Holden Caulfield Pessimism

Through out the story Holden is never in positive mind set, whenever some else is happy he or it look like something good might happen to Holden, he always seem to dampen the mood. For example Holden’s says, “After I shut the door and started back to the living room, he yelled something at me, but I couldn't exactly hear him. I'm pretty sure he yelled "Good luck!" at me. I hope not. I hope to hell not. I'd never yell "Good luck!" at anybody. It sounds terrible, when you think about it”(Salinger?). This behavior of hoping that some didn’t “good luck” is called pessimism, defined as a tendency to see the worst aspect of things or believe that the worst will happen; a lack of hope or confidence in the future. Another Example of Holden pessimism is a use of the word “phony” explained, “the frequency of words such as "phony" is not intended to suggest that everything in the adult world is a sham, merely that Holden thinks it is”(Robson). This is crucial in Identifying Holden depression due to the fact that with out this pessimistic thoughts/behavior it could misdiagnose with another mental disorder or people may not everyone think Holden has any depression. “One of the features of depression is pessimistic thinking.
Holden meet this definition perfectly. He is a chain smoker, and drinks every opportunity he gets, like with Luce, or at the clubs. Holden,“ he indulges in dark reveries”(tolchin). Alcohol and nicotine abuse is very common among depressed people. Dr. Lisa Dunn says, “It is not uncommon for alcohol and drug abuse to mask depression and grief reactions”(Dunn 1). Holden is using the “ substance of alcohol and nicotine to not just feel better physical and mental, but to show that he is normal and that nothing is wrong with him. He is trying to mask is depression with alcohol and nicotine but what it’s really doing is exposing it to the