Holden Caulfield Sane Or Insane Analysis

Nandan Shastry In the novel, Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger, the main character Holden Caulfield struggles with many internal and external conflicts that change his attitude on life and how he approaches and confronts various situations. Throughout the novel Holden is always labeling people and situations that he disagrees with as phony instead of respecting that someone may have different opinion than him and it might be right. At the conclusion of the novel Holden is faced with the questions of whether he will apply himself when he goes to school that coming fall. He replies that he wants to but will never know until that time has come.

C. Holden Caulfield as an Archetypal Picaro The works of the Swiss psychiatrist Carl Gustav Jung supplied the writers with “archetypal images” which were considered to be “universal images”. “The main ideas of Jung integrates on the collective unconscious that contains the `depot` of the archetypes or stereotypes which are perceived in a similar way nationally or sometimes even globally”( Berezhna 26). So when a literary work is analyzed through the archetypal images it is significant to comprehend that those are not personal opinions of the author but universal, archaic patterns and images that derive from the collective unconscious. In literature, archetypes like the mother, the father, the trickster or in our case especially important, the

J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in The Rye is fueled by Holden Caulfield, historically America’s most controversial fictional character. The skepticism, the belief in the purity of the soul against the tawdry actions of this boy inspires many teenage readers. But what is wrong with him? What makes him the rebel that he is?

New York City is the city that never sleeps. There are bustling people, all having a place to be at, small coffee shops, and don’t forget about the city lights. You can easily be swept away with the city's aura and forget about your worries. In the novel The Catcher In The Rye, the protagonist Holden Caulfield explores the city over a span of 3 days after fleeing his private school Pencey prep.

Questions: Why is it that Holden is more tolerant and accepting of Spencer and his wife compared to other people? Holden says “he acts quite young for his age” what could this statement signify for the reader's’ perspective on Holden? Based on the reading so far, what do you think Holden’s perspective of himself is?

People experience life in a plethora of different ways. Loneliness and isolationism are main causes of depression; moreover, there are many stories that show the tragic effects of loneliness. For example, Holden’s story resembles Robin Williams’ tragic decline into depression and eventually suicide. Robin Williams, an emphatic and loved actor who was “larger than life”, but due to severe loneliness and isolation, he fell into a deep depression. Robin lived a great and happy life; however, a disease called Parkinson’s ravaged his entire life.

Holden Caulfield is a regular individual, yet he has had some traumatic incidents during his life. I believe that these things are the reason that Holden has been acting weird with his actions and his beliefs. The mixture between major depression and a memorable event in his life has caused him to act out throughout his life and caused him to be put into a mental home, although he does not need to be there. Holden’s problem isn’t something wrong with him mentally but something that went wrong with his life. I believe that with proper treatment and someone to talk to that Holden will be just fine.

Book: The Curious Incident the of the Dog in the Night-Time Author: J.D. Salinger Intro: Hook: Thesis:

In a world filled with contradictions and challenges, the absence of love forces many to attach meaning in anything they can find. The Catcher in the rye is the odyssey of a young boy named Holden Caulfield who faces many challenges, compounded by a childhood that lacked affection and love. Salinger describes Holden’s lifestyle as one that possess many troubles. Throughout the novel it is evident that Holden’s character develops from someone who is detached from the world, to someone who learns to understand why things are the way they are. The absence of love forces Holden to attach to anything or anyone he deems important, and due to that he finds it difficult to express his feelings, and finds it difficult to respond to affection.

Gretchen Rubin once said, “Negative emotions like loneliness, envy, and guilt have an important role to play in a happy life; they're big, flashing signs that something needs to change.” However, in The Catcher in the Rye there is no one who understands Holden’s loneliness, and Holden does not quite know how to express it. In his novel The Catcher in the Rye, J.D. Salinger develops the theme of loneliness through Holden’s need for human contact, suicidal thoughts, and his separation from others around him. One way J.D. Salinger expresses Holden’s loneliness is through his need for human contact.

Family isolation can cause depression and sadness for a teenager. In the novel Catcher in the Rye, the author makes the reader follow the main character, Holden Caulfield around New York. Holden has just gotten kicked out of another school and decides to go around New York without telling his parents. Over the course of his journey, he tries to find himself and where he is going in life. He starts to go downhill as is past starts to haunt him and he starts to think about the future.

Elizabeth Ross, a Swiss-American author wrote, “The most beautiful we've known are those who have known defeat, struggles, loss, and have found their way out of the depths.” In order to survive in the world we must realize that growing up comes with having to face your fears. The protagonists in John Knowles, Elie Wiesel, and J.D. Salinger books either fear losing their identity to cruelty, change, or their best friend. These fears tend to be the evil that the characters live with and shape their lives. What they do not get is that every adolescent endures evil; how they handle this will cause them to mature.