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Examples Of Mental Illness In Holden Caulfield

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Mental Disorders, Isolation, & Holden Caulfield - How They Relate To Each Other Stigmatization; disapproval of an individual based on social characteristics that serve to distinguish them from other members of a society. Specifically, the stigmatization of mental illnesses in society can lead to one to experience prevalent alienation, depressive thoughts, and even suicidal tendencies. The buildup of these occurrences can be traced back to a traumatic incident that consequently takes an emotional toll on an individual in various formats. In J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher In The Rye, Holden Caulfield, the main character, is depicted as someone who suffers from clinical depression and bipolar disorder based on his behavioral and verbal interactions …show more content…

For clinical depression, wanting certain things or circumstances in life to stay the same for an extended period of time is one of the various symptoms. Holden is seen displaying this symptom in his relationship and history with the Museum of Natural History. There are various conditions in Holden’s life that drastically change after the death of Allie, but one of the few key things that stay the same is the Museum of Natural History: “The best thing, though, in that museum was that everything always stayed right where it was. Nobody'd move...Nobody'd be different. The only thing that would be different would be you” (Salinger 135). Holden throughout the novel is depicted as someone who finds it hard to move on in life and is unable to deal with change. In specification to the Museum of Natural History, everything seemingly stays the same, even after an extended period of time. In this case, Holden desires to be similar to the museum in the sense that he wishes to be frozen in time. This dismissal of change and wanting things to stay the same can also relate to how Holden views the museum as a safe haven for him to escape to whenever life becomes too hard for him. Another symbolic manifestation is the effect of Allie’s death on Holden and how it relates to his bipolar disorder. One of the symptoms of a manic bipolar disorder episode is impulsive behavior and reckless decisions. Throughout the novel the mention of Allie’s death by Holden and his following actions and feelings allows the reader to understand the depth of Allie and Holden’s relationship and how Allie’s death affect Holden. For example, Caulfield is seen being reckless and impulsive after Allie’s death by trying to hurt not only himself but the things around him: “I even tried to break all the

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Nobody'd move" (Salinger 135). Salinger uses this idea of stillness to show how Holden lives in the past. As mentioned earlier, Holden's brother tragically died at a young age affecting Holdens ideas of the world. This symbol of the museum shows how Holden does not want time to move. Holden wishes everything froze in its place so nothing would change.

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This quotation takes place after Holden decided to find Phoebe, but then begins to walk to the museum knowing that she would not be there. This quote is important to the overall theme because it describes Holden's desire to preserve his childhood innocence. The descriptiveness of the quote emphasizes how Holden likes how nothing changes in a museum in contrast to human beings. His liking for the immobile objects connects to Holden's isolation from society. He sees these objects as independent objects who doesn't depend on anything else which relates to why he has a dislike for many people and things.

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In the novel “The Catcher in the Rye”, the protagonist Holden Caulfield demonstrates his unusual behaviour. The narrator introduces the story of an emotionally damaged teenager whose suspicions and personal issues prevent him from being “normal” in a society full of phonies that he does not seem to get along with. It becomes clear that Holden has clouded judgement as he rides an emotional rollercoaster of mood swings with the people he likes, and dislikes. Therefore, it becomes obvious that some of his personal flaws include his distrust, depression, and unreasonable attitudes and thoughts are based on his underlying emotional problems. Holden Caulfield has a variety psychological problems, such as his skepticism, depressive behaviour, and

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The Museum for Holden is a place from his childhood, where he was able to see things and see them again as he grew older. He was always fond of the Museum because it was able to keep items the same forever. Holden wishes he was able to do the same, “Certain things they should just stay the way they are. You ought to be able to stick them in one of those big cases and just leave them there.” (Pg. 122)

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Holden has a very different way of showing his depression in the novel. His depression is present when he tries to keep his innocence and stray away from adult hood all while trying to keep his relationship with his brother Allie. Holden wants to be the “catcher in the rye “. He wants to be that person who catches those kids who are falling off the cliff into adulthood. Holden wants to protect those who are close to him and those that he loves.

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I n this world, there are many cases in which a person may have a mental disorder that is undetected by the person itself . In the case of Holden Caulfield, the main protagonist in “ The Catcher in The Rye” by J.D Salinger, he suffers from an anxiety disorder that is commonly know as PTSD. This stands for post-traumatic stress disorder in which an individual gets after the result of a traumatic event that occurred to them by either experiencing it or witnessing it themselves. Throughout the book you being to notice that there are many indications of Holden experiencing symptoms in relation to PTSD like hyper arousal and avoidance (“PTSD 1“). Hyper arousal is one the symptoms in which a person can feel stressed and angry, which results in them having an outburst.

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As a result of Holden having two extremes that are a component of his personality, he has bipolar II disorder. Throughout the novel, Holden presents signs of hypomania, because of his irritability towards others, while also speaking rapidly and having difficulty sleeping. When Holden has had minimal food to eat, has feelings of depression, and most notably when he has pondered death, is another extreme of his personality. There are numerous occasions that Holden experiences both emotions simultaneously. Since Holden encounters levels of depression and hypomania, bipolar II disorder is a more accurate diagnosis than depression.

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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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Catcher In The Rye Setting

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Out of all the places he visits in NYC, the two most notable ones are the Museum of Natural History and Central Park. The museum is an illusion of how Holden wishes the world was. In the novel, he says: “Nobody’d be different. The only thing that would be different would be you.” (Salinger 123).

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Boy gone crazy or depressed? Holden is in a deep depression but, does he stay depressed or go crazy? After Holden’s brother (Allie) dies he gets very depressed. Holden wasn 't even able to attend the funeral.

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Reveals about situation: By stating that his favorite part about the museum was its consistency, Holden reveals that he prospers best when he is in a familiar atmosphere. In more depth, Holden liked the museum so much simply because it was constant and he knew what to always expect. In relation to his current self, Holden still depends on that consistency for comfort and reliability. This is why Holden cannot succeed at all of his schools. His constant failure is partly due to his character flaws, but it could also be because he is not comfortable in the new situations and environments.

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