How Does Holden React To Death In Catcher In The Rye

Holden's disconnection from his family and friends causes an isolation that then leads to the deep depression expressed in the novel as “his great fall”. Sending him to boarding school portrays the physical and emotional distance that Holden faces with his parents. After the death of his younger brother it is implied that Holden displayed the tendencies of a distraught teneager. By “flunking four subjects and not applying myself and all.(6))” Yet instead of dealing with the issues of their problematic son they instead choose to send him away to boarding school as a means of not having to have that problem. Holden is so far disconnected from his parents emotionally and physically that it becomes a sure fire way for him to lead the life of a

On July 18, 1946, Holden Caulfield suffered the loss of his younger brother, Allie, beginning his life of despair and grief. It is often understood that grief consists of seven emotional stages: shock, denial, bargaining, guilt, anger, depression, and acceptance. In The Catcher in the Rye, J.D. Salinger's utilizes death as a motif so as to show how the grieving process affects an individual throughout all aspects of his or her life. The stages of coping are represented during the course of the book, appearing whenever death is mentioned. As Holden’s journey starts with shock and denial, it comes to a close with acceptance of what he has gone through.

J.D. Salinger 's "The Catcher in the Rye" portrays a troubled teen in New York City. Over the few days the novel depicts, the boy displays his critical and unhealthy mindset. Eventually he has a mental breakdown. Through psychoanalysis of Holden Caulfield, one may suggest that Allie 's death, social development, and an identity crisis are large contributing factors in Holden 's mental breakdown.

Salinger highlights the struggle after a loved one’s death through the protagonist, Holden, who accounts the memories of his brother Allie: “He used to laugh so hard at something he thought of at the dinner table that he just about fell off his chair. I was only thirteen, and they were going to have me psychoanalyzed and all, because I broke all the windows in the garage. I don't blame them” (Salinger 38). At an adolescent age, Holden had to go through the tragedy of his brother's death, where he demonstrated strange behavior due to his emotional instability. Holden had ruined his friendship with Stradlater, who’d asked Holden to write him an English prompt where Holden wrote about Allie’s glove, but had disappointed Stradlater, thus Holden tore the paper. Holden became furious due to the connection Holden had with his brother, he portrayed the misunderstanding that society and adolescents have of one another after a

Holden’s characterization takes place after Allie’s death and continues to mold him into the young boy he is today. “I slept in the garage the night he died, and I broke all the goddamn with my fist, just for the hell of it. (Salinger, pg. 39). Allie’s death is the root of Holden’s emotional problems and creates the Holden as of today. Although Holden was young and naive and his actions and his actions may have meant nothing to him at the time, punching

In J. D Salinger 's novel, The Catcher in the Rye, the protagonist, Holden, goes through many hardships in his journey to self-knowledge. In the beginning, Holden has to deal with being kicked out of school and not having any place to call home. He is also struggling with the unfortunate tragedy of the death of his beloved younger brother Allie. At the same time, Holden is trying to deal with growing up and accepting the adult world. Throughout the novel Salinger addresses the conflicts faced by a young man struggling with the trials and tribulations of growing up while also confronting personal loss and loneliness along the way.

He is not intensely preoccupied with academic achievement like many more modern teenagers, having failed out of several prestigious preparatory schools, but he is clearly intelligent and tends to dwell on“heavy” topics like death and loss of innocence. His cynicism and sensitivity, in addition to the trauma he experiences from losing his brother Allie, suggest that he has depression or another untreated mental illness, an interpretation which is common among readers and supported by Holden’s visit with a psychotherapist at the end of the novel. Despite the risks he faces through having an untreated mental illness, shown when he is warned that he is “riding for some kind of a terrible, terrible fall” through self-destructive behavior, the conformist culture and social niceties of the 1950s prevented him from being able to discuss his thoughts for a large portion of the novel. (186) This culture, specifically the “phony” prep schools, is clearly toxic for Holden and likely contributed heavily towards his negative mental state, and therefore the negative image he often has of

In the novel “The Catcher in The Rye” Salinger, the author, uses Holden’s interactions to both criticize society as well as reveal Holden’s symptoms of his psychological problems. In the novel, Salinger presents how unsympathetic people can be towards each other especially if you are like Holden, an emotionally scarred male teenager dealing with past trauma. Salinger also shows us that due to those unsympathetic behaviors and the trauma that comes with dead family members.

The Catcher in the Rye has been described, analyzed, rebuffed, and critiqued over the years.  Each writer expresses a different point of view:  It is a story reflecting teen-ager's talk--thoughts-emotions--actions; or angst.  I believe it is an adult's reflection of his own unresolved grief and bereavements.  That adult is the author, J.D. Salinger.  He uses his main character, Holden, as the voice to vent the psychological misery he will not expose -or admit to.

Holden’s biggest issue throughout the book that affects his life decisions negatively is his inability to accept change after Ally's death. While at Pencey, Holden has a difficult time letting go of pieces of his childhood. Holden mentions how he keeps “[Ally’s] left-handed fielders mitt” (pg. 45), and recalls the time after his brother died when he “broke all the windows in the garage”, and even sleep in the garage the night he died (pg. 44). Holden’s lashing out when Ally died shows how hard Ally’s death was for Holden, and the fact that he still carries around Ally’s mitt shows how he is unable to let go of Ally and his death.

“It killed me, it really did.” Remember this phrase from somewhere? It’s the line Holden Caulfield says every time in the iconic novel; The Catcher in the Rye. Since the book was published in 1951 by J.D. Salinger, many people from all over the world have loved it. This book was even carried by the killer of John Lennon, and was banned in the past. The protagonist Holden Caulfield is a 16-year-old boy who has just gotten expelled from his Prep school. And until the end, the story is has been about Holden’s journey in New York City. He's alone. He does have a family and parents, but he hardly has any contact with them. It makes him lonelier and lonelier. What does he need? Why is it that Holden is mentally struggling so much even though he’s rich and goes to good schools? It’s because Holden isn’t getting the right help he needs. Holden has been alone ever since Allie died. He was close to his siblings, but from far away. He hardly had any close friends. The adults he seeks advice from his former teachers. They cared about Holden, but they had their own lives. Old Spencer was old and sick, and Mr. Antolini wasn’t as unconditional as he seemed to be. He needs his parents. It is a pity that his parents weren't trying to communicate with their son as much about his feelings, but Holden had every chance to approach them first. After he gets off the train when he arrives in New York, he gets a chance to call his parents. He thinks, “I couldn’t think anybody to call up. My kid

To commence, in the novel, it becomes clear that Holden Caulfield suffers from mental illnesses that impede his ability to apply himself in his education and take care of himself properly. Essentially, the center of these problems is the death of his brother, Allie. For example, Holden describes the night Allie died and how he reacted. He states that, “ [he] slept in the garage the night he died,” and “ broke all the [windows in the garage] with [his] fist” (39). Furthermore, as Holden leaves Pencey Prep to a hotel, he spends time alone with his thoughts. In this hotel, Holden replays memories he

The Catcher in the Rye: Holden’s Impulsive Actions from Pain Anger is a symptom of pain. The emotional pain from the unfortunate, early death of Holden’s younger brother Allie causes Holden’s mental downward spiral as he attempts to seek comfort. When Allie dies, Holden reacts irrationally.

Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye has been pronounced a literary classic for its atypical portrayal of adolescence, to effectively convey the protagonist’s alienation and confusion. The introduction of The Catcher in the Rye is underpinned by disorder and confusion through a stream-of-consciousness narration, which digresses from one subject to another. Consequently, Holden’s multitudinous thoughts and feelings appear to lack a cohesive pattern. Additionally, Holden’s prevalent ascription of other students as “phony” (Salinger, p.3) alludes to his alienation and isolation as a form of self-protection; he rejects those he does not understand. Furthermore, the vocabulary encapsulates typical adolescence dialect of the 1940s, and resultantly, alienates contemporary reader. This is typified through Holden’s use of colloquial speech, in particular, his exclamation “that killed me” (Salinger, p.42) to express his amusement. Therefore, the introduction of Holden’s disjointed monologue in The Catcher in the Rye foreshadows Salinger’s unique interpretation of adolescence.

A traumatic past can shape a person’s overall view on the world. Many times, the memories of the past negatively affect the person. In the book The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, the author develops Holden’s cynical attitude by connecting him to painful memories and events such as Allie’s death, losing touch with Jane, and losing his trust in adulthood.