Change Can Be Good As one grows up they may experience dramatic changes in their life that they wish had never occurred. In The Catcher in the Rye, written by J.D Salinger, the main Character Holden Caulfield, goes through loss as his life begins to change right in front of him. His brother Allie who Holden was very close with, passes away, and his family and friends are all moving forward with their lives. Meanwhile, Holden is still stuck in the past. The change that is occuring in his life is affecting his current emotions and his ability to move forward. When forced with abrupt, unforeseen change, people desire to hold onto the familiar. Salinger uses the death of Holden 's family and friends to show the tragic change that he has to deal with. In the beginning of the book Salinger reveals that Holdenś younger brother, who he was close …show more content…
After talking about his childhood memories with his brother he states, ¨He is dead now. He got leukemia and died when we were up in Maine, on July 18, 1946. You´d have like him.¨ Then after talking about Allie’s old baseball mitt he said, ¨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¨(43-44). Allie’s death is used to show the unexpected change that Holden had experienced during his life. Allie was only eleven when he died, and Holden was thirteen. People do not expect the death of a loved one to occur at such a young age, and so abruptly like Allie 's death. The smashing of the windows shows the huge impact that he had on Holden, and how upset he was that he no longer had his brother by his side. Holden was uncertain in how to deal with this upsetting change in his life, resulted in aggressive behavior. Holden was also exposed to another traumatic event in his life during his time at Pencey. After being introduced to one of Holden 's classmates Castle he states, ¨Finally, what he did, instead of
Allie was Holden’s everything, he looked up to his brother and respected him. Holden never really had anyone to discipline him or tell him right from wrong. Even though Holden liked too seem as if he was already older then he actually is, he is still a young kid who needs his parents. Allie was Holden’s angel who took care of him while his parents couldn’t. Holden is a protagonist that has been through many harsh events throughout his
Through the traumatic life event that was the death of Allie, he was frozen in time psychologically, as the immature creature he is seen as now. The aforementioned habit of calling others phony is quite immature and childish, similar to how a child would call someone names when angered. “Traumatic life events can cause the child to become ‘stuck’ at a particular level of psychological development... s/he may, therefore, often seem immature.” (Hosier, 1) Allie’s death is something in Holden’s life that he has been unable to come to terms with, as he was never given closure.
Therefore, his rebellion both academically and socially in the schools he attends display his resistance to grow up. These behaviors he shows, are psychological effects he develops due to Allie’s death, hence creating a negative impact on his life. In addition to Allie’s death causing Holden to act out, it also seems to cause neglection in Holden’s life. Just like Holden, it seems his mother has not gotten over
This moment of recalling the moments he has with Allie, and looking back at what Allie was like was a heartfelt moment for Holden, and him choosing to write the essay about Allie’s mitt shows Holden’s connection and love for Allie and the relationship he had with him. Later on towards the end of the novel, we can see Holden frantically walking down the streets yet again, as he finds himself slowly losing touch of reality, and starting to do strange things. When this happens, Holden recognizes that his first instinct was to call for his brother to help him. Holden explains, “Then I started doing something else… I'd make believe I was
In The Catcher of the Rye, Holden barely mentions his late brother, barely opening up to others and confronting his emotions. When Allie died to Leukemia at a young age, his emotions of grief are illustrated with how he reacts to Allie’s death with Holden saying, “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” (Sallinger, 44). With Allie’s death, Holden shows signs of grief with much aggression as he destroys his windows with his fists at 13 years old after Allie’s death. Allie’s death results in Holden forming mental illnesses of depression from loneliness as displayed when Holden sat by himself smoking cigarettes when he says how he starts talking outloud when feeling depressed.
The period of transition between adolescence and adulthood can diminish one’s innocence and positive outlook of life. The Catcher in the Rye depicts a seventeen year old boy’s struggle as he deals with the the hopelessness and tragedies of reality. J.D. Salinger weaves together a wistful novel that details the depressing life of Holden Caulfield. Through his creative usage of simple syntax, mundane setting, and relatable diction, Salinger concocts a story so wonderfully written that the reader feels the same heartache and anger that Holden does. Salinger combines the understandable diction with very simple and straightforward syntax.
The anger stage of the grieving process normally comes first, and which is when it comes for Holden (Axelrod). Holden denies that he knows why he does it, saying, “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). This action of not being able to admit that he broke the windows for the sake of Allie symbolizes that he will not believe Allie is dead yet. Holden again denies Allies death by telling Phoebe that he wants to be the catcher in the rye where he will catch little children from losing their innocence to adulthood if they begin to fall off the cliff. He does admit, “I know it’s crazy, but that’s the only thing I’d really like to be.
Throughout the book, Holden is struggling to get by. The death of his brother Allie has left him in a tough spot. Holden doesn’t exactly know how to deal with this. The different stages of grief are represented through Holden. Holden shows denial and anger when he flashbacks to one of his memories after his brother’s death.
He talks to his brother as if he 's there searching for help from him. This novel is about him moving through New York and witnessing this and not wanting to be a part of it, yet knowing he has to fit in there somewhere. Holden grows a very dangerous drinking problem. In the novel The Catcher in the Rye, written by J.D. Salinger, Holden is a lost and depressed boy looking for a purpose in life. Holden believes that growing up is going to cause him to lose all innocence in himself.
Allie’s death had a huge impact on Holden’s mental health, as he and Allie were really close brothers. If Allie never dies, Holden might not have been in such a bad mental state throughout the book. On the night Allie dies of Leukemia, Holden sleeps in the garage and breaks all the windows “just for the hell of it.” (Chapter 5) Holden further adds, “I even tried to break all the windows on the station wagon we had that summer.” (Chapter 5)
The Catcher in the Rye In the novel The Catcher in the Rye J.D Salinger writes about a teenager struggling to find his place within the existence of the reality of others. Salinger creates shocking events that lay out the foundation of the the main character Holden Caulfield’s life in the novel. Salinger uses Holden’s characteristics throughout the novel such as Holden’s stubbornness to establish a much bigger theme in the book along with many other symbols.
The repercussions of Allie’s death had immediate effects on Holden’s
Nobody’d move.. Nobody’d be different. The only thing that would be different is you. ”(chpt.16) This shows Salinger use of Imagery where you can see Holden in the museum all alone wanting to go back to a time where he felt safe and happy and he longs for that.
Throughout the novel, the topic of death is reoccurring in Holden 's mind. Whether he 's in school, doing homework, or aimlessly walking around New York City, Allie 's presence or lack thereof is always looming. It escalates to the point that Holden is always thinking about his own death, but more more specifically he 's fear of being forgotten: "Every time I came to the end of a block and stepped off the goddamn curb, I had this feeling that I 'd never get to the other side of the street. I thought I 'd just go down, down, down and nobody 'd ever see me again. Boy did it scare me"(256).
Holden becomes increasingly attracted to the idea and comes close to obsession, as his mind is flooded with thoughts of death and disappearance, as well as questions which are revealed throughout the novel. Holden experiences two deaths prior to the events in the novel that impact him profoundly. The most significant death was the death of his younger brother, Allie. Allie died of leukemia three years before the events of the novel.