Examples Of Mental Health Issues In Catcher In The Rye

Catcher in the Rye has given a voice to millions of teenagers worldwide who have dealt with mental health issues. Set in the 1950s the novel Catcher in the Rye, by J.D Salinger follows a 16-year-old named Holden who has last his brother, alienated himself from his peers, and is terrified of growing up. After being kicked out of school Holden goes on a two-day bender in the city. On this bender Holden finds himself surrounded by thousands but at the same time alone. On the journey, Holden experiences different scenarios where he feels he has completely nothing and almost debates committing suicide. Holden decides to finally speak to somebody about his problems and tells his sister Phoebe, and she helps set him back onto the correct but long

Holden uses his voice to bring us into the moment and show us how he is feeling for example when Holden is observing the park he tells the readers, “It was lousy in the park. It wasn’t too cold, but the sun still wasn’t out, and there didn’t look like there was anything in the park except dog crap and globs of spit and cigar butts from old men, and the benches all looked like they’d be wet if you sat down on them. It made you depressed, and every once in a while, for no reason, you got goose flesh while you walked. It didn’t seem at all like Christmas was coming soon. It didn’t seem like anything was coming.”(Salinger 118) Along with Holden's language, he also uses his voice to create an image of how he sees the world. Without this voice it would just be a bland description of a park, but once Holden puts his spin on it making it his it becomes more relatable and easier to picture. This outlook on a world of lousiness and despair that Holden shows can be very relatable to teenagers who are coming of