Holden Caulfield Mental Health Essay

impact on you that it altered who you are and the way you live, forever? For Holden Caulfield in The Catcher in the Rye this was a reality. Holden’s blissful childhood was brought to an abrupt stop when his brother and best friend, Allie passed away. Everyone mourns the loss of loved ones differently. For Holden, he was stuck in the moment of his brother’s death. Experiencing such a trauma while being so young left Holden with lasting negative effects and the idea that there is no happiness past…

Sometimes, traumatic events in a young person’s life can force them to grow up faster than others. For Holden Caulfield, however, innocence and childhood is something to be cherished, since the world of adults is filled with “phonies” and people he doesn’t agree with. After the death of his little brother Allie, Holden struggles to retain his childish nature while growing into an adult. J. D. Salinger’s novel, The Catcher in the Rye, is a unique coming-of-age story that presents a theme of…

In J.D. Salinger’s best selling novel, Catcher in The Rye, he utilizes equivocation alongside despair to block out true progress. For example, Holden Caulfield, the main character of the book, uses ambiguous language to hide his current health state. He struggles with making progress, yet at the same time reverting said progress. The issues he face are not because of the trauma he has lived through, but rather how he deals with it. Because Salinger incorporates equivocation and despair in…

school. Parents argued that the main character, Holden Caulfield, who struggles with depression and other psychological disorders, is too rebellious and promotes immoral behavior. Like Boron High School, many schools across the country have banned the infamous novel. Though the novel does provide an insight into teen depression, these schools were correct in banning the book due to its glorification of premarital sex, vulgar…

Tal Usvyatsky Period 2 Therapist Report Holden Caulfield’s Problems In the juxtaposition of Holden Caulfield and the average adolescent, many of Holden’s prominent traits are abnormal and rather disconcerting. Holden’s depression and fixation on innocence are byproducts of the loss of his brother, Allie. Additionally, Holden’s dislike for social standards fuels his nonconformist attitude and ultimately furthers his feelings of depression. Equally as troublesome is Holden’s difficulty in…

popular with teenagers. The story is a three day narration of events that happen to Holden Caulfield beginning at his boarding school Pencey Prep and ending in a hospital in California. Holden is a troubled youth who struggles to find his place in the world and is having a hard time growing up. He believes the world is full of phonies especially in the adult world and he begins to search for his place in life. Holden believes that children are truly innocent and pure and that they should be…

Finding the Right Path Students do not understand what a major impact teachers can have on their lives as a whole. The novel Siddhartha was written by Herman Hesse in 1951. Siddhartha is a novel about a young man, who, through much trial and error, faces troubles in finding his way down the path to enlightenment, or Nirvana. Nirvana is a term that is most commonly tied to the religion, Buddhism. It is best defined as a state of total self contentment and an emptiness in feelings. Throughout the…

In J.D Salinger's novel, The Catcher in the Rye, Holden Caulfield is the main character and he could be classified as being depressed. For several reasons being, Caulfield shows signs of being depressed. He is doing poorly in school, he abuses the use of cigarettes, and doesn’t ever feel like anyone can ever live up to his expectations. “As many as 8.3 percent of teens suffer depression for at least a year at a time, compared to about 5.3 percent of the general population.” (“Teen”). In the…

Society’s stigma around mental illnesses can often add to a person’s problems and struggles. In the book Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, the main character, Holden is struggling with the loss of his brother. It is apparent to the reader that Holden has some form of a mental illness, but not apparent to the people in Holden’s life. The stigma is often based around societies assumption that people with mental illnesses are violent or unstable. In one article in states that “people are twice…

character, Holden is a young man who has already had much to deal with in his life. After dropping out of his boarding school, he travels back home and begins to spiral into a breakdown. Holden’s infatuation with protecting childhood innocence stems from the loss of his brother, Allie. Not being able to fulfill his wants to keep everyone around him “innocent” contributes to his eventual breakdown. Holden becomes obsessed with protecting the innocence of those around him and he spirals into a…