This Crazy Life

Adolescence is a difficult time in every person's life, because of the great deal of change that occurs during this time can be overwhelming. The Catcher in the Rye is the story of a teenage boy named Holden Caulfield. He has recently been expelled from school, and he travels home to New York to find someone who will listen to him and tell him adulthood will be okay. Holden tries to preserve his own innocence, and the innocence of others by not letting go of childhood memories and through his…

Holden Caulfield, protagonist of the novel The Catcher in the Rye, has the disease Post Dramatic Stress Disorder, commonly shortened to PTSD. Holden has constantly showed indisputable evidence to show that he has this disease. These include anxiety, flashbacks of traumatic events,hostility and agitation,substance abuse, feelings of mistrusts, depression, and suicidal thoughts. According to reliable sources such as Mayo Clinic, Anxiety and Depression Associates of America, and The National…

are angered quickly and made upset easily. They are more prone to lose control of themselves and become depressed over picayune matters. This is expressed…

and Holden realize that experience is not always negative as they feel the compassion of others. In Into the Wild, Chris rejects society so much that he decides to move out west. When he was young, his father cheated on his mother and lied to him. This created a division between him and his…

Holden’s life parallels much of Salinger’s background, leaving readers to consider the likely possibility that Salinger based his main character in the novel off of himself. For example, both Salinger and Caulfield were sent away to private boarding schools at a young age by their wealthy parents from New York (PBS, 2011). Throughout the novel, Caulfield allows readers into his head to deal with many issues he faces as he is in a mental hospital—likely based on the true events of Salinger’s…

not long after the events happen and that he is in some sort of asylum (Brooks). Holden’s overall attitudes about his life is actually very negative and he acts as if he has no faith in him ever having a future. His emotions very quickly lessen throughout this tiring story. After Holden finishes his story, you feel as though you just came off a roller coaster of emotions and crazy events (Tolchin). Holden starts his story by telling us about why…

the choices that they make. In J. D. Salinger's Catcher in the Rye, Salinger displays a boy finding his meaning in society. Being a kid can be a lot harder than what people think. People can get lost when maturing, and feel like they no meaning in this world. Holden Caulfield is one of those people. Holden growing up experiences a hard time expressing and dealing with his emotions. Holden has recurring thoughts that he doesn’t really understand. Holden would often get confused about what is…

have struggled with mental illness at some point. In Catcher, Holden had lost his younger brother to Leukemia, his brother that never reached adulthood and only partook in childhood bliss. Holden upholds this image in his mind that children are innocent and childhood is the best part in life, particularly because Holden himself was still a child when he had his brother and no responsibilities. Now as Holden gets older he spurns everyone and inequitably criticizes people, labeling them as…

Throughout the Catcher in the Rye, Salinger, is able to capture the hardships of a teenager’s unstable mental life, and portray it to the readers with ease. Salinger's use of having a relatable character; he allows the audience is able to connect and identify with Holden as a struggling hero, who is on his downfall. Though, the relatability of the character can conceal different hidden traits, that Salinger gave Holden. From the start of the novel, it is clear that Holden is mentally…

his age and older from even the most diverse backgrounds can identify with his views and attitude toward the world. He is a troubled adolescent trying to get through life. Although Holden is an extremely intelligent sensitive young individual, he is very cynical and judgmental and always finds the negativity in the world around him. This causes many problems for him. He gets kicked out of his fourth school because of academic failure since he simply does not care. He then goes to New York for a…