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Examples Of Abuse In Catcher In The Rye

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In J.D. Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye, Holden’s present life is being affected by all the troubling things he 's had happen to him in the past. Holden has never really stopped grieving his superlative brother—Allie’s—death which can lead to sudden anger outbursts abuse. Holden had hinted at being sexually abused at one point of the book which can lead to him doing bad things to cope with the abuse. A boy that Holen liked—James Castle—jumped out of a window after a few boys bullied him. These past instances have made Holden the cold, lying, introverted person we know. Holden was very close to Allie so it 's understandable that his death had a resonant effect on him; however, trying to hold onto Allie has caused him to go into a downward spiral. He constantly smokes and drinks to try and fill the hole that his brother left. His drinking mixed with his failure to cope with Allies death had led him to have very intense emotions such as sadness and anger. “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. I even tried to break all the windows on the station wagon we had that summer, but …show more content…

Holden also hates getting too close to people because they always end up leaving him. For example, at Elkton Hills School, Holden met a guy named James Castle and he thought James was a nice guy who he could be friends with. The boy was bullied by some boys and ended up taking his own life. “Finally, what he did, instead of taking back what he said, he jumped out the window...He had on this turtleneck sweater I 'd lent him” (Salinger 92). Another example of someone he liked leaving him was Allie. Allie was not only Holden 's brother but also his best friend. He was the reason Holden got out of bed in the morning and one day he was just gone. These two people showed Holden that if he trusted or cared about someone, they would end up leaving him. Most of the time he ends up leaving people first so they don’t get to leave

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