Theme Of Depression In Catcher In The Rye
In the novel The Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger, the main character Holden Caulfield demonstrates signs of depression throughout his story. Holden tells his story from a rest home that he has been sent for therapy. There are many causes of depression in teens and Holden have suffered through most. “Depression is often triggered by a loss such as the death of a friend or family member, parents’ divorce, a move to a new community, a breakup with a boyfriend or girlfriend, failing a test, or being cut from a team” (“Points for Parents”). One event that hit Holden the hardest was losing his brother Allie to leukemia. Holden gives some background on Allie “[h]e was two years younger than I was, but he was about fifty times as intelligent.
He was terrifically intelligent” (Salinger, 38). He also describes Allie as being incredibly nice even though, “People with red hair are supposed to get mad very easily, but Allie never did, and he had very red hair” (Salinger 38). The way Holden discusses and describes Allie shows the reader that Holden still strongly feels Allies loss. Holden also tells the reader about the night Allie died. July 18, 1946, “ I slept in the garage the night he died, and I broke all the goddam windows with my fist, just for the hell of it. I even tried to break all the windows on the station wagon we had that summer, but my hand was already broken and everything by that time, and I couldn’t do it. It was a very stupid thing to do, I’ll admit, but I hardly didn’t even know I was doing it, and you didn’t know Allie” (Salinger 39).
Allie’s death has clearly upset Holden as we see throughout the novel that nothing makes him happy and he is always drinking. Over the course of three days Holden gets very little sleep and goes to multiple bars and tries to make conversation with strangers.
He was terrifically intelligent” (Salinger, 38). He also describes Allie as being incredibly nice even though, “People with red hair are supposed to get mad very easily, but Allie never did, and he had very red hair” (Salinger 38). The way Holden discusses and describes Allie shows the reader that Holden still strongly feels Allies loss. Holden also tells the reader about the night Allie died. July 18, 1946, “ I slept in the garage the night he died, and I broke all the goddam windows with my fist, just for the hell of it. I even tried to break all the windows on the station wagon we had that summer, but my hand was already broken and everything by that time, and I couldn’t do it. It was a very stupid thing to do, I’ll admit, but I hardly didn’t even know I was doing it, and you didn’t know Allie” (Salinger 39).
Allie’s death has clearly upset Holden as we see throughout the novel that nothing makes him happy and he is always drinking. Over the course of three days Holden gets very little sleep and goes to multiple bars and tries to make conversation with strangers.