Holden Caulfield Research Paper
Crazy Holden Caulfield
In the United States today, a person commits suicide about every twenty minutes (Whybrow). Many of these people end their life, due to a mental illness. Extreme emotions and dramatic moods swings are part of being human, but at a certain point, they can take over someone’s entire existence. Mental disorders are common, and often show up in literature to add a deeper layer of complexity to a character. The human psyche is complex on its own, so when a emotional disorder is added, it becomes endlessly intriguing. In The Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger, the main character, Holden Caulfield, goes through many stages of deep emotional struggles. As a young adult, the trials and tribulations of adolescence contribute a small amount to Holden’s distributed mental state. After being kicked out of school, He wanders New York City in a deep depression, excessively smoking and drinking his pain away. Due to the death of his beloved younger brother, Allie, Holden Caulfield developed psychotic depression, crediting this destroyed emotional state with it’s delusional characteristics.
Holden Caulfield's damaged psyche can be …show more content…
He blatantly admits, “What I really felt like though, was committing suicide. I felt like jumping out the window” (Salinger pg 104). Throughout Catcher in the Rye, Holden mentions his intentions of killing himself numerous times. Nonchalantly, he slips in revelations of his true motives to end his own life. Unfortunately, for a depressed person, frequent talks of suicide are not uncommon. Depression controls almost every aspect of the victim’s life. Affection for others disappears and events in life have no priority, meaning, or motivation (Whybrow). In a seemingly unending feeling of brokenness and pain, death starts to become a more appealing option. In the event, that victims choose to keep living, their mental illness can
In the United States today, a person commits suicide about every twenty minutes (Whybrow). Many of these people end their life, due to a mental illness. Extreme emotions and dramatic moods swings are part of being human, but at a certain point, they can take over someone’s entire existence. Mental disorders are common, and often show up in literature to add a deeper layer of complexity to a character. The human psyche is complex on its own, so when a emotional disorder is added, it becomes endlessly intriguing. In The Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger, the main character, Holden Caulfield, goes through many stages of deep emotional struggles. As a young adult, the trials and tribulations of adolescence contribute a small amount to Holden’s distributed mental state. After being kicked out of school, He wanders New York City in a deep depression, excessively smoking and drinking his pain away. Due to the death of his beloved younger brother, Allie, Holden Caulfield developed psychotic depression, crediting this destroyed emotional state with it’s delusional characteristics.
Holden Caulfield's damaged psyche can be …show more content…
He blatantly admits, “What I really felt like though, was committing suicide. I felt like jumping out the window” (Salinger pg 104). Throughout Catcher in the Rye, Holden mentions his intentions of killing himself numerous times. Nonchalantly, he slips in revelations of his true motives to end his own life. Unfortunately, for a depressed person, frequent talks of suicide are not uncommon. Depression controls almost every aspect of the victim’s life. Affection for others disappears and events in life have no priority, meaning, or motivation (Whybrow). In a seemingly unending feeling of brokenness and pain, death starts to become a more appealing option. In the event, that victims choose to keep living, their mental illness can