Holden Caulfield's Depression

“The bravest thing I have ever done was continuing to live when I wanted to die.” This quote, stated by Juliette Lewis, shows the hardship and life that depression leads. This woman is not alone, in fact, approximately 300 million people suffer from depression each year, the leading cause of disability. In the novel, The Catcher in the Rye, J.D. Salinger addresses the topic of depression and hardship. The main character in the novel, Holden Caulfield, suffers from a dark, deep depression that is drawn from tragic events in his past, mixed with a variety of current issues. This depression affected Holden mentally, socially, and emotionally, with little treatment or guidance from his peers to help him. Depression can be defined in various ways,

Obviously, depression in this form does not just come out of the blue. The biggest impact on one’s early life for people, always starts at home, and when something tragic happens, most times, this can lead to severe depression. In Holden's case, there is no difference. When Holden was only thirteen, two years prior in the novel, his brother and best mate died of leukemia. This jump started his depression at such a young age. In the novel, he mentions his brother plenty of times, that he misses him very much, although he continuously denies it. Not only did this affect his mental health, it also ruined the social aspect of his life. From this, he no longer allows himself to attach and connect to other people, and alienates himself from almost everyone he comes across in the story. That is, except for his sister, Phoebe, the only person he admits to loving. Perhaps, if this one major event never occured, Holden would not be so depressed and be socially, mentally, and emotionally okay. Sadly, this is not the case. This event affected Holden throughout the entire novel, and will continue to affect him for a large chunk of his

This deep depression changed Holden completely, left him feeling worthless, and almost made him take his life. J.D. Salinger captivated the topic of depression perfectly in this novel and truly showed how deep one will go when in the state of grief. Luckily, Juliette Lewis was able to get past the hardship that was referred to earlier, and hopefully, the same went for Holden. No one was willing to pick Holden up when he needed it most, and he is not alone. Thousands of people are struggling and need help today. As bystanders, do not be so quick to judge or knock someone down before we completely understand, or even just simply “listen” to