Psychoanalysis Of Holden Caulfield

Devany Rocha

Mrs. Kehrmeyer

AP English, Period 1

06 February 2017

Stuck in Time We all have our demons we try to deal with throughout our life in hopes to someday completely terminate them. In the prominent novel, The Catcher In The Rye by Jerome David Salinger the protagonist is portrayed as a young boy dealing with inner conflict and can not seem to know how to deal with it. The psychoanalytic theory provides a frame of reference when braking down Holden Caulfield's complicated persona. Salinger illustrates Holden Caulfield as an emotionally unstable teen that has trouble living with his own problems and communicating his true emotions. Throughout the novel Holden Caulfield contains personality traits only explained through the use of Freud's

Not only did Salinger develop the character but also incorporated bits of himself when bringing Caulfield to life. Salinger was born to Sol and Miriam Salinger, who gave their children a life with their successful ham and cheese import business. Much like Holden Caulfield's family, the Salinger´s were also a part of the upper middle class. Holden Caulfield is a character known for flunking out of schools as stated in the novel. “They kicked me out. I wasn’t supposed to come back after Christmas vacation, on account of I was flunking four subjects and not applying myself…..” (Salinger 4). In the article, J.D Salinger Biography, Salinger's early life is mentioned as the article reveals, “After flunking out of the McBurney School near his home in New York's Upper West Side, he was shipped off by his parents to Valley Forge Military Academy in Wayne, Pennsylvania.” Salinger integrates a huge part of his childhood when developing Holden's character by having him share the same social class, school conflicts and family problems. When Salinger has difficulty in school, he was sent away to a military academy just like Caulfield went away to school before flunking out. Apart from school and social status, we are able to see glimpses of Salinger when Holden reveals the death of his younger brother Allie, whose death would lead to a breakdown, “I was only thirteen, and they were going to have me psychoanalyzed and

Regression is, “The return of behavior that is typical of earlier stages of development” (Nevid). When looking back at the novel, there are many instances in which Holden portrays the characteristic of regression. Holden keeps in touch with the museum he has visited throughout his whole childhood. It is an escape to him, the museum is the one place he is able relive his childhood the one place. In the novel he says that the best part of the museum is that nothing changes only the ones visiting it. By returning to the museum it is communicated that Holden can not let go of his memories. The trauma Holden went through after Ali's death left him stuck as a child. Donald Hall states, “IndividualS move through developmental stages early in life, and traumas or experiences during that process may have a lasting effect on personality.” Holden recognizes his immaturity by saying, “I was sixteen then, and I’m seventeen now, and sometimes act like I’m about thirteen.” The immaturity Holden portrays by getting along so well with his younger sister depicts him having the mindset of a child. When he was depressed and in need to someone to talk to all he could think of was his younger sister Phoebe. Apart from that he also has an immature relationship with women. He has noticed this habit when stating, “Last year I made a rule that I was going to quit horsing around with girls that, deep down, gave