Holden Caulfield Therapy

The Catcher in the Rye begins with the protagonist Holden Caulfield telling the events that happened previously to him being put into a mental hospital for therapy. Although it does not directly state that Holden is in therapy until the end of the novel, if one reads between the lines they can interpret that he is in therapy within the first paragraph of the novel. As Holden begins to tell his story, he refuses to mention his early life, but he does mention that his older brother D. B. visits him mostly every weekend and is a writer. The reader can see that Holden is bitter because he believes that his older brother sold out to Hollywood, abandoning a career in profound literature for renown of the movies. Holden then tells the story of his …show more content…
He later goes to Central Park, and after that he risks going home because he wants to see his younger sister Phoebe and he suspects that his parents will be asleep. Holden is able to sneak into his family’s apartment and see Phoebe, who is ecstatic to see him. Although she is excited to see him, she states that their parents will kill him when they find out that he has been kicked out of another school. When Phoebe and Holden are talking, she asks him what he wants to be. He says that he imagines a giant field of rye on a giant cliff with children playing on it. And he says that he wants to stand at the edge of the cliff so that if any of the children get too close he can catch them and be the catcher in the rye. Holden’s parents then come home, and he hides from them in the closet. Before leaving, Holden says good bye to Phoebe, tells her of his plans to move out of New York, and decides to stay with an old teacher, Mr. Antolini. Holden stays the night at Mr. Antolini’s but in the middle of the night he wakes up to Mr. Antolini stroking his head. Holden flips out and interprets this as a sexual advance so he leaves immediately and spends the night at Grand Central Station