Why Holden Caulfield should be in a Rest Home The author of Catcher in the Rye J.D. Salinger and the main protagonist Holden Caulfield have been criticized heavily throughout the existence of the book. Catcher in the Rye sparked many debates and controversy about the moral issues the book has raised. Throughout the book, Holden Caulfield is narrating from a rest home or mental hospital. In the end, the question that still stirs controversy is if Holden Caulfield should really be in a mental institution? After a thorough investigation, it will be proven that the author does indeed display why Holden should be in a rest home because of his attitude towards death, his need for psychological help, and the positive outcomes that are shown through
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His need for psychological and emotional help is very clearly displayed when talking to Sally about leaving the state and running away together. Holden begins to rant on about what they would do without considering basic questions about the whole situation “‘You can 't just do something like that,’ old Sally said . . . ‘Why can’tcha? Why not’ ‘Because you can’t, that 's all. In the first place, we’re both practically children. And did you ever stop to think what you’d do if you didn 't get a job when your money ran out? We’d starve to death.’” (Salinger 132). Sally Hayes is addressing Holden 's preposterous idea of running away and living in another state together. We see that Holden fails to realize basic living questions and this shows us how he thinks that other people could agree with him to do these actions when they are living just fine. Through this we see how Holden 's delusional state of mind is not matching up with reality and he cannot find anyone on the same mental level he is in and so his emotions and dreams began to be crushed by reality.Which goes to show how his psychological state is need of some help to start to see life in a normal and adequate manner. To conclude, Holden 's delusion of reality began to affect his emotional and psychological state with people he has known eventually starting to think that these people have the same …show more content…
In the end of the book, we get an immediate sign of how Holden has already changed towards his perception of life. Holden starts to talk about his old friends and how he has begun to miss them after narrating his story “About all I know is, I sort of miss everybody I told about. Even old Stradlater and Ackley, for instance. I think I even miss that goddam Maurice” (Salinger 214). This quote provides us with evidence that Holden is starting to change his look at life and can possibly be making some emotional connections with people he has met. For example, he says he even misses Maurice who has beaten him up for money. This shows how this rest home is benefitting him because as he starts to grow these connections, they can get stronger and this will lead to more stable relationships with friends. Oftenly, this will lead to him leaving his state of depression as when surrounded by positive energy you start to clear away your negative energy. (“SURROUND YOURSELF WITH POSITIVE PEOPLE” 1). As a result of entering a rest home, we can see Holden’s mentality has begun to change in a positive way and so step by step he can become a normal person in
His need for psychological and emotional help is very clearly displayed when talking to Sally about leaving the state and running away together. Holden begins to rant on about what they would do without considering basic questions about the whole situation “‘You can 't just do something like that,’ old Sally said . . . ‘Why can’tcha? Why not’ ‘Because you can’t, that 's all. In the first place, we’re both practically children. And did you ever stop to think what you’d do if you didn 't get a job when your money ran out? We’d starve to death.’” (Salinger 132). Sally Hayes is addressing Holden 's preposterous idea of running away and living in another state together. We see that Holden fails to realize basic living questions and this shows us how he thinks that other people could agree with him to do these actions when they are living just fine. Through this we see how Holden 's delusional state of mind is not matching up with reality and he cannot find anyone on the same mental level he is in and so his emotions and dreams began to be crushed by reality.Which goes to show how his psychological state is need of some help to start to see life in a normal and adequate manner. To conclude, Holden 's delusion of reality began to affect his emotional and psychological state with people he has known eventually starting to think that these people have the same …show more content…
In the end of the book, we get an immediate sign of how Holden has already changed towards his perception of life. Holden starts to talk about his old friends and how he has begun to miss them after narrating his story “About all I know is, I sort of miss everybody I told about. Even old Stradlater and Ackley, for instance. I think I even miss that goddam Maurice” (Salinger 214). This quote provides us with evidence that Holden is starting to change his look at life and can possibly be making some emotional connections with people he has met. For example, he says he even misses Maurice who has beaten him up for money. This shows how this rest home is benefitting him because as he starts to grow these connections, they can get stronger and this will lead to more stable relationships with friends. Oftenly, this will lead to him leaving his state of depression as when surrounded by positive energy you start to clear away your negative energy. (“SURROUND YOURSELF WITH POSITIVE PEOPLE” 1). As a result of entering a rest home, we can see Holden’s mentality has begun to change in a positive way and so step by step he can become a normal person in