Holden Caulfield Loneliness

Sadness and loneliness can derive from isolation of oneself from reality. Most people try to deal with their sadness in positive ways, while others choose to live with it. Holden Caulfield is one of those people who lives with his sorrow and ultimately fails to deal with it. In The Catcher in the Rye, motifs of death and loneliness characterize Holden to show how alienation from reality can lead one to a state of depression and self-loathing. Salinger uses Holden’s love of his brother Allie and the burden of his demise, as well as repetition to portray the motif of death which leads Holden into depression. After spending nights away from school and home, Holden contemplates his life choices and realizes that he isn’t where he wants

He repeatedly describes how much he does not like Ackley, as well as how much of a social outcast he is. Even though he makes it clear that he doesn’t like Ackley, he is so lonely that he decides to hang around him anyway. This causes Holden to feel “rotten” and “lonesome” due to his lack of true friendships. He uses these words quite often in the novel to purposefully put himself down and inform the outside world of his plight. This also shows Holden’s major internal conflict: he can not make friends that he actually likes, but he’s so lonely that he resorts to hanging around people he does not want to be around. Holden stays at a former teachers house for a night because he had nowhere to stay. As they talk about Holden's life choices Mr. Antolini explains, “This fall I think you’re riding for - it’s a special kind of fall, a horrible kind. The man falling isn’t permitted to feel or hear himself hit bottom. He just keeps falling and falling… looking for something their own environment couldn’t supply them with. So they gave up looking” (Salinger 243-244). At this point in the novel, Holden is completely isolated from the outside world. Mr. Antolini's confrontation, emphasizes Holden’s disengagement to the world and his numbness to life around him. Even someone as close to him as Mr. Antolini can see his loneliness and emotional downfall. In addition, the metaphor of falling reflects how Holden is not rising up and succeeding in life, but shows his lack of effort to get his life back together. Due to his isolation, Holden is left with nothing in his life but himself to protect him; therefore, he gives up on his life and continues to live without meaning. This creates a feeling of loneliness and isolation in himself. In essence Mr. Antolini is, “urging Holden toward maturity and a more practical and less egotistical idealism. But then all is ruined by what is basically