Physical Symptoms: Isolating Himself from Society: Depressed people often isolate themselves because they do not want to face the strain of social contact. “I was standing way the hell up on top of Thomsen Hill, right next to this crazy cannon that was in the Revolutionary War and all. You could see the whole field from there...practically the whole school except me was there” (Salinger 2) In this quote Holden is isolating himself from everyone because he does not want to deal with everyone, who he thinks are fake.…
As portrayed by Mr.Antolini and all the help he gave Holden. Mr.Antolini guides him to think better of himself so he doesn’t feel like he is useless. Even after Mr.Antolini tries to help him and guide him in the right direction, Holden finds a way to push him aside by making him sound like a terrible person for helping him: “What he was doing, he was sitting on the floor right next to the couch, in the dark and all, and he was sort of petting me or patting me on the goddam head.” (Salinger, 192) Holden ends up rejecting everything Mr.Antolini had told him and he finds a way to make a negative image of him in his mind. Holden has a peculiar way of thinking when it comes to socializing and being friendly.…
The song “ Lost Boy” by Ruth B. relates to Holden’s desire to forget the painful reality of losing his brother, Allie. For instance, Holden gets himself kicked out of Pencey and runs away to New York where he constantly drinks and tries to lose himself. He has delusional thoughts and slowly moves farther from reality and into a state of delusion. By the end of the novel Holden loses himself completely, he says, “Every Time I’d get to the end of the block I’d believe I was talking to my brother Allie. I’d say to him, Allie please don’t let me disappear”(Salinger 198).…
After Holden runs away from Mr. Antolini’s house he thinks, “And the more I thought about it, the more depressed I got. I mean I started thinking maybe I should’ve gone back to his house. Maybe he was only patting my head just for the hell of it.” (pg. 195). Mr. Antolini is one of the few people that has helped Holden since he has left Pencey.…
Holden Caulfield from The Catcher in the Rye exhibits strong indications of having a mental illness. Prior to his admittance to a mental hospital at the end of the book, Holden experiences many delusions, such as the belief that people are doing suspicious things all the time and are not to be trusted. An instance of Holden’s paranoia is when he is in the home of Mr. Antolini, his former teacher, to spend the night when he realises a drunk Mr. Antolini “[is] sitting on the floor right next to the couch, petting… [Holden] on the head.” (Salinger 191).…
Holden’s emotional scars from the past dictate how he reacts to the…
“ I kept picturing myself catching him In the act, and how I’d smash his head on the stone steps till he was good and goddam bloody” (Salinger). One one would assume this came from a violent person, a person with problems controlling their anger but no, it comes from 17 year old Holden Caulfield who just wants to be loved for once in his life. When we first meet Holden we see the dilemma that he goes through throughout the entire book. He goes on this journey, both mentally and physically, and it starts when he leaves his ‘phony” school Pencey Prep. Throughout this struggle we see Holden’s true form and how it's affected him.…
Prior to Holden’s encounter with the mummy he happens to pass by several graffiti that spells out “fuck you,” he signifies the graffiti as signs of chaos and an act that is unforgivable. His greatest fear is having the children at Phoebe’s school see the signs and become horrified of its meaning and what it stands for, in the previous chapters we understand that Holden’s dream if to become a catcher in the rye that saves children from falling off a cliff. This allows us to finally understand the meaning of the title of the book, and we also understand that even though Holden address very mature topics throughout the novel; his dream is to save the innocence of children. This idea of saving innocence also connects to the idea of Holden’s hatred for people he calls “phonies,” “phonies” are supposedly people who are not genuine, for example when people ask “how are you” but they really don’t care on the inside. He loves children and especially Phoebe because they do as they feel and children never mean harm.…
Since introspective passages often occurs throughout the novel, one cannot be surprised to find that Holden, physically, is located at one setting, the park, but mentally wanders from place to place, particularly the cemetery. Because of this overwhelming rumination, Holden cannot stand to remain…
Anthony D’Angelo Holden’s Mental Journey How does Holden’s trip to New York city in The Catcher in the Rye disallow him from reaching mental stability? Everyone in his or her life will face adversity at one time or another. Although facing adversity can be tough both mentally and physically on someone, dealing with hardships is necessary for the growth of one´s character. Today's society, however, can pose many distractions that can deter one from reaching a goal and overcoming certain adversity in their life. Highlighting this occurring issue in one's life, J.D. Salinger describes in his novel The Catcher in the Rye a young protagonist under the name of Holden Caulfield, who gets kicked out of boarding school and lives a life in New…
He rages against loss and injustice as he tries to erase the profanity off the walls. Holden's rage towards the transition into maturity causes him to stop maturing and turns into an obsessive desire to protect innocence. Holden is heavily concerned that innocent people such as Jane and the children will get tainted by the influences around them. Holden has a self driven need to preserve what he feels is the embodiment of innocence in people. He is left feeling convoluted and…
However, Holden loses any trust he has ever placed in Mr. Antolini when he wakes up to him petting his head. He suspects that any interest Mr. Antolini ever expressed towards his future is all a hoax to seduce him, and therefore any sort of inspiration Holden may feel from Mr. Antolini is negated by his disgraceful actions. Although Mr. Antolini made a mistake and forces Holden to lose faith in him, he is still a source of hope for Holden’s future and he helps Holden…
Holden compares himself to other people and often sets unrealistic expectations on them, which explains why he gets depressed when people act phony. From Allie’s death, Holden realized that not everything in life is permanent and the change from childhood to adulthood is part of the reason why he rejects society. He doesn’t want to get too attached to anyone and then have to deal with losing him or her, like how Allie left him. Holden was very attached to Allie and to undergo this loss at the age of thirteen, evoked…
It is an effect of the lack of people in his life that he trusts. Holden tries to better himself in the…
Obviously, the loss of his brother, Allie, has scarred Holden to the point of overanalyzing each move he makes and the countless possibilities. By doing so, Holden prevents himself from enjoying the people and events taking place right in front of him. Holden’s…