Examples Of Grief In Catcher In The Rye

Child Negligence and Grief

Today, as more research on how parents should deal with children who are experiencing grief appears in the media, teens have better access to the tools and resources they need to overcome challenges, from both their parents and resources found online. As awareness of the importance of parents in a teen's life rises, more teens can have effective resources they can carry throughout their lives to avoid problems. In J.D. Sollinger’s novel, Catcher in the Rye, It’s not that Holden’s parents didn’t care about him, they did, it was that they didn’t shift their approaches to support Holden when Allie passed away of cancer. Holden’s parenting caused his emotional instability when facing tough times because his parents didn’t

For years, Holden had been placed in numerous expensive boarding schools, which all ended in the same way—getting expelled. Because Holden’s parents don’t recognize Holden’s clear difficulties with boarding schools, Holden essentially gives up trying as he is so consumed with grief that could have been better dealt with if his parents gave him the proper guidance to do so. Holden’s parents repeatedly sent Holden to boarding schools that always ended in him getting kicked out, and Holden’s father, who is described as “quite wealthy,” gives Holden many resources, such as money, that in his perspective, sets him up for success (140). However, at these luxurious boarding schools, Holden’s father sends him to surround him in an environment full of “phonies” and loneliness (MLA). At Pencey, according to Holden, “All I did was, I got up and went over and looked out the window. I felt so lonesome, all of a sudden. I almost wished I was dead” (42). Not only is Holden's unstable mental health demonstrated, so are the effects of parents' negligence and his fear of being alone. His parents had their own lives, attending parties

This is shown multiple times in the book, once with a taxi driver, and another with Mr. Antolini. Holden asked a taxi driver, a complete stranger, “You know those ducks in that lagoon right near Central Park South? That little lake? By any chance, do you happen to know where they go, the ducks, when it gets all frozen over? Do you happen to know, by any chance?” (78). This question Holden had been wondering about throughout the book, displays his uncertainty of his future. Holden’s fear of change also contributes to his uncertainty of the future. Mr. Antolini makes this clear when he talks to Holden about the expiration date of avoiding change, “The whole arrangement's designed for men who, at some time or other in their lives, were looking for something their own environment couldn't supply them with. Or they thought their own environment couldn't supply them with. So they gave up looking. They gave it up before they ever really even got started” (243). This fall that Mr. Antolini illustrated, describes Holden’s life story. Holden was placed in an environment where a traumatic event happened in his family, and because of that, he was emotionally neglected by his parents who were occupied with the death of Allie. Throughout his life, Holden is “looking” for support, the tools necessary in order to keep his life going, to successfully transition into