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How Is Holden Caulfield Is He Based Off Himself

1156 Words5 Pages

Psychiatrist interviewing J.D. Salinger Psychiatrist: Hello Salinger, so nice to meet you! You were able to create a complex main protagonist, Holden Caulfield, may I ask you a few questions about your iconic novel “The Catcher in the Rye”. I am extremely interested in your intention behind creating a character like Holden, is he based off yourself? What techniques did you use to portray him? Salinger: Holden Caulfield is a character with intricate layers of personality and experience. Within the novel, Holden mirrors the complexities of my own life and struggles, creating a sense of identification and resonance between his story and my own. I hold the novel close to me not only because it was my main success, but because of the comfort I …show more content…

Throughout my life I wrote many short stories, a few of them getting published in magazines, but my career as an author changed greatly when I fought in World War II, I was left with trauma that caused me to suffer significantly from PTSD and depression. The only way I could get through this was to write, so that’s what I did. I worked on “The Catcher in the Rye” for ten years, as I wrote I gained a special relationship with the book and the characters within, yet I still regret publishing the book to this day. The main protagonist, Holden and I have many similar experiences; for example, we were both kicked out of schools, both kind of reclusive and in ways Holden was crazy, just like I was after serving in the war. Holden and I are both extremely impulsive, we both do things purely because “I guess I just felt like it”. I utilised various techniques such as characterisation and stream of consciousness to evoke Holden’s emotion and character, I wanted the reader to be able to know him as I did. This technique provides a window for readers to understand the raw, unfiltered true version of the character and allowing them to delve …show more content…

What a difference! That is so interesting, Holden is such a complex character. Are there specific psychological disorders or conditions you intend to portray through Holden's

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