only does he isolate himself from others to protest against conformity, he also does so to reach some form of closure or end to his grievance of the death of his late brother, Allie. Through examining the actions and thoughts of Holden, it reveals

An important sign of Holden’s depression is his obsessions of death throughout the book. First, Holden experiences a thought of death immediately after his fight with Stradtler. For example, Holden states “All I did was, I got up and went over and looked out the window. I felt so lonesome, all of a sudden. I almost wished I was dead.” (Salinger 48) Although Holden detested Stradtler, the fight causes him to feel isolated. Holden’s suicidal thought arises from his inability to cope with the situation. This shows how Holden is mentally unstable and has conflicting emotions immediately after fighting with his roommate. Next, Holden pretends he has been shot after being punished by Maurice. In the novel, Holden states he was “holding onto my guts, blood leaking all over the place” (Salinger 104). This shows Holden’s fascination with the thought of dying arising from his inability to

Holden Caulfield plays a timeless character in the sense that his way of life is common for the American teenager, in his time as well as now. Today parents dread the terrible and confusing adolescent years of their child's life. In J.D. Salinger's book, The Catcher in the Rye, Holden is in this terrible and confusing point of his life. At this point in his life, as well as in modern teenager's lives, a transition occurs, from child to adult. Holden takes this change particularly rough and develops a typical mentality that prevents him from allowing himself to see or understand his purpose in life.

Youth is the time of deadly dangers. It is a time where one simple mistake can spiral the rest of one’s life out of control. Although trials and tribulations await for those who enter this stage of life, there are many of those who have survived through this treacherous storm of confusion and angst. Two of these contestants that have made huge strides in this game are Holden Caulfield from The Catcher in the Rye, and Junior from The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. Holden, a youth from New York, has been expelled from his high school: Pencey Prep. Finally, having enough of his life, he goes out and ventures onto wherever the wind blows. With only himself and his pessimistic personality to brave the world, he desperately clings

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

After sneaking home and leaving once again, Holden goes to Mr. Antolini's apartment, his favorite teacher at Elkton Hills, seeking shelter and familiarity. He is awakened in the middle of the night to the questioning touch of Mr. Antolini to which Holden then reveals, “When something perverty like that happens, I start sweating like a bastard. That kind of stuff’s happening to me about twenty times since I was a kid, I can’t stand it” (213). Holden’s reaction exhibits previous trauma that suggests he has been come onto more than once or possibly molested at one point. This situation triggered past psychologically damage and offers an explanation as to why Holden views sex as something so demeaning. Another situation where Holden encounters a great deal of psychological danger is when Allie, his little brother, dies of leukemia; he states, “I was only thirteen, and they were going to have me psychoanalyzed and all because I broke all the windows in the garage...with my fist just for the hell of it” (44). Allie’s death causes astounding psychological damage causing Holden to become physically self destructive. Holden’s parents add onto the psychological harm for not offering him the help he needed until he physically harmed himself; he just lost his brother, but is being psychoanalyzed for breaking windows. This is a form of negligence further exhibiting the psychological danger following him throughout his