Catcher In The Rye Depression

Holden’s mental state has increasingly been getting worse throughout the novel, “The Catcher in the Rye”. Holden is telling his story from a mental hospital. The author never gives a clear reason of why Holden is there. J.D. Salinger develops the deteriorating mental state and depression of Holden in the story “The Catcher in the Rye”. These important events throughout his life shape his future, and his attitudes towards others. The first main event to Holden’s depression is that his brother Allie died. Holden explains it as “He got Leukemia and died when we were up in Maine, on July 18th, 1946” (Salinger, 38). This event in a person’s life would be tragic for anyone, but Holden was extremely close with his brother. With Holden having such an important person pass away, it was extremely difficult for him to come back to normal again. In Holdens case, he felt terrible, like it was his fault. He wanted Allie to be with him through the good and bad of his life. …show more content…
James was Holden’s friend from a school called Elkton Hills. One day, Holden was in the shower and he heard a loud thud outside. He thought somebody must have just thrown a radio or something like that out the window, but no, it was James. Holden the put on his bathrobe to his sight of James. Holden describes this situation as “... and there was old James Castle laying right on the stone steps and all” (Salinger, ). This was extremely hard on Holden because he was wearing the turtle neck shirt Holden lent him. Not a single person would even go anywhere near him because his teeth, face, and body were just completely bloody. This was also a part of his depression and mental state getting