In The Bell Jar, by Sylvia Plath, Esther struggles with the pressures of society while witnessing her own downfall and seeks medical help for the sake of her physical and mental health. Similarly, in The Catcher in the Rye, Holden deals with depression after flunking out of school. Although their situations are quite different, both characters change as a result of their experiences and find ways to cope with life. On the other hand, Holden struggles with the idea and pressures of growing up. He’s flunked out of multiple boarding schools and is constantly depressed.
"The thing about depression is, A human being can survive almost anything, as long as they see the end in sight. But depression is so insidious, and it compounds daily, that it's almost impossible to see the end. The fog is like a cage without a key. " That is how Holden Caufield felt in the book Catcher in the Rye by JD Salinger. In this book JD Salinger shows that isolation causes depression.
JD Salinger’s novel The Catcher in the Rye is about a boy named Holden Caulfield and his struggle with life. As a teenager, he has one goal and that is to simply find his place in the world. Unlike an ordinary teenager he has a severe case of depression, and displays many signs to exhibit this mental illness. As we escalate through the novel, we notice that his depression seems to be getting worse and that he is feeling despondent more often.
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.
In Holden’s mind becoming “the catcher in the rye “means that he can still catch Allie from falling off the cliff. This is relevant to Holden’s depression because everything around him is telling him to grow up but instead he runs away from it in fear that is will pull him farther apart from his relationship with his brother Allie. Holden is on the edge of becoming an adult which creates more pressure and leads him to
Holden represents the theme depression throughout the novel. Depression is a serious condition in which a person feels sad, hopeless, and unimportant. One main reason he experiences depression is because he withdraws himself from society, struggling with the death of his brother, and a lack of motivation in life. Holden's personality is very pessimistic which shows that he tends to look at the negativity instead of the bright side of life. Another reason Holden is depressed is because of his habit of drinking and smoking.
Sickness comes in many forms, but perhaps the most misunderstood form happens mentally. All of the events that happen to the main character in The Catcher in the Rye, Holden Caulfield, are caused in some way or another by his mental illness. Holden Caulfield is a boy who drops out of school and travels to New York City. Holden makes irresponsible decisions like when he travels to New York City by himself without permission which affects him mentally. Holden’s mental illnesses affects his decision making,specifically his decision to stay in school and his inability to connect with people.
There are many causes for depression. Some causes are death or a loss of someone close to a person can cause serious grief or sadness. A band named Daughter wrote “Youth” which is a song about getting hurt by or losing someone or something that she had loved in her past. People she has loved often leave which hurts her because she loved them. In the book, Catcher in the Rye, Holden is in the same situation as the writer of the song and people he is often close with leave him.
In the book, the Catcher in the Rye by J.D Salinger, Salinger presents the protagonist and narrator Holden Caulfield as a young man stuck between the mental state of childhood and adulthood who is dealing with neglect, confusion, and depression. He is forced to endure anguishing life events that set his mental state into a spiral causing his mental stability to deteriorate significantly at a very young age. A way Salinger displays the concept of depression through Holden’s mindset is by fabricating him as an overly critical and fault-finding character in every environment he’s presented in. Ever since childhood, we learn Holden was a black sheep within the family; we assimilate and learn about his overachieving siblings and his exclusion
Teen depression is a real clinical issue that affects the emotions and behavior of a teen. This mental struggle has many serious symptoms to it. This problem is usually not temporary and needs long term treatment by medication and psychotherapy. In the novel Catcher In The Rye, we follow the story of a teenager named Holden and his two day adventure after failing school again. Throughout the story he displays many of the symptoms associated with teen depression.
Firstly, one possible disorder Holden could be plagued with is depression. Depression is a mental health disorder characterized by a constantly depressed mood or loss of interest in daily activities. (Goldberg, “Major Depression Symptoms in Adults and Children) It can be impairing to living day to day life, which is apparent in Holden’s case. In several instances throughout the story, Holden mentions how depressed he feels.
It 's feeling everything at once than feeling paralysingly numb,” writes Maria Henriksson. Mental illness refers to many conditions that individuals could go through. For example depression, addictive behaviors, and eating disorder have effects that could indicate whether or not an individual has a mental illness. In the novel The Catcher in the Rye by JD Salinger, Holden faces many hardships after his brother 's death. Holden 's mental illness is inferred through his lack of control, isolating himself from others, and relieving the past which caused him to not move
Unlike Spencer, he demonstrates teenagers’ cynical perspective on the society, where being an adult will lead to their downfalls or, possibly, to their deaths. Throughout the Catcher in the Rye, Salinger suggests that the cynical perspectives of teenagers may originate from the academic pressure enforced upon them. Spencer unveils his concern on Holden’s future due, to Holden’s academic failure; Holden secretly expresses his discomfort by interrupting Spencer and leaving his house (Salinger 8). In fact, Clinical Psychological Science warned that the stress level increases during the school year. It also alleged the fact that rates of suicide attempts of adolescents were slightly higher than adults (Jayson).
A common disorder all teens have is depression. The state of depression causes many different effects on a person’s thoughts and their behaviors. When a person has been through a lot and has seen things, they start to feel empty inside and feel different, for example, having to deal with a death in the family. J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye tells the story of the young Holden Caulfield, a teenage boy who is not your ordinary character.
The door of my green Focus latches. The cool autumn air fills my lungs as I stand staring. The gravel underneath my suede boots crunches as I hesitantly march across the driveway. As I walk up the steps I used to run up as a child, I turn to my left and I see her through the window. It had been months.
