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Essay On Catcher In The Rye And PTSD

693 Words3 Pages

Post traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD for short, stems from many different events that has impacted a person's life. In the The Catcher in the Rye, By J.D. Salinger, the main character is a troublesome teen boy named Holden Caulfield. He tells the story in a rehab where he has been sent to get therapeutic help. We learn early on that Holden cares very little about things and doesn’t apply himself, which is why he gets kicked out of his private school. From the way he presents himself I gathered that something terrible must have happened to him, especially since he will not talk about his early childhood. This book is mainly about the loss and betrayal of innocence. There is many signs to gather that Holden suffers from PTSD.
One of my biggest believes of Holden’s PTSD comes from the the death of his younger brother, Allie. I do believe there is more reasons behind why he is suffering from PTSD, but I believe this was the spark to the flame, this is where it originated from. “Not everyone with PTSD has been through a dangerous event. Some people get PTSD after a friend or family member experiences danger or is harmed, The sudden, unexpected death of a loved one can …show more content…

Holden shows a lot of those three things throughout the whole book. As an example, Holden states, “I felt so lonesome, all of a sudden. I wish I was dead.“(Salinger 48) Holden constantly says throughout the book things that make me worry about his safety and the safety of others. At one point in the book he says, “I’d rather push a guy out of the window or chop his head off with an ax than sock him in the jaw.”(Salinger 89-90) His reasoning behind that statement his he doesn’t really like fist-fights. He says that he does not have the guts to actually punch anyone and that he is yellow, but only partly. This is a huge part in the realization that there is something wrong with Holden and that he needs

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