Leslie Claro
AP English, period 1
Mrs. Kehrmeyer
03 March 2017 Adolescence Avoidance pages 4-7 Holden’s main defense mechanism to keep his unconscious state of mind to an acceptable level of comfort is displacement. According to Freud’s theory, displacement is, “the transfer of unacceptable impulses away from their original objects onto safer or less threatening objects”. From a Freudian psychoanalytical perspective, Holden would seems to replace the agony of losing his brother Allie to a more questionable reality. As Holden runs away and leaves his preparatory school and makes conversation with the cab driver he asks, “ ‘You know those ducks in that lagoon right near Central Park South?... Do …show more content…
To begin with, both Salinger and Holden are secluded characters who mainly kept to themselves. The Encyclopedia of Biographies introduces Salinger as a very secluded man who “consistently avoided contact with the public” and “obstructed attempts by those wishing to pry into his personal life”. In fact, he intertwines his seclusiveness within Holden as he writes about Holden’s daydream of dropping everything and running away to live in the woods because he “so fed up”. Also, to begin with, both characters suffer from mental breakdowns. After serving in the war, Salinger was diagnosed with PTSD from serving in horrific battles against Germany. The Boston Globe mentions that “Sometime after these terrible experiences he had a nervous breakdown” and suffered from “shaking, trembling, vomiting, hallucinating, and being sleepless”. In his novel, The Catcher In The Rye, Salinger writes Holden’s nervous breakdown throughout the whole book as he discusses it with his therapist, in which involves his brother Allie’s death, struggle with the fact of adolescence, parents neglect, and poor academics by flunking out of 4 schools. All these events led to Holden’s depression and madness, and are told in a cynical monotone. Vanity Fair writes, “Salinger’s wartime experiences eventually brought on a deep depression”. As Salinger continues …show more content…
Mainly his preconscious rules over any other consciousness level. As Holden projects his idea of running away and living in solitude with Sally, he burst out, “Well I hate it. Boy do I hate [school]...But it isn’t just that. It’s everything. I hate living in New York and all. Taxicabs and Madison Avenue buses, with the drivers and all always yelling,...introduced to phony guys…” (130). Holden’s sudden burst of annoyance and hate comes out of nowhere and was clearly bubbled up in his mind that he eventually had to bring it out. According to PsychCentral, the preconscious is “The ideas that are stuck in the unconscious are called ‘repressed’ and are therefore unable to be ‘seen’ by any conscious level. The preconscious allows this transition from repression to conscious thought to happen”. In other words, the preconscious is what controls what goes through the conscious level. Holden’s preconscious was obviously preoccupied with other troubling subjects like flunking out of another school, adolescence, and depression. The obvious reason of which Holden suddenly felt like rambling on about his problems to Sally was that he had so much on his mind that he had to let some of it out. Holden’s ego struggles between satisfying the Id and superego, meaning he can’t find happiness in the form of innocence and follow appropriate manners for his age at the same time. His struggle is
AP English, period 1
Mrs. Kehrmeyer
03 March 2017 Adolescence Avoidance pages 4-7 Holden’s main defense mechanism to keep his unconscious state of mind to an acceptable level of comfort is displacement. According to Freud’s theory, displacement is, “the transfer of unacceptable impulses away from their original objects onto safer or less threatening objects”. From a Freudian psychoanalytical perspective, Holden would seems to replace the agony of losing his brother Allie to a more questionable reality. As Holden runs away and leaves his preparatory school and makes conversation with the cab driver he asks, “ ‘You know those ducks in that lagoon right near Central Park South?... Do …show more content…
To begin with, both Salinger and Holden are secluded characters who mainly kept to themselves. The Encyclopedia of Biographies introduces Salinger as a very secluded man who “consistently avoided contact with the public” and “obstructed attempts by those wishing to pry into his personal life”. In fact, he intertwines his seclusiveness within Holden as he writes about Holden’s daydream of dropping everything and running away to live in the woods because he “so fed up”. Also, to begin with, both characters suffer from mental breakdowns. After serving in the war, Salinger was diagnosed with PTSD from serving in horrific battles against Germany. The Boston Globe mentions that “Sometime after these terrible experiences he had a nervous breakdown” and suffered from “shaking, trembling, vomiting, hallucinating, and being sleepless”. In his novel, The Catcher In The Rye, Salinger writes Holden’s nervous breakdown throughout the whole book as he discusses it with his therapist, in which involves his brother Allie’s death, struggle with the fact of adolescence, parents neglect, and poor academics by flunking out of 4 schools. All these events led to Holden’s depression and madness, and are told in a cynical monotone. Vanity Fair writes, “Salinger’s wartime experiences eventually brought on a deep depression”. As Salinger continues …show more content…
Mainly his preconscious rules over any other consciousness level. As Holden projects his idea of running away and living in solitude with Sally, he burst out, “Well I hate it. Boy do I hate [school]...But it isn’t just that. It’s everything. I hate living in New York and all. Taxicabs and Madison Avenue buses, with the drivers and all always yelling,...introduced to phony guys…” (130). Holden’s sudden burst of annoyance and hate comes out of nowhere and was clearly bubbled up in his mind that he eventually had to bring it out. According to PsychCentral, the preconscious is “The ideas that are stuck in the unconscious are called ‘repressed’ and are therefore unable to be ‘seen’ by any conscious level. The preconscious allows this transition from repression to conscious thought to happen”. In other words, the preconscious is what controls what goes through the conscious level. Holden’s preconscious was obviously preoccupied with other troubling subjects like flunking out of another school, adolescence, and depression. The obvious reason of which Holden suddenly felt like rambling on about his problems to Sally was that he had so much on his mind that he had to let some of it out. Holden’s ego struggles between satisfying the Id and superego, meaning he can’t find happiness in the form of innocence and follow appropriate manners for his age at the same time. His struggle is