Hello darkness, my old friend. I've come to talk with you again. Because a vision softly creeping. Left its seeds while I was sleeping. And the vision that was planted in my brain. Still remains. Within the sound of silence. (Bachelor). Sound of Silence is a song about a man with a dream, but no one will listen to his dream. No one cares enough to listen, but the only thing that is always there for him is the darkness. The darkness is a constant in all people, some have more than others, the man in the poem tells of a dream in where no one listens to him, he is alone. This relates to Ben and Holden who are outcasts in a very one sided society. There is one specific path to success and if certain criteria are not met along the way, they will
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Holden moves on to try and find a way to fill his heart a different way. This way involves Sally Hayes, she is a friend of Holden’s. When Holden and Sally supposedly horse around in a cab Holden says, "I told her I loved her and all. It was a lie, of course, but the thing is, I meant it when I said it. I'm crazy. I swear to God I am" (Salinger 125). Holden at the first chance he has a chance for a relationship he exclaims his love for Sally, but he also says that he lied, Holden is so needy for love, but he does not even understand what love is. He has never experienced love from his parents. The closest he gets to love is with Jane Gallagher. Having that relationship with Jane, which Holden has now frozen in a painful place where he may not longer touch it, has caused him immense heartache that, worsens the whole in his heart (Shaw). Similarly to when Ben tries to move on from the cancerous affair with Mrs. Robinson, that has plagued his life, in favor of a girl, who just happens to be Mrs. Robinson’s daughter. After one date with Elaine Robinson, he thinks he is in love. Ben wants to marry her, within a couple days of knowing her. He even stalks her to Berkeley when she goes back to college. Ben follows her around school pestering her with questions “‘Tomorrow then - can we get our blood tests tomorrow …show more content…
Some common signs of depression found in Ben and Holden are, mood signs; anxiety, general discontent, guilt, hopelessness, loss of interest, loss of interest or pleasure in activities, behavioral; agitation, irritability, or social isolation (Healthline). Most of these traits are found in either Ben, Holden or both. Holden throughout the book showed signs of depression by his guilt from Allie’s death, general discontent with other people and the world and not caring about his future. Then his behavioral signs are social isolation and irritability, he thinks everyone thinks weirdly of him. These signs in Holden may be just part of the teenage years though. According to, Peter Shaw, "The teenage years stand out as life's most complicated and tortured period. It has been said that teen behavior, with its swings into and out of rationality, actually resembles schizophrenia" (125). But there are also clues as to why Holden developed this distasteful view of the world. Holden developed this way because of the only person who he ever really cared about and who he really loved, Allie, died when he was young. In addition, the almost non-existent parents who just sent their kid to a mental hospital to get analyzed. “‘She killed Allie, too’ Of course he means by ‘killed’ that she amused Allie. But his unconscious
Holden moves on to try and find a way to fill his heart a different way. This way involves Sally Hayes, she is a friend of Holden’s. When Holden and Sally supposedly horse around in a cab Holden says, "I told her I loved her and all. It was a lie, of course, but the thing is, I meant it when I said it. I'm crazy. I swear to God I am" (Salinger 125). Holden at the first chance he has a chance for a relationship he exclaims his love for Sally, but he also says that he lied, Holden is so needy for love, but he does not even understand what love is. He has never experienced love from his parents. The closest he gets to love is with Jane Gallagher. Having that relationship with Jane, which Holden has now frozen in a painful place where he may not longer touch it, has caused him immense heartache that, worsens the whole in his heart (Shaw). Similarly to when Ben tries to move on from the cancerous affair with Mrs. Robinson, that has plagued his life, in favor of a girl, who just happens to be Mrs. Robinson’s daughter. After one date with Elaine Robinson, he thinks he is in love. Ben wants to marry her, within a couple days of knowing her. He even stalks her to Berkeley when she goes back to college. Ben follows her around school pestering her with questions “‘Tomorrow then - can we get our blood tests tomorrow …show more content…
Some common signs of depression found in Ben and Holden are, mood signs; anxiety, general discontent, guilt, hopelessness, loss of interest, loss of interest or pleasure in activities, behavioral; agitation, irritability, or social isolation (Healthline). Most of these traits are found in either Ben, Holden or both. Holden throughout the book showed signs of depression by his guilt from Allie’s death, general discontent with other people and the world and not caring about his future. Then his behavioral signs are social isolation and irritability, he thinks everyone thinks weirdly of him. These signs in Holden may be just part of the teenage years though. According to, Peter Shaw, "The teenage years stand out as life's most complicated and tortured period. It has been said that teen behavior, with its swings into and out of rationality, actually resembles schizophrenia" (125). But there are also clues as to why Holden developed this distasteful view of the world. Holden developed this way because of the only person who he ever really cared about and who he really loved, Allie, died when he was young. In addition, the almost non-existent parents who just sent their kid to a mental hospital to get analyzed. “‘She killed Allie, too’ Of course he means by ‘killed’ that she amused Allie. But his unconscious