Catcher In The Rye Suicide Essay

The novel Catcher in the Rye highlights the struggles that millions of teenagers face as Holden must wrestle with his identity and perception of others. One persistent struggle throughout the story is suicide ideation, when one experiences a progression and range of contemplations, wishes, and preoccupations with death and suicide. It is clear Holden undergoes many steps of suicide ideation and has a fixation on death either with his brother, Ally’s, or his own. He is falling down a bottomless cliff, but due to Pheobe and Mr. Antolini, Holden is able to pull himself up by the lifeline they provide for him, realizing that death is a natural cycle of life that should not be forced and that suicide will only cause pain for himself and those he

Later, he says the exact same words (118). To express such emotions just once might be excused, but twice exhibits a more profound urge that becomes a recurring theme. As the book progresses, so too does Holden’s perspective on taking his own life, longing more for death. The feeling develops fast, with his emotions evolving from a “wish” (62) to a greater ambition by admitting that “what I really felt like, though, was committing suicide”. I felt like jumping out the window”(136). Holden is candid, not leaving any room for interpretation. He is not over with confrontations with suicide, recalling James Castle not too long after. The uncanny similarities between that incident and Holden’s feelings to do the same reveal that he looked up to the boy as a martyr or even someone to emulate, never saying a word remotely negative about James Castle. The blame goes solely to the bullies, as Holden feels they deserve to “even go to jail”(221). By this point, Holden is entrenched in his own craving for suicide, so much so he is losing direction and direction in life, falling down a cliff without wanting to stop