Holden is a teenager, who, from my observation, is not exempt from having regular teenager problems such are struggling with social norms and statuses and relationships with both male and female genders. As he told me, he tries to have people with whom he can spend time and call friends as well as he tries to find relationship with girls. In fact, he succeeds in being more or less social spending time with other boys, for example going to the city with Mal Brossand and Ackley, or having double dates with Stadler and his female schoolmates. However, although he could’ve been considered to be a regular teenager with no significant declines, he has a lot of mental problems, but the most crucial one is not accepting life in a way it is. This problem …show more content…
He doesn’t accept many things such are phonies and people not being like Allie, and these make him feel the way he does. Due to the fact Holden cannot make connections with people as they are not like Allie and as Holden thinks are phonies he is not able of having friends, what leads into him being lonely. When he started to face events that made him feel upset, for example being beaten up by Stradlader, he had nobody to talk to. “It was even depressing out in the street. You couldn’t even bear any cars any more. I got feeling so lonesome and rotten, I even felt like waking Ackley up.”(Salinger 50). This is what causes people to be depressed, having problems with nobody being with you to help. Being at this emotional state makes Holden to be emotionally unstable. For example, sometimes he is unreasonably aggressive, shouting at Sally or trying to punch Stradlatter, at the same time being quiet and unconfident, not contacting with Jane. On the other hand, the fact that he sees everyone as a phony makes him depressed as well, because the way he sees people makes him hate a lot. However, this cannot continue if Holden wants to be a happy person. He needs to appreciate life more, trying to find positive sides in a word he’s currently living in not only when he’s with his family. He has to do that because a person who dislikes everything and cannot be emotionally stable doesn’t fit into our
There are many stigmas and opinions surrounding mental illness and its effect on the mentally ill and how they function in society. However mental illness cannot be used as a scapegoat for all of one’s problems, as some issues are due simply to the actions and beliefs of a person. Holden is an example of such a case, where his issues are attributable to his thoughts and actions despite his mental condition. Holden is responsible for his own alienation from society through his categorization of the people around him and his arrested development due to trauma. Holden throughout the entire book calls others phony, and even his own family stupid, therefore alienating himself from others.
Throughout the book holden gives off a vibe of being depressed, which might have started when his brother passed away. It’s seems like after that happened he lost all enthusiasm and energy to really try and also to really plan out his future. Most
To make matters worse, his life isn’t looking very optimistic at this point either. “I got feeling so lonesome and rotten, I even felt like waking Ackley up” (Salinger 50). Evidently, Holden is in an unhealthy psychological state of mind, as the pressure and embarrassment of flunking out of Pencey Prep combined with the passing of his brother and keeping his emotions bottled up inside are becoming too much for Holden to take. He even considers waking up Ackley for a chat, an awkward senior with a very limited social
Holden’s Depression in The Catcher in the Rye In the United States, 20% of teens are depressed at some point in their teen years.. In The Catcher in the Rye, Holden is going through depression. But he somehow keeps a light humor to everything that happens.
By the end, Holden has compassion and is matured. As one can see, maturity is an important process in a person’s life. Growing up is inevitable because life is full of eye-opening experiences and life lessons that helps one
Holden has a very different way of showing his depression in the novel. His depression is present when he tries to keep his innocence and stray away from adult hood all while trying to keep his relationship with his brother Allie. Holden wants to be the “catcher in the rye “. He wants to be that person who catches those kids who are falling off the cliff into adulthood. Holden wants to protect those who are close to him and those that he loves.
JD Salinger’s novel The Catcher in the Rye is about a boy named Holden Caulfield and his struggle with life. As a teenager, he has one goal and that is to simply find his place in the world. Unlike an ordinary teenager he has a severe case of depression, and displays many signs to exhibit this mental illness. As we escalate through the novel, we notice that his depression seems to be getting worse and that he is feeling despondent more often.
Although Holden is a fictional character, many of the symptoms he displays during his journey are real and affect real life teens. Teen depression is a serious mental health problem. One of the possible dangers is the probability that it's not temporary and may affect the teen in a
Although Holden is not fully recovered he is much less depressed than his earlier stages in the book. Holden has taken a step further in his adult life and rather than dismissing those around them he begins to value them, thus being a big step. In the book Catcher in the Rye by J.D Salinger, the narrator and protagonist Holden Caulfield a sixteen year old junior undergoes a series of changes; changes that helped a distraught teenager learn that everyone grows up. You don 't need to be the “Catcher in the Rye” that protects the children from going if the deep end thought
Holden is unaware of his problem. When people try to help him he tells them there is nothing wrong with him. Holden wonders why he cannot connect with others. He blames it on other people when the source of his problems is himself. Holden’s past holds him back from connecting with others, but his fear of letting go of his past has him limited and scarred from making new relationships and connections.
‘’I felt so lonesome, all of the sudden. I almost wished I was dead,’’ a quote from the classic novel The Catcher in the Rye by J.D Salinger which relates to how some teens felt at one point in their life. The novel was published to attract adult readers and has become popular for its themes, motifs, and connections an individual has with the main character, Holden Caulfield. We tend to feel a connection to the struggles of Holden Caulfield as we put ourselves in his shoes and see life through his perspective. The book is still relevant due to Holden facing challenges such as loneliness and the inability to make a connection to make with a purpose thus the readers see themselves in Holden.
Isolation and Depression: A Vicious Cycle Grief. Depression. Isolation. What do you think when you hear those words? Holden Caulfield has been through a lot, from being kicked out of several schools to being so depressed he wonders why he should go on living. Holdens family keeps pushing him away and that’s where he learns his tendency to push people away who he cares about.
Holden struggles with growing up and facing reality. There are many examples of Holden’s immaturity that are displayed in many forms such as facing responsibilities, his speech, his actions, and etc. Holden’s outlook on adult life is that it is superficial and brimming with phonies, but childhood was all about looking pleasing and innocent. He wants everything to stay the same and for time to stop. As Holden progresses in age, he will discover more about becoming mature in the
Adolescence is the transitional period of psychological changes that generally occurs during puberty. Although the Catcher in the Rye was published in 1951, when the characteristics of adolescents were not fully acknowledged, Salinger portrays adolescents’ struggle comprehensively. He depicts teenagers’ unstable mindsets through the Catcher in the Rye, especially through his teenaged protagonist, Holden Caulfield. Throughout The Catcher in the Rye, he uses Holden to convey the immature curiosity, painfulness of the process of growing up for a typical teenagers and adolescents’ view on the adult world.
These few lines from the book are a clear indication of Holdens loneliness. Holden didnt have a good explanation as to why he started crying out of blue, only to say himself that he was depressed and