Holden Caulfield, protagonist of the novel The Catcher in the Rye, has the disease Post Dramatic Stress Disorder, commonly shortened to PTSD. Holden has constantly showed indisputable evidence to show that he has this disease. These include anxiety, flashbacks of traumatic events,hostility and agitation,substance abuse, feelings of mistrusts, depression, and suicidal thoughts. According to reliable sources such as Mayo Clinic, Anxiety and Depression Associates of America, and The National Center for PTSD; the symptoms Holden has showed can only mean one thing. The death of his brother Allie has resulted in him getting PTSD. Firstly, the substance abuse. Holden is 16 years old. Already from his juvenile age he has been smoking cigarettes and
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As mentioned in Chapter 3 of The Catcher in the Rye, Holden is a good liar, and he likes to show off his 'talent'. He lies to anyone and everyone. From a random woman on a train to his own sister, why would you constantly lie like that? I believe it's because Holden doesn't want to make friends, because he believes they will never live up to the memory of Allie, and even if they miraculously do, he will lose them too. He's afraid of becoming too attached. Thus he rashes out on them, or accuses them of being phony as an excuse to not associate too much with them. This is an example of the symptom of PTSD mentioned prior, hostility and agitation, as well as mistrust. We, the readers, only see Holden get into two flights. One was with his roommate, Stradlater. Holden attacked him, with intents of seriously harming or killing him. Holden did this because he believed Stradlater has 'given the time' to Jane Gallagher, Holden's childhood friend. Holden was scared of losing her, even though they were never that close, and haven't talked in more than a year. This example shows Holden being agitated and leading him towards hostility when losing someone he cares about comes into play. This is because he has already lost someone he cared about. A counter argument could be that he's just socially awkward, and doesn't like losing friends. But that's just not
As mentioned in Chapter 3 of The Catcher in the Rye, Holden is a good liar, and he likes to show off his 'talent'. He lies to anyone and everyone. From a random woman on a train to his own sister, why would you constantly lie like that? I believe it's because Holden doesn't want to make friends, because he believes they will never live up to the memory of Allie, and even if they miraculously do, he will lose them too. He's afraid of becoming too attached. Thus he rashes out on them, or accuses them of being phony as an excuse to not associate too much with them. This is an example of the symptom of PTSD mentioned prior, hostility and agitation, as well as mistrust. We, the readers, only see Holden get into two flights. One was with his roommate, Stradlater. Holden attacked him, with intents of seriously harming or killing him. Holden did this because he believed Stradlater has 'given the time' to Jane Gallagher, Holden's childhood friend. Holden was scared of losing her, even though they were never that close, and haven't talked in more than a year. This example shows Holden being agitated and leading him towards hostility when losing someone he cares about comes into play. This is because he has already lost someone he cared about. A counter argument could be that he's just socially awkward, and doesn't like losing friends. But that's just not