Holden's Personality In The Catcher In The Rye

Throughout The Catcher in the Rye, Holden manifests many issues in his personality by demonstrating a destructive behavior towards others. One of Sigmund Freud's great contributions to the field of psychology includes his personality theory. Freud’s theory proposed that an individual's personality was made up of three entities. One of these entities is the Id only operates in the individual's unconscious which contains troubling memories and emotional experiences that the individual is not aware of. The Id structure of personality is also known as the pleasure principle, this is the demand for immediate gratification that not always is socially correct or accepted. Holden’s behavior is not what many consider socially correct but that does not …show more content…
This theory much like his other theories are is based on a sequence that either leads either to a healthy personality or an in healthy personality. “During each stage, an unsuccessful completion means that a child becomes fixated on that particular erogenous zone and either over– or under-indulges once he or she becomes an adult” (Heffnern). The first stage of this theory is known as the Oral stage in which takes place from birth to 18 months of age. In this stage the individual looks for a way out of anxiety with the mouth by sucking on anything it can find. If the anxiety is not dealt with then the individual is stuck with an oral fixation for the a long time in the unconscious. This stage can be compared to Holden's substance abuse on alcohol because by sucking on the bottle it seemed to relieve his an it causing him pleasurable emotions. The tip of the bottle might also unconsciously remind him of his mother due to the tip of the bottle being shaped like a nipple reminding him of his happiness in his younger days. The next stage of development is known as the Anal stage, in this stage the Individual must learn how to hold down feces. If not the anxiety the Individual acquires an anal fixation that can result in obsession with power in the future. Throughout the story Holden like to have control over every aspect of his life leading him to get kicked out of the academy yet he said he dropped out on his own. The next stage of development of development in Freud’s theory is referred to as the Phallic stage in which the source of pleasure comes from the genitals. This leads to an unconscious sexual desire for the parent with the opposite gender behind the back of the parent with same gender causing a rivalry. The fear of being cast away of the parent with the same gender causes the individual to get closer to the same gender parent leading