Catcher In The Rye Psychological Analysis
Does being miserable, drinking away sadness, and ordering a prostitute sound like a troubled teen, or someone with a serious mental illness? In the novel The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, a sixteen year old boy named Holden Caulfield gets kicked out of the private school he is attending and stays in New York for a couple of days instead of going home. Holden struggles with depression throughout his journey and has many problems like lying and drinking. Holden is suffering from depression because of many traumatic life experiences, most things make him miserable, and he participates in risky behavior to cope with his misery. Holden is depressed because of many traumatic life experiences. Depression can be caused by “a traumatic life
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One thing that depresses Holden is physical illness. Holden describes Mr. Spencer as “Reading the Atlantic Monthly, and there were pills and medicine all over the place, and everything smelled like Vicks Nose Drops. It was pretty depressing. I’m not too crazy about sick people, anyway” (Salinger 7). Holden is depressed by pills and medicine because he knows that pills and medicine are connected to physical illness. Holden believes that physical illness always leads to death. This thought of people being near death depresses him. Another example of what depresses Holden is in his conversation with Phoebe. Phoebe says, “‘You don’t like anything that’s happening.’ It made me even more depressed when she said that. ‘Yes I do. Yes I do. Sure I do. Don’t say that. Why the hell do you say that?’ ‘Because you don’t. You don’t like any schools. You don’t like a million things. You don’t’” (Salinger 169). Phoebe is frustrated with Holden and is only trying to help him. She believes that his dislike for most is a sign of depression. Helpguide.org describes this sign of depression as “[losing] [the] ability to feel joy and pleasure.” Holden has many problems that trigger his depression. As a result, he exhibits one of the core signs of depression, losing the ability to feel
One thing that depresses Holden is physical illness. Holden describes Mr. Spencer as “Reading the Atlantic Monthly, and there were pills and medicine all over the place, and everything smelled like Vicks Nose Drops. It was pretty depressing. I’m not too crazy about sick people, anyway” (Salinger 7). Holden is depressed by pills and medicine because he knows that pills and medicine are connected to physical illness. Holden believes that physical illness always leads to death. This thought of people being near death depresses him. Another example of what depresses Holden is in his conversation with Phoebe. Phoebe says, “‘You don’t like anything that’s happening.’ It made me even more depressed when she said that. ‘Yes I do. Yes I do. Sure I do. Don’t say that. Why the hell do you say that?’ ‘Because you don’t. You don’t like any schools. You don’t like a million things. You don’t’” (Salinger 169). Phoebe is frustrated with Holden and is only trying to help him. She believes that his dislike for most is a sign of depression. Helpguide.org describes this sign of depression as “[losing] [the] ability to feel joy and pleasure.” Holden has many problems that trigger his depression. As a result, he exhibits one of the core signs of depression, losing the ability to feel