Catcher In The Rye Grief Analysis

Catcher in the Blue (#3)
The stages of grief are felt and experienced by people around the world, from all walks of life. Grief is typically described as the mental, emotional, and physical reaction to the a death, illness, or injury of a loved one. The novel, The Catcher in the Rye, written by D.J. Salinger tells the story of teenage boy, Holden Caulfield. After suffering the death of his younger brother, Allie, Holden experiences the waves and shocks of grief. Coping with grief is an entirely individual and signal experience. It is different for everyone, and cannot be entirely defined in five steps. However, the standard and general five stages of grief are usually depicted as denial, isolation, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. …show more content…
Anger typically comes first in the grieving process. The Grief Recovery Kit published an article titled, “Dealing With Anger in the Grief Process.” The article states that, “During the grief journey there may be times when anger rises within you without warning. Many times it’s a reaction that just appears, usually uninvited and unwelcome… it all makes you want to scream in frustration and pain.” Anger often arises when people feel helpless and out of control, and death easily generates these feelings. Anger can be directed at fate, God, family members, one’s self, or even inanimate objects. When Holden’s brother Allie passed away, Holden states, “I slept in the garage the night he died, and I broke all the goddam windows with my fist, just for the hell of it. I even tried to break all the windows on the station wagon we had that summer, but my hand was already broken and everything by that time, and I couldn 't do it.” Dealing with a death of a family member is incredibly traumatic for anyone, but it is especially traumatic for a young person who is still understanding how to control their emotions. Holden became entirely consumed with anger from the loss of his brother, and found with no other way to express himself. As frustration and rage cools of, people frequently transition into a state of depression. “Grief and Depression,” an article published by WebMD …show more content…
WebMD states that, “In time, we can come to terms with all the emotions and feelings we experienced when the death or loss happened. Healing can begin once the loss becomes integrated into our set of life experiences.” Eventually, people are able to find acceptance and peace with their loss. As painful as the grieving process can be, it ultimately leads to acceptance. However, the reader does not necessarily see Holden find peace with the death of his brother Allie. Holden instead finds acceptance with the fact that innocence cannot be conserved forever. Throughout the story, Holden constantly battles with the need to protect innocence. Holden’s compulsive and obsessive behavior is a result of his trauma from the lost innocence of his brother. Holden watches his younger sister Phoebe ride a horse carousel and states, “I was kinda afraid she’d fall off the goddam horse… The thing with kids is, if they want to grab at the gold ring, you have to let them do it, and not say anything.” This is when Holden finally accepts that everyone makes mistakes in growing up, and that he cannot protect his little sister Phoebe forever. He realizes that the loss of innocence is inevitable. Holden finally realizes that he must let go of his need to control the world around him. Once Holden does this, he is able to start finding