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Examples Of Grieving In Catcher In The Rye

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Grief is something that most humans may encounter sometime in their lives however contrary to general consensus, grieving is not a short process. In fact on average the grieving process takes 5-8 years. According to Psychiatrist Elisabeth Kubler-Ross there are 5 phases of the grieving process: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, acceptance. This process is extremely relevant with the protagonist of The Catcher in the Rye, Holden Caufield, since Holden’s younger brother Allie’s died 6 years before the start of the novel therefore leaving Holden in said grieving process. Holden bounces in between the phases, specifically anger, bargaining and depression.At the end of “The Catcher in the Rye” most readers can agree that there was something …show more content…

An example of Holden having problems emotionally can be found when he the prostitute he paid for sat on his lap. Holden said “The trouble was, I just didn’t want to do it. I felt more depressed than sexy (Sallinger 96)”. Throughout the book Holden has tried to display himself as a masculine man who gets girls however that is all an act he used to hide the fact that he does experience the depression phase of the grieving process and it can make something that Holden very much looks forward to like sex come of as depressing and miserable. Another example of Holden’s emotional distraught behaviour can be found when he was crossing the road at night in new york. Holden says “I’d make believe I was talking to my brother Allie. I’d say to him “Allie, don’t let me disappear (Sallinger 199)”. This is a big example of Holden’s emotional problems that have been caused by the death of Allie and it is very evident he is experiencing the depression phase as he talking to his dead brother asking him for help. To summarize, Holden is emotionally distraught because he is still grieving the death of his …show more content…

An example of Holden dismissing adulthood occurs when he describes what he dreams of being when he gets older. Holden says “Thousands of little kids, and nobody’s around- nobody big, i mean-except me. And i’m standing on the edge of some crazy cliff. What I have to do, I have to catch everybody if they start to go off the cliff (Sallinger 173)”. This is a metaphor for Holden stopping kids from entering adulthood, showing how Holden dismisses it. The reason why Holden dismisses adulthood is because he is experiencing the bargaining phase of his grieving process. Holden wants to be a kid again because when he was a kid Allie was around, and he blames adulthood for taking Allie away from him. To conclude, Holden dismisses adulthood because he is still in the grieving process after the death of his

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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).

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