Grief is something that most humans may encounter sometime in their lives however contrary to general consensus, grieving is not a short process. In fact on average the grieving process takes 5-8 years. According to Psychiatrist Elisabeth Kubler-Ross there are 5 phases of the grieving process: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, acceptance. This process is extremely relevant with the protagonist of The Catcher in the Rye, Holden Caufield, since Holden’s younger brother Allie’s died 6 years before the start of the novel therefore leaving Holden in said grieving process. Holden bounces in between the phases, specifically anger, bargaining and depression.
Holden had a younger brother named Allie who “died of leukemia when he was eleven” (Salinger 38). Allie was a major factor in Holden’s life and development as a person in general. In a way, Allie is still alive in Holden and his actions, and Holden constantly thinks about him. When Holden felt that he was going to disappear whenever he crossed the street, he says, “Every time I came to the end of a block I’d make believe I was talking to my brother Allie.
This obsession causes him to alienate himself from the world around him for fear of any alteration to his daily life and strays from ideas of love, terrified of losing those close to him. This belief likely originates from the passing of his brother, Allie. As a matter of fact, to take out frustrations caused by Allie’s death, he decides to shatter all the windows in the garage to the point of losing the capacity to fully create a fist. As a result, it the event gives a sensitivity to reality; creating a belief that the world was the cause of his downfall. In Salinger Seems to Agree With Holden by Lawrence Jay Dessner, he states, “Holden wants a guarantee of the purity of human motive.”
This repeated action of Holden’s clearly shows his desire to connect with the people he misses and cares about the most, but it also reveals that something is restraining him from reaching out to them for companionship, as his unreliable excuses fail to shield Holden’s true feelings. Holden’s fruitless consideration and excuses plainly display his hand held out for connection, but also the fact that something is pulling him back
Salinger then uses the simile, “then we shook hands. And all that crap. It made me feel sad as hell, though” which shows how Holden did not want to leave. This suggests that Holden feels the sense of belonging when he is with Mr and Mrs Spencer and the thought of leaving them made him sad. Hence, showing the viewers how Mr and Mrs Spencer give Holden a sense of peace and comfort.
Holden’s Diagnosis In The Catcher in the Rye Holden tells us the story of how he got into a mental institution. The 17-year-old is presented as an anti-phony, anxious, and an angry teenager. Holden deals with a lot in the novel like being kicked out of school, getting beat up, and struggles with the death of his brother Allie. It is clearly shown in the novel that Holden is dealing with some serious mental health issues.
I even tried to break all the windows on the station wagon we had that summer, but my hand was already broken and everything by that time, and I couldn’t do it. It was a very stupid thing to do, I’ll admit, but I hardly didn’t even know I was doing it and you didn’t know Allie.” Holden acts out of pure shock from losing his brother not even realizing what he was doing, leading to problems with his fist. Allie's mitt is first presented in chapter five as readers get to see the significance that this holds to Holden.
In the novel The Catcher in the Rye, the protagonist Holden Caulfield is depressed, sarcastic and dishonest. As Holden is conversing with his roommate Ackley, he suddenly [wishes he was dead], this contextual image describes Holden’s internal conflict with depression. Soon afterwards, Holden abruptly decides that he is leaving Pencey and starts packing his bags, he notices ice skates that his mother bought earlier and claims that presents “[make him sad]”, this contextual image hints to Holden’s depression as he is unhappy at a time when most people are joyful. Throughout chapters 7-12 Holden constantly repeats the phrase “lonesome and depressed” this repetition highlights Holden’s fight with depression. Holden is dishonest, lying
After his brother Allie died, the first thing Holden did was punch out all the windows in his garage. He also attacked Stradlater after he refuses to use Holden’s essay because he felt Stradlater was dissing Allie. Most grievers bargain with God, but Holden is not religious so he bargains directly to Allie, praying to keep him from disappearing. Holden Begins to feel adulthood as he’s maturing from childhood. He does not only grieve for the death of Allie, but also for the death of his childhood.
Holden recalls the time he spent the night in his garage: “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. It was very stupid I have to admit, but I hardly didn’t even know I was doing it, and you didn’t know Allie (Salinger, 39).” His denial is represented when he does not admit why he did what he did to the garage. Holden
I was already sort of sorry I 'd let the thing start rolling, but it was too late now” (Salinger 19). This quote goes to show that Holden is trying to be a different person. He normally would accept a night with an escort but as stated in the quote he was so depressed he couldn 't even think about his decisions. A later quote shows that he doesn 't even use his real name he uses the name “Jim Steele”.
After Holden’s brothers death he, “slept in the garage the night he died, and I broke all the goddam windows with my fist” (Salinger 44). He went into the garage to isolate himself from everyone else and broke the windows out of anger. His post traumatic stress disorder kept getting worse because he continually
Factors that led me to this diagnosis are Holdens constant state of depression, the loss of his brother, and him expressing both feelings of loneliness and suicidal thoughts. Numerous times throughout The Catcher in the Rye Holden displays both depressive and suicidal thoughts such as “What I really felt like though was commiting suicide. I felt like jumping out the window” (Salinger 136) and “Please. I’m lonesome as hell. No kidding.
After talking about his childhood memories with his brother he states, ¨He is dead now. He got leukemia and died when we were up in Maine, on July 18, 1946. You´d have like him.¨ Then after talking about Allie’s old baseball mitt he said, ¨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¨(43-44). Allie’s death is used to show the unexpected change that Holden had experienced during his life. Allie was only eleven when he died, and Holden was thirteen.
The Catcher in the Rye, written by J.D. Salinger in 1951, is the story of an angst-ridden sixteen year old Holden Caulfield as he learns to deal with growing up. The story follows Holden through his three day experience through New York as he learns about the truth about innocence, sex, and mortality, making The Catcher in the Rye one of America’s most notable coming-of-age stories. One of the largest influences on Holden’s life was his younger brother Allie who died from leukemia at age eleven when Holden was thirteen. The death of Holden’s brother had a profound effect on Holden emotional state, which eventually caused his complete mental breakdown by the end of the novel.
