Many people everyday write down their feelings to deal with depression. One character who embodies this is Holden Caulfield from the novel, Catcher in the Rye, written by J.D. Salinger. Salinger journals Holden’s life after experiencing the loss of his brother, Allie. This coping mechanism of writing down one’s feelings in order to deal with loss mirrors that of the artist Iyaz. After losing his lover, he wrote a song, titled “Solo”, which helps him to express his emotions and longing toward her. People experience severe loneliness and depression after the loss of a loved one.
Immediately following the death of a loved one people begin to regret the time they could have spent with them. They feel as if they took advantage of their happiness
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People start to believe that without the presence of their loved one “they don’t want to walk [the] earth” because there is no meaning to life without them(Solo). They feel as if they can no longer experience happiness without their loved one. Holden reaches this point because he feels as if there is no reason for him to live if he doesn’t have Allie to experience life with him. This causes him to start fantasizing about not only his death, but the death of many others when he states that “if there’s another war, [he’s] going to sit right the hell on top of [the atomic bomb]”(141). Holden is taking out his anger on himself as well of society which leads to the assumption that he blames others for the death of his brother. The distance created between oneself and society weakens his or her reasons for survival as well as their sympathy for others.
The authors of both the song, “Solo”, and the book, Catcher in the Rye experience the unbearable pain caused by loss resulting in a changed state of mind leading to immense depression and loneliness. People distance themselves from others to avoid being hurt again and may even experience suicidal thoughts. These life changing events can then greatly affect the course of one’s