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Character Analysis Holden Caulfield

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On September 9th, a 16-year-old boy named Holden Caulfield, was reported to have had a nervous breakdown in front of his parents after a walk in the park with his little sister, Phoebe. As a result of this breakdown, Holden Caulfield’s concerned parents admitted him to The Manhattan Psychiatric Center and a possible diagnosis of Holden will be investigated. A thorough examination and analysis of Holden Caulfield have been conducted and he exhibits several characteristics suggesting that he is suffering from symptoms of depression and suicidal thoughts. Holden is presented to be a very highly sensitive but intelligent young man who said he often feels misunderstood by people around him. He showed that he feels very lonely and isolated …show more content…

When he found out, this led to Holden breaking all the glass windows in his garage out of despair. Holden also recently got expelled from his prep school in New York even though he is very intelligent and had the potential to graduate. These huge losses may have left Holden feeling hopeless and unable to cope with the demands in the real world. Holdens behavior is also with that of someone suffering from depression. He constantly engages in risky and self destructive behavior such as drinking alcohol, smoking, and running away from his home. He clearly struggles with alcohol addiction, and usually can't stop at just one glass and gets drunk regularly. He frequently becomes confrontational and argumentative with those around him and it is difficult for him to maintain close relationships and romantic partners. He also said he wanted to “disappear” which could hint to the rea-curring suicidal …show more content…

Feeling sad and alone most times, he tries to find comfort in reaching Allie, but his effort is inefficacious because Holden is an atheist and therefore doesn't believe his brother can understand him. As a result of this, his attempt to connect with Allie fails, leaving him feeling even more empty and alone than before. He is in his hotel one night thinking about Allie then says “It took me quite a while to get to sleep—I wasn’t even tired—but finally I did. What I really felt like, though, was committing suicide. I felt like jumping out the window” (Salinger 136). Saying you want to commit suicide so casually hints at something much more serious going on with holden. It is very concerning that he says something like this because we don't know if he would actually try and harm himself in the future. He makes several remarks like this throughout the book, which should not be taken

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Ever since Allie died he has been a mess. He talks about how after Allie died, “[His parents] were going to have [him] psychoanalyzed and all, because [he] broke all the windows in the garage” (Salinger 39). He develops a negative outlook on life. This is the cause of Holden’s continuous downward spiral. He becomes more and more disturbed and eventually ends up in a mental institution.

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Examples Of Dialectical Journal For The Catcher In The Rye

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Throughout the book holden gives off a vibe of being depressed, which might have started when his brother passed away. It’s seems like after that happened he lost all enthusiasm and energy to really try and also to really plan out his future. Most

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How Is Holden Caulfield Mental Illness

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Holden Caulfield is an extremely troubled individual with unparalleled depression. This all rooted from the slow and painful death of his younger brother, Allie Caulfield, to cancer at a young age. This has led him down a decreasing path in his life resulting in the expulsion of Holden from two boarding schools and the forming of an alcoholic addiction. After leaving his last boarding school, Pencey Prep, he went to New York where he went through a emotional rollercoaster. Overall his mental health is terrible and treatment is highly recommended with medication and therapy session's.

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Holden Caulfield Grief

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When Holden heard that Allie died he stupidly punched out all of his garage windows and overnight grew half a head of gray hair. Isn’t that just like a thirteen year old to act out on impulse their emotions? Isn’t that what Holden did when he left Pencey he seemed to be destroyed when he left there with three days of down time. In those three days Holden showed us how far he had really gone into his grief and immaturity. Over the course of those three days Holden is constantly saying “I felt so sad that I wanted to die” constantly lying to himself and others hiring prostitutes and saying I love yous, making plans to go away, seeing museums, sneaking into houses being petted by a perverted teachers and unknowingly convincing his sister to come with him on some of his

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Examples Of Grief In Catcher In The Rye

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Holden Caufield exhibits symptoms of both teen grief and antisocial personality disorder. However, Holden definitely suffers from prolonged grief disorder, rather than being antisocial, because Holden expresses aversion to solitude and a need to be around others. In both the desolate hallways of Pencey as he is leaving, and the empty streets of New York as he is wandering them, Holden feels "lonesome and depressed". The patient is clearly not antisocial. Holden demonstrates a prominent symptom of prolonged grief disorder: he avoids reminders of deceased loved ones.

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Analysis Of Holden Caulfield

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Analysis of Holden Caulfield In United States millions are diagnosed with a mental disorder ranging from minor to damaging effects on the human mind. During my meeting with Holden Caulfield his father has provided me information on his son. In addition, from my first meeting with Holden he sounded like a man who was unstable, like he said “When you’re feeling very depressed, you can’t even think” (Caulfield, 49). These direct words from Mr. Caulfield presents me with a feeling that Holden is feeling detachment from his life and feeling worthlessness.

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How Does Holden Develop

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Holden's admittance that he is "sad" at his parting with his professor also serves to show his emotional struggles. Another example is when Holden is asked by his friend Straudlater to write a paper for him. Holden decides to write about an object that was his younger brother’s, Allie, who passed away when Holden was 13. Holden was very distraught when he found out about his brother's death. He states, “I was only thirteen, and they were going to have me psychoanalyzed and all, because I broke all the windows in the garage” (38-9).

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How Does Holden Caulfield Change Throughout The Novel

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This moment of recalling the moments he has with Allie, and looking back at what Allie was like was a heartfelt moment for Holden, and him choosing to write the essay about Allie’s mitt shows Holden’s connection and love for Allie and the relationship he had with him. Later on towards the end of the novel, we can see Holden frantically walking down the streets yet again, as he finds himself slowly losing touch of reality, and starting to do strange things. When this happens, Holden recognizes that his first instinct was to call for his brother to help him. Holden explains, “Then I started doing something else… I'd make believe I was

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Examples Of Suicidal Depression In Catcher In The Rye

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One way holden has suicidal thoughts in the book states, ”Everybody was asleep or out or home for the weekend, and it was very,very quiet and depressing in the corridor. […] All of a sudden, I decided what I'd really do, I'd get the hell out of Pencey – right that same night and all. I mean not wait till Wednesday or anything. I just didn't want to hang around any more. It made me too sad and lonesome.

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Holden Caulfield Mental Illness

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While in New York City, Holden goes to bars and meets up with some of his friends. After being in New York City, Holden goes home to tell his sister, Phoebe, that he is leaving to go live in the far west as a deaf-mute person. I think Holden has very severe mental health problems

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What Are Holden Caulfield's Flaws

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In many cases throughout the novel, Holden tells the reader of his feeling of deep sadness, and even admitting his depression. However, in most of these cases, his sadness is triggered by little events or situations. For example, when he explains his feelings about the phony Elkton Hills headmaster talking with his well-dressed parents, he says, “It makes me so depressed I go crazy” (Salinger 14). His feelings about the headmaster are interesting, because it shows that he overreacts and has depressive thoughts for little, unreasonable things which most teenagers at his age typically don’t experience. Also, Holden even considers committing suicide multiple times throughout the novel.

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Holden Caulfield Mental Suicide

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Factors that led me to this diagnosis are Holdens constant state of depression, the loss of his brother, and him expressing both feelings of loneliness and suicidal thoughts. Numerous times throughout The Catcher in the Rye Holden displays both depressive and suicidal thoughts such as “What I really felt like though was commiting suicide. I felt like jumping out the window” (Salinger 136) and “Please. I’m lonesome as hell. No kidding.

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How Does Holden Present Depression In Catcher In The Rye

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Due to his tragic experiences he experiences, Holden Caulfield primarily struggles with depression in J.D Salinger’s novel. Although Holden experiences several states of depression in the novel, he turns to his dead brother as a meaningful presence during his depressive state. Due to his feeling of disappointment and sadness, Holden refuses to acknowledge and live up to people’s expectations. Holden’s terrifying fear of becoming a phony adult causes his alienation from his family and society. Alienation occurs as a response to tragic situations in an individual's life and results in loneliness.

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Examples Of Grief In Catcher In The Rye

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After she realized that she is not going to get what she came for, the prostitute eventually left. This leaves Holden feeling so empty and he realized that he has nobody he, “felt so depressed, you can’t imagine. What I did, I started talking, sort of out loud to Allie. Sometimes I do that when I get very depressed” (Salinger 110). Holden was fully aware that he was depressed, and he felt as if he had a void within himself that he filled up with sorrow.

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Holden's Greatest Challenge

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Holden feels so depressed he “started talking, sort of out loud, to Allie” (110). This shows Holden’s mental state as he is trying to talk to his brother who has died. This is evidence of the impact of depression in his life and actions. Talking to a person who has passed away is abnormal for people. Despite that, depression causes this and has a hold on Holden.

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