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Examples Of Mental Illness In Catcher In The Rye

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There are many stigmas and opinions surrounding mental illness and its effect on the mentally ill and how they function in society. However mental illness cannot be used as a scapegoat for all of one’s problems, as some issues are due simply to the actions and beliefs of a person. Holden is an example of such a case, where his issues are attributable to his thoughts and actions despite his mental condition. Holden is responsible for his own alienation from society through his categorization of the people around him and his arrested development due to trauma. Holden throughout the entire book calls others phony, and even his own family stupid, therefore alienating himself from others. We see this from very early on, calling every person …show more content…

“I can just see the big phony bastard shifting into first gear and asking Jesus to send him a few more stiffs.” (Salinger, 20) By calling others phony, he sorts them into one category, and himself into another, that other being not phonies. This cuts him off from the vast majority of society, who he views as phony. Furthermore, Holden greatly dislikes talking with any person from the phony category, knocking his level of social interaction down even further. In accordance to this Holden shows many symptoms of Peter Pan Syndrome, especially Networking Aversion, which means “Not having taken the time to develop the deep connections with the right people.” (Nemko, 1) Holden has near to none of these relationships because he avoids social interactions with those that he considers phony, and for many other reasons, and invests no time in making deep, long-lasting relationships that may help him in the future. This alienates him since he is keeping his social circle very small due to the Networking Aversion, and has very few deep, beneficial relationships. Some may believe that it is the stigma around those like Holden that is cutting him off from society, and preventing him …show more content…

Through the traumatic life event that was the death of Allie, he was frozen in time psychologically, as the immature creature he is seen as now. The aforementioned habit of calling others phony is quite immature and childish, similar to how a child would call someone names when angered. “Traumatic life events can cause the child to become ‘stuck’ at a particular level of psychological development...s/he may, therefore, often seem immature.” (Hosier, 1) Allie’s death is something in Holden’s life that he has been unable to come to terms with, as he was never given closure. However he still never made much of an effort to seek that closure, simply asking pointless questions asking why Allie had to die, instead of just accepting the death. The result of the arrested development is his immaturity, and consequential alienation. Holden’s immaturity separates him from those his age and older, as the company of one that is childish in their ways is unappealing. His immaturity leads to people coming to the end of their fuse, tired of dealing with Holden. “Must we go on with this inane conversation?” (Salinger, 162) The immature nature of Holden grinds down on those he imposes himself upon, making them wary of their next interaction, and cutting him off from many. Others may think that it is undiagnosed and untreated depression that is causing him to become hung up on the death of his

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522 Words | 3 Pages

Ever since Allie died he has been a mess. He talks about how after Allie died, “[His parents] were going to have [him] psychoanalyzed and all, because [he] broke all the windows in the garage” (Salinger 39). He develops a negative outlook on life. This is the cause of Holden’s continuous downward spiral. He becomes more and more disturbed and eventually ends up in a mental institution.

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366 Words | 2 Pages

In the novel “Catcher in the Rye” by J.D. Salinger, the main character, Holden acts very immature. He shows this through running away from home as well as Pency Prep, his school, in which he failed most of his classes. Holden changes his mind very quickly, and is incredibly fast to judge. He also shows immaturity by acting like a blind woman on the street. When people come to contact with problems, they face them head-on.

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456 Words | 2 Pages

When Holden lacks a sense of comfort with himself, it becomes challenging for him to make connections. In the following quote, holden reveals his trick to associate with others without being himself, “But when I’m with somebody that’s corny, I always act corny too.” (68) Holden is pretending to be someone he's not in order to fit in. This is seen in his behaviour of adopting a false personality to blend in with those around him. By doing so, he gives up being true to himself in the hopes of gaining the acceptance of others.

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455 Words | 2 Pages

He gives it a very pessimistic and cynical attitude. Since Holden sees everything in such a negative manner, he refers to almost everyone except for his sister, Phoebe, as a phony. He instantly gives everyone he meets the title of a phony. As he is on the topic of an all boys school, he refers to it as “full of phonies” (page 131). Salinger has given Holden such a negative outlook that almost everything that comes out of Holden’s mouth is negative.

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910 Words | 4 Pages

The “Phony” In Holden Caulfield In The Catcher In The Rye by J.D Salinger, the character Holden Caulfield shows his dislike towards other characters in the novel by characterizing them as “phonies”. People who are dishonest when self representing themselves for their own self interest are usually judged by Holden. Holden has high standards for other people especially adults and often characterizes other characters who do not meet his standards as “phonies” but he often behaves similarly to them.

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671 Words | 3 Pages

New York City is the city that never sleeps. There are bustling people, all having a place to be at, small coffee shops, and don’t forget about the city lights. You can easily be swept away with the city's aura and forget about your worries. In the novel The Catcher In The Rye, the protagonist Holden Caulfield explores the city over a span of 3 days after fleeing his private school Pencey prep.

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1022 Words | 5 Pages

After talking about his childhood memories with his brother he states, ¨He is dead now. He got leukemia and died when we were up in Maine, on July 18, 1946. You´d have like him.¨ Then after talking about Allie’s old baseball mitt he said, ¨I slept in the garage the night he died, and I broke all the goddam windows with my fist, just for the hell of it¨(43-44). Allie’s death is used to show the unexpected change that Holden had experienced during his life. Allie was only eleven when he died, and Holden was thirteen.

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1065 Words | 5 Pages

To begin, early in the novel Holden tells the reader about his younger brother Allie that passed away due to leukemia. It is also made known to the reader that Holden has PTSD from this tragic situation. Holden has a hard time trusting people because of this, and has struggled with mental illness since Allies death. In addition to trust issues and PTSD, Holden tends to go into a fantasy world when he gets depressed. In that world, he “talks” to Allie out loud as if he was there.

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904 Words | 4 Pages

Even though he is skeptical of people he considers phony, such as Marty who lies about seeing a movie star, his negativity and judgement of others usually goes a lot farther than what is considered normal. For example, he doesn’t get serious in relationships with others, because he always seems to find flaws in everyone. Another example is when Holden’s history teacher at Pencey, Mr. Spencer, wants to understand why he refuses to put in any effort. Spencer feels bad about failing Holden and reaches out to him, trying to connect with him and possibly influence him positively. However, Holden gets upset and starts talking poorly of him once he hears this, and later excuses himself with a lie he made up to leave, showing both his self-defence mechanism and his skepticism towards people he liked.

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428 Words | 2 Pages

Depression is an active theme in J.D. Salinger’s “The Catcher in the Rye.” Holden does not properly treat his depression because he ignores help, abuses substances, and bottles up his emotions. Before reading “The Catcher in the Rye,” I believed that depression is completely not a choice, but after I realized that although it isn’t a choice, there are still ways of treating depression. Holden refuses to accept help from other people. As soon as I was inside, I couldn 't think of anybody to call up.

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1145 Words | 5 Pages

Many times we hear Holden say how lonely he is and how he has no one to talk to, however he rejects each person he meets. He rejects the social norms of adulthood and claims that all that participate are phonies. For Holden the use of the word phony is like a shield. In order to protect himself from being rejected once again he uses this word to reject a possible relationship before they are able to reject him. Although his feelings are not justified, Holden still believes that most people are phonies.

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714 Words | 3 Pages

In conclusion, Holden is a phony because because he pretends to be someone that he is not, he contradicts himself, and he blames others for things that he is responsible for. Holden, making such a big deal about phonies ended up being one. This shows that no matter what you do, the society will always play a big role in influencing one’s behavior and the way that one

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1107 Words | 5 Pages

The effects of Holden constantly isolating himself can be seen especially through his improper speech and how he speaks to others. For example in chapter two Holden says “One of the biggest reasons I left Elkton Hills was because I was surrounded by phonies (pg 14).” In this Holden is exhibiting his poor vocabulary and shows how he does not put thought into the things he says. When he uses the word phonies to describe the boys at Elkton Hills in reality he means he thinks they are boys whom he is not friends with and does not like. In many other cases Holden appears to immediately result to the word phony when describing something or someone he does not like.

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783 Words | 4 Pages

The first cause of Holden 's mental illness that readers notice is that he lacks control over his actions. As Holden was 13 years old, his brother Allie died of leukemia. Holdens behavior in response to his brothers death was very violent. “I slept in the garage the night he died, and I broke all the goddam windows with my fist, just for the hell of it (Holden Caulfield 39).” Holden admits that he didn’t know he was doing it, but says it was a stupid thing to do.

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366 Words | 2 Pages

Sickness comes in many forms, but perhaps the most misunderstood form happens mentally. All of the events that happen to the main character in The Catcher in the Rye, Holden Caulfield, are caused in some way or another by his mental illness. Holden Caulfield is a boy who drops out of school and travels to New York City. Holden makes irresponsible decisions like when he travels to New York City by himself without permission which affects him mentally. Holden’s mental illnesses affects his decision making,specifically his decision to stay in school and his inability to connect with people.

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