EN 102/ Basic Literary Analysis
Due date 03/15/2013 Playing the Game of Life
Depression, a common mental disorder, presents people with depressed moods, loss of interest and pleasure, feelings of guilt or low self-worth, disturbed sleep or appetite, low energy, and poor concentration. (Encyclopedia of Public Health, 2008) Someone who deals with depression often realizes it is difficult to live an everyday normal life.
The Catcher in the Rye, written by J.D Salinger in 1951, narrates the life of a teenager, who is suffering from severe depression. The novel is a story about childhood and of finding one’s self in society. Initially published for adults, the book has become popular with adolescents for its themes …show more content…
of teenage confusion, angst, alienation, and rebellion. The story portrays a week of the seventeen-year-old, Holden Caulfield. The week is full of events and experiences that permanently change his life. His life experiences lead him to think that the only important this about his potential death or travel to the west. He emphasizes a general dislike for society and his pears by referring to people as “phonies.” His lack of will to socialize prompts him to find amplifies his depression. Catcher in the Rye is about a troubled teen trying to work his way through adolescence in a world peopled by phonies and finding his place in the society.
The novel opens with Holden directly speaking to the reader making clear that he is undergoing treatment in a mental hospital or sanitarium in southern California. The events he narrates take place in few days between the end of the fall school term and Christmas when he was seventeen years old. Holden’s journey begins on a Saturday in December just before school closes for Christmas break. He has been informed of his expulsion from Pency Prep School in Pennsylvania for failing all his classes except English. What worries him about being kicked out of school is his parents’ reaction, for he has already been expelled from other educational institutions. He leaves the school few days before the Christmas break after he has been beaten up by his roommate. He travels to New York and decides to stay in a cheap hotel until the day he is expected be home for the break. Holden encounters a large number of people as he travels in the city of New York and goes into nightclubs and bars. He looks for some degree of understanding and acceptance from all the characters he encounters, even taxi drivers and prostitutes. As a result, he feels dislocated and lost, it becomes obvious for him that he is in an entirely different orbit than the rest of the world. He shows symptoms of depression by harboring feelings of isolation, disillusionment, and sadness. In a world where he feels alone and insignificant, he wants to feel important, wanted, and loved. The novel ends with Holden warning the readers that telling people about their own experiences will lead to miss the people who shared them.
Holden quotes “the first thing I did when I got off at Penn Station, I went into this phone booth. I felt like giving a buzz but as soon as I was inside, I couldn’t think of anybody to call up,” (p.55). He is trying to reach out to someone but is unable to do so because of his judgmental views of others and this unfortunately aggravates his isolation from the rest. Holden is saddened by all the terrible events he has to deal with. “I was crying and all. I don’t know why, but I was. I guess because it was so damn depressed and lonesome.” (Salinger153) Holden regularly ties together the words “depression” and “lonesome.” This suggests to the reader that this the main reason Holden is sad; it’s because he has nobody to talk to and only person that was pure hearted, Allie, his younger brother, is dead.
The loss of, Allie has brought a great pain and misery to Holden Caulfield. Holden encounters himself facing the issue of accepting death. Losing a loved one is difficult and most of the time, it’s hard to recover from their loss. The healthiest decision is to move on, but—like Holden—some people cannot let go of the pain and it leads them to fall into a deep depression. He doesn’t know how to deal with the pain. Holden quoted, “what I did, I started talking to Allie. I do that sometimes when I get very depressed,” (Salinger 104). Allie was seen as the only pure hearted person he has ever known, now that he is gone, Holden needs to pretend that his brother never died. This helps him to cope with his lost and reinforces the fact that he is not ready to accept Allie’s death.
Holden in general has difficulty dealing with people and every day life due to his internal conflict.
Especially with his parents Holden feels like they have neglected him. “ I had to pack these brand-new ice skates my mother had just sent me a couple of day before” (Salinger 52). Holden could care less about the expensive gifts and of the wealth of his family. What Holden wanted was loving parents who are willing to sit with him and listen to him, letting him express how he feels and what he is experiencing. Salinger write very little about conversations between Holden and his parents. “ All you do is make a lot of dough and play golf and play bridge and buy cars and drink martinis and look like hot-shots” (Salinger 172). Holden’s father is an attorney, an occupation which Holden does not respect and makes no attempt to conceal his option. In the other hand Holden’s mother pays a little attention on Holden’s thoughts or acts since the loss Holden’s brother. The death of Allie has brought a great pain and misery to his mother; she has not recovered from the loss of his son. This annoys Holden because she is not the only one who is suffering from a loss. If there has been more concern about Holden and less about the family reputation and the opinion around them maybe Holden could have applied more and gain better results at school. Transferring Holden from a school to school when he is expelled isn’t helping him. Holden Caulfield is intelligent with lot of potential and can make the grades to stay in the school. But his depression and low self-esteem prevents him from being successful at school. Holden’s only familial affection and association is with his younger sister Phoebe, with whom he shares his thoughts and secrets. Phoebe appears to be the only person that Holden cares about. She is the only person that can be noticed by the readers with whom Holden has a genuine interaction. His suffering, because of the lack of parental affection and attention, results in
unbalanced proportions.
Why is he so messed up? Why is this kid who has money, two parents, a successful older brother and a sister who adores him in such a bad place?
Who suffer from depression suffers from its consequences, which can last for a lifetime if not helped by someone professionally. His depression is making his life difficult to the point where he cannot deal with his day-to-day life like a teenager of his age. At the end of the book he accepts that he is suffering from a mental illness and needs help. He starts to frequent a psychologist but still its difficult for him to obey authority. When the psychologist asks him if he will apply more in school. Holden responds saying, “It’s a such a stupid question. I mean how do you know that you are going to do till you do it?” (Salinger 213). He realizes that he cannot move forward in life the manner he has approaching his depression. It is not always obvious when someone is depressed. Everyone has their own way of handling the pain and everything they are going through. Today, many teenagers and Holden share problems such as losing a loved one, drugs, alcohol, and peer pressure that lead to depression and we need families to take notice and do something to stop teen depression. More than a pill or therapy, all they need is few essential things in order to recover from their state of numb: a belief that life still holds good and a sense of humanity and a realization that one day they will be able feel joy and happiness. This all can be obtained simply by knowing there are people who care about them and love them. Isn’t that what life is about? Be loved and love others. Feels like no one is alone, everyone has a shoulder to cry on.