How Is Holden Caulfield Mental Illness

In the novel The Catcher In The Rye by J.D. Salinger, the main character and protagonist (all though at times, he is his own antagonist) is Holden Caulfield. Throughout the novel Holden exhibits many characteristic of different mental illnesses including the likes of depression and anxiety, along with various others. Holden is obviously suffering from mental illness(es), in a variety of forms. Three major examples include him imagining all different scenarios and constantly telling lies, his loneliness and how he pushes people away from him {doesn't let people get close to him}, and his suicidal thoughts. At times Holden also doesn't remember things “so hot” and seems to be getting sick. Holden Caulfield is a sixteen year old boy who has

The first time the readers see Holden’s version of the truth; always lying even though that contradicts all the statements about everyone else being a “goddamn phony”, is when he he meets a peers mother on the train “"Oh, how lovely! Perhaps you know my son, then, Ernest Morrow? He goes to Pencey."

"Yes, I do. He's in my class."

Her son was doubtless the biggest bastard that ever went to Pencey, in the whole crumby history of the school. He was always going down the corridor, after he'd had a shower, snapping his soggy old wet towel at people's asses. That's exactly the kind of a guy he was.

"Oh, how nice!" the lady said. But not corny. She was just nice and all. "I must tell Ernest we met," she said. "May I ask your name,

I didn't feel like giving her my whole life history. Rudolf Schmidt was the name of the janitor of our dorm.” (pg. 54, The Catcher In The Rye, J.D. Salinger.) talking to Mrs. Morrow is the first example of how Holden automatically lies about everything from his name to why he is on the train. While lying can range from harmless to pathological lying, Holden’s exhibits lying on a regular basis. While lying to Mrs. Morrow could be viewed as not wanting to hurt her feelings by talking badly about her son, most of his other lies are there simply to help him advance in the world or to cover his tracks. It would also seem as though the only person he dislikes lying to would be his younger sister Phoebe. But when Maurice hits him, we see how quickly he makes up something more theatrical in his head “But I'm crazy. I swear to God I am. About halfway to the bathroom, I sort of started pretending I had a bullet in my guts. Old 'Maurice had plugged me. Now I was on the way to the bathroom to get a good shot of bourbon or something to steady my nerves and help me really go into action. I pictured myself coming out of the goddam bathroom, dressed and all, with my automatic in my pocket, and staggering around a little bit. Then I'd walk downstairs, instead of using the elevator. I'd hold onto the banister and all, with this blood trickling out of the side of my mouth a little at a time. What I'd do, I'd walk down a few floors—holding onto my guts, blood