An estimated 17 million adult Americans suffer from depression during any 1-year period, and between 44-70% of them do not receive any treatment, according to American Association Suicidology. As a result, it is evident that a number of people aren’t able to receive the treatment they urgently need. Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger, displays a perfect example of a teenager going through chronic depression and his use of different coping methods which eventually leads to a mental breakdown. This teenager, Holden Caulfield, slowly progressed into depression through a series of traumatic events. For instance, Holden’s brother, Allie, dies at the age of 11 with leukemia. This created an extremely traumatic response from Holden, and in addition
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Holden experiences feelings of depression whenever he is alone. For instance, he was walking up to Fifth Avenue and “[e]very time [Holden] would get to the end of a block [he] would make believe [he] was talking to [his] brother Allie. [Holden] would say to [Allie], “Allie, don’t let me disappear[...]” And then when [Holden] would reach the other side of the street without disappearing, [he] would thank [Allie]”(Salinger 257). Holden calls for help from his dead brother whenever he stepped off of a curb. It’s almost like Allie became Holden’s own “catcher in the rye” because Allie mentally protects Holden from falling off a “cliff” into danger. Instead of admitting this to others, he projects by telling Phoebe, his sister, that he himself is determined to be the “catcher in the rye” when Allie already is. His reliance and projection on Allie somewhat help him cope his stress and loneliness, yet it also becomes detrimental to his mental state. In addition, this proves that Holden does not want to abandon Allie, despite the fact that he is dead, which portrays a psychological difficulty of not being able to move on. Holden is not only traumatized by Allie’s death, but he is also in denial of his inability to move …show more content…
He walks around the museum, recognizing specific exhibits that are in the same place every time he visits, and recollects certain memories of when he was young. Looking back at the past, Holden realizes, “Certain things they should stay the way they are. You ought to be able to stick them in one of those big glass cases and just leave them alone”(158). In his mind, Holden denies the upcoming future of maturation and continuously wishes that he could preserve time. This demonstrates his feelings and relates it to the still exhibits in the museum and how some things should just “stay the way they are”. While most people are excited to move onto newer things in their lives, Holden psychologically does not want to progress in life. This obviously affects his mental state because he is physically aging, but not
Holden experiences feelings of depression whenever he is alone. For instance, he was walking up to Fifth Avenue and “[e]very time [Holden] would get to the end of a block [he] would make believe [he] was talking to [his] brother Allie. [Holden] would say to [Allie], “Allie, don’t let me disappear[...]” And then when [Holden] would reach the other side of the street without disappearing, [he] would thank [Allie]”(Salinger 257). Holden calls for help from his dead brother whenever he stepped off of a curb. It’s almost like Allie became Holden’s own “catcher in the rye” because Allie mentally protects Holden from falling off a “cliff” into danger. Instead of admitting this to others, he projects by telling Phoebe, his sister, that he himself is determined to be the “catcher in the rye” when Allie already is. His reliance and projection on Allie somewhat help him cope his stress and loneliness, yet it also becomes detrimental to his mental state. In addition, this proves that Holden does not want to abandon Allie, despite the fact that he is dead, which portrays a psychological difficulty of not being able to move on. Holden is not only traumatized by Allie’s death, but he is also in denial of his inability to move …show more content…
He walks around the museum, recognizing specific exhibits that are in the same place every time he visits, and recollects certain memories of when he was young. Looking back at the past, Holden realizes, “Certain things they should stay the way they are. You ought to be able to stick them in one of those big glass cases and just leave them alone”(158). In his mind, Holden denies the upcoming future of maturation and continuously wishes that he could preserve time. This demonstrates his feelings and relates it to the still exhibits in the museum and how some things should just “stay the way they are”. While most people are excited to move onto newer things in their lives, Holden psychologically does not want to progress in life. This obviously affects his mental state because he is physically aging, but not