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Holden Caulfield Depression

825 Words4 Pages

“That depressed the hell out of me.” (Salinger, 273)

J.D. Salinger’s 1951 work, The Catcher in the Rye, places its focus on character development instead of the plot of the story. Holden Caulfield is a well-rounded character with a history, opinions and, at times, troubling emotions. He’s a character filled with inner and outer conflicts. His internal battles and the friction occurring between him and the people around him causes Salinger’s character to exist in a spectrum between being overpoweringly relatable and clearly fictitious. Holden Caulfield is in a constant fight against what is expected from him. His chaos is exposed and the reader is led by his uncensored thoughts. Consequently, Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye is a genuine …show more content…

The psychological definition according to the Oxford English Dictionary is “a sign of psychiatric disorder or a component of various psychoses, with symptoms of misery, anguish, or guilt accompanied by headache, insomnia, etc.” ("depression, n."). In H.C. Warren’s Dictionary of Psychology, dating back to 1934, almost two decades before the publication of The Catcher in the Rye, depression is described as “a mood of pronounced hopelessness and overwhelming feeling of inadequacy or unworthiness”. Holden’s understanding of these definitions would demonstrate the depth of his character and the pain that he carries around. In this case, the constant use of the word conveys Holden’s obsession with negative thoughts. The constant repetition of phrases like “I felt more depressed than sexy” (Salinger, 125) and “it depressed holy hell out of me” (Salinger, 141) projects the weight of emotion looming over Holden Caulfield. Holden’s cycle of sadness and melancholia progresses with each turn of the page. Salinger’s use of such an emotionally charged word promotes the sensation that Holden Caulfield is more than a construct. Holden is a living entity with complex emotions. Salinger has given the readers an opportunity to experience Holden’s thoughts, which have been clouded by this

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