Examples Of Crazy In Catcher In The Rye

Many people can be called crazy in different ways but the definition of crazy according to Dictionary.com is “mentally deranged; demented; insane” so how many people would this definition of crazy apply to? In the book The Catcher In The Rye by J.D. Salinger, the protagonist Holden Caulfield is questionable and does many things that could be considered crazy. In the book, the reader follows Holden after being kicked out of school, he acts like an adult but shows he does many abnormal/childish activities. In the novel, The Catcher In The Rye by J.D. Salinger the topic of Holden being crazy is touched on many times throughout the story. Holden does many things such as him bringing up the only reason why he would not kill himself, what he genuinely wants to do for a job, and pretending that he had gotten shot many times. However, Holden’s reason why he will not kill himself is an excellent place to start.

He thinks about the character James Castle who was confronted in his dorm and his only way out for him was to jump from his dorm window to his death. Holden thinks about jumping out of the window in the hotel because of what just occurred to him, he does not because he does not want the people walking outside to see him. This occurs after he bought the prostitute and Maurice came back because Holden supposedly did not pay the full amount which made Maurice hit him. “I probably would have done it, too, if I’d been sure somebody’d cover me up as soon as I landed. I didn’t want a bunch of stupid rubbernecks looking at me when I was all gory.” (Salinger 136). Holden wants to kill himself which is crazy on its own but his reason not to is odd. He does not want people to see that he killed himself. With this evidence, Holden is crazy because he would rather just disappear than kill himself around people. Although that is only one piece of evidence another is when he talks about the job he