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Catcher In The Rye And PTSD

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The “Catcher in the Rye” is a novel written by J.D Salinger and focused around the main character Holden Caulfield’s life. Holden Caulfield is a teenage boy who is suffering with many problems within him. When he was 13, his younger brother Allie passed away, which took a great toll in his life. Holden shows many signs of developing the disorder PTSD. PTSD stands for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and its affects Holden throughout the entire book. “PTSD is an anxiety disorder that some people get after seeing or living through a dangerous event,”(“PTSD” 1) and PTSD can occur at any age. The disorder affected his family life, making and having friends and his life at school. Holden experienced many symptoms and events caused by PTSD, which affect his everyday way of living. …show more content…

He always fails almost all of his classes and gets kicked out of the schools he goes to. Holden attended an all boy’s school but never made any friends and hated almost every single person at his school. Holden says, ‘I was trying to feel some kind of good-by. I mean I’ve left schools and places I didn’t even know I was leaving them,”(Salinger 4). In this quote, Holden is saying that he wants to make an emotional connection with people or a place, like his school, but ye he has not tried or invest in making any connections. Holden would be desperate for a companion and he is a very lonely person as well,

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