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Holden's Mental Breakdowns In The Catcher In The Rye

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Mental Breakdowns During High school many students struggle with grades and what they want to be when they are older. Holden Caulfield doesn’t worry about these things. He doesn’t apply himself in school which causes him to be kicked out repeatedly. Throughout the novel The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Sallinger Holden struggles with depression and mental breakdowns. When Holden gets kicked out of his current school, Pencey, he decides to leave a few days early to spend a few days in New York City alone. During the trip Holden experiences many events that cause him to have mental breakdowns. Holden’s mental breakdowns with his fight with Stradilator, date with Sally and crying episode in the rain eventually lead to an appointment with a psychologist. …show more content…

The night Holden decides to leave Pencey he gets in a fight with stradilator about a girl he went on a date with. This isn’t just any girl; this is Jane, Holden’s best friend over the summer in Maine. When stardilator returns from the date Holden is interrogating him about how it went and what they did. Although, it is doubtful they did much because of Jane’s personality Stradilator tries to mess with Holden and he will not tell him. This makes Holden believe Stradilator took advantage of Jane so Holden “tried to sock him, with all his might” (43.) This act of violence is only the beginning to Holden’s sensitive collapse. A second event that night occurred moments after Holden swung at Stradilator. After Holden’s punch Stradilator pins Holden down and keeps punching him because Holden “kept calling him a sonuvabitch…All morons hate it when you call them a moron” (44.) This repetitive act of taunting Stradilator is an example of his lonesome and numbness to the world around him and, the want to feel something other than being

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He recently got kicked out of his current school, Pencey Prep, due to “flunking” four subjects and not “applying” himself (4). When Holden has a talk with Mr. Spencer, it is also revealed that he dropped out of two other schools. “If I’m not mistaken, I believe you also had some difficulty at the Whooton School and at Elkton Hills” (13). It is also shown that Holden passed one subject, English. His interest in English is shown when he reads books in his dorm, talks about literature such as Romeo and Juliet with the nuns, and writes Stradlater’s composition for him.

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He explains to Mr. Spencer how he feels about something he needs some advice with. He tells him that he feels trapped on the “other side” of life. Holden is a strange teen, he smokes and drinks more than he sleeps. He’s always in bars drinking with friends.

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Prior to Pencey Prep, he was expelled multiple times from each boarding school he attended for the same reasons. Back home, Holden is feeling lost and confused since he does not feel as if he has a sense

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Was Holden successful in his Journey This is an essay on whether or not Holden Caulfield is successful on his journey throughout the novel “The Catcher in the Rye” by Jerome David Salinger. This book shows how hard it can be for teenagers that are going from an adolescent to adulthood. Holden, who is sixteen years old, has been kicked out of several schools. Pencey Prep. was the latest.

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Furthermore, Holden’s instinct is to hit Stradlater after his interaction with Jane, as his initial thoughts of what could’ve happened between them angers him. These instances of Holden's reckless actions and unacceptable behavior resemble how impactful Allie's death was to

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One of the first instances of this is when Holden has an encounter with his roommate named Stradlater. Holden, while he considers Stradlater a moron, does not really have a problem with the attractive, yet secretly uncleanly roommate. However, that changes when Stradlater steals the innocence of Holden’s old friend Jane. Holden is so enraged at him for infringing on the adolescent innocence that he still sees in Jane, that he starts a physical fight with him. However, because Holden is a sort of pacifist, he loses the fight and is left feeling defeated and lost.

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Stradlater, Holden 's roommate at Pencey Prep, qualifies as another person who Holden considers to be a phony. He is often described as this handsome and well groomed guy, but Holden often acknowledges that he is a “secret slob”. Holden continues to provide details that Stradlater appears well groomed, but his toiletries, such as his razor, are disgustingly unclean. Holden’s continuous hatred for phonies eventually leads him into the feeling of loneliness, which shows his value honesty. Holden’s strong value for honesty, along with his deep hatred for phonies later results in him entering a state of loneliness.

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As far as Holden’s relationships with women go, he seems to show symptoms that coincide with someone who has ADD. At times, this makes Holden’s thought pattern hard to follow. Hr seems to have one opinion of a person, but then he’ll have another opinion differing from the last one. He acts impulsively based on his emotions, he bounces from topic to topic, whether it be his thought process about girls, or while he’s physically speaking to them, and he can’t always make up his mind about how he feels. Holden acts impulsively based upon his emotions.

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“And then I tried to sock him, with all my might, right smack in the toothbrush, so i would split his goddamn throat open, only I missed.” (page 49 Salinger). Holden got caught up in a moment of rage that was sparked by Stradlater not treating Jane the way he would like. He was overpowered and Holden got a little roughed up. Holden was always in a state of aggression, when he was leaving Pencey he shouted “Sleep tight, ya morons!”

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Holden hates Ward Stradlater. He calls him a secret slob. Straddler was Holden’s roommate at Pencey Prep. Stradlater is a ladies man. Holden sees that he does not take take care of his belongings.

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In The Catcher in the Rye, it is observed that the novel is about grief. There are 5 stages of grief: denial, anger, depression, bargaining, and finally acceptance. The Catcher in the Rye shows how Holden goes through the grieving process. By the end of the novel it shows how Holden has reached closure or a way to let go.

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He probably was scared I fractured my skull or something when I hit the floor. It 's too bad I didn 't. (pg.45) The quote shows how Holden and Stradlater got into a fight. It connects to the claim because Holden is childish for a fight. Holden fought him because of Jane but Stradlater didn 't know that Holden liked her.

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The idea of having a character that struggles to find themselves is quite a common idea in many books. This is seen in the Catcher in the Rye where JD Salinger puts Holden the main character through different struggles throughout the book to finally realise what his purpose is and what he aims to be. There are many different situations that Holden is put through but they all aim to the same purpose, being a catcher in the rye. Two of the main struggles are his journey into adulthood and to retain his innocence. The second is how he is almost alienating himself from others and very rarely opens up to anybody, and his relationships with people are not great because he thinks of many of the people he meets are phony.

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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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This results in Holden and Stradlater getting into a brutal fight and ends with Holden

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