In the novel “The Catcher in the Rye”, the character Holden Caulfield demonstrates his unusual behaviour. The narrator introduces the story of an emotionally hurt teenager whose suspicions and personal issues prevent him from being normal in a society full of “phonies” that he does not seem to get along with. It becomes clear that Holden has clouded judgement as he has multiple mood swings with the people he likes, and dislikes. Therefore, it becomes obvious that some of his personal flaws include his distrust, depression, and unreasonable attitudes and thoughts are based on his underlying emotional problems.
Holden Caulfield has a variety psychological problems, such as his skepticism, depressive behaviour, and his unjustifiable attitudes with people, which are triggered by his self-defence mechanisms. Holden’s thoughts show a personal struggle with depression, which is certainly something that has a toll on him. In many cases throughout the novel, Holden tells the reader of his feeling of deep sadness, and even admitting his depression. However, in most of these cases, his sadness is triggered by little events or situations which shouldn’t have affected him at all.
For example, when he explains his feelings about the phony Elkton Hills headmaster talking with his parents, he says, “It makes me so depressed I go crazy” (Salinger 14). His feelings about the headmaster are interesting, because it shows that he overreacts and has depressive thoughts for little, unreasonable things which most teenagers at his age typically don’t experience. Also, Holden even considers committing suicide multiple times throughout the novel.
While at his short stay in Manhattan, just the thought of his yellowness and his gloves being stolen at Pencey Prep depresses him to the point where he decides to have more alcoholic drinks after a night in the town. After a night in which Holden didn’t socialize the way he wanted to, he feels so depressed that he wished he died. According to Dr. Greenwald, symptoms of depression include “suicidal thoughts, agitated behaviour, and depressive thoughts”, which are exactly what Holden seems to be experiencing.
These instances are important, because it shows that his feelings are unreasonable, and as a result, his depression affects his rational thinking. Holden’s attempts at unrealistic objectives shows that he has a clouded, and a naive view of things. Through interactions with other characters, it becomes evident that he goes through with ideas that he doesn’t seem to have thought over clearly, which results in his rejection, and depressive thoughts. At one point in the novel, Holden becomes obsessed with an idea of his to run away with Sally to a different state, and get married.
His plan was so ridiculous that even Sally confronted him, by stating “In the first place, we’re both practically children. And did you ever stop to think what you’d do if you didn’t get a job when your money ran out? We’d starve to death” (Salinger 132). It is clear that he lacks judgement and rational thinking skills that people his age usually have. Holden also dreams about moving to the West and pretending to be mute, by no longer speaking to anyone. However, he discards this idea as quickly as he thought of it.
According to Alex Lickerman M. D. , having high expectation, and coming short on them, can ultimately lead to either “disappointment, a traumatic experience, or both”. Not only that, “when perfectionists do not achieve their desired goals, they often fall into depression”. Holden’s obsession with unrealistic ideas and thoughts ultimately show that he has some sort of psychological issue that greatly affects him, and is quite possibly the reason for his depression. Holden’s cynicism, which he uses to explain his anti-social behaviour, shows he has an emotional struggle.
Even though he is skeptical of people he considers phony, such as Marty who lies about seeing a movie star, his negativity and judgement of others usually goes a lot farther than what is considered normal. For example, he doesn’t get serious in relationships with others, because he always seems to find flaws in everyone. Another example is when Holden’s history teacher at Pencey Prep, Mr. Spencer, wanted to understand why he refuses to put in any effort. Spencer feels bad about failing Holden and reaches out to him, trying to connect with him and possibly influence him positively.
However, Holden gets upset and starts talking poorly of him once he hears this, and later excuses himself with a lie he made up to leave, showing both his self-defence mechanism and his skepticism towards people he liked. Also, when Holden wakes up to Mr. Antolini patting him on the forehead in the middle of the night, he tells us of similar “perverty” things that happened to him multiple times as a child. Therefore, he clearly struggles to trust anyone he both meets and knows, which shows his insecurity and cynicism of others.
Another instance of this is Holden’s relationship with D. B. Although Holden says that they were once close, he now considers D. B. as phony because of the work he does in the film industry. In doing so, he loses a close relationship with his brother, just because he feels his brother is a phony. According to Dr. Firestone, “many of our cynical emotions arise when we are feeling vulnerable. In moments when we are feeling open and are let down, we are far more likely to react by toughening up and becoming defensive, even with the people we like”.
This is certainly what Holden experiences quite often throughout the novel, from Mr. Spencer, to Mr. Antolini. Holden’s cynicism and anti-social behaviour shows emotional and psychological problems with forming relationships. Some readers have a different point of view to Holden’s behaviour. Some think that he is just a typical teenager dealing with normal teenager problems such as fitting in with others, dealing with failure, and making friends.
However, looking through a psychoanalytical lens of Holden’s behaviour shows that his problems and actions could possibly be due to some sort of underlining psychological problems. His depression, unrealistic views, and unusual skepticism give evidence to his emotional issues, and the fact that he can’t make close relationships with others. If there was a teenager that had the issues he did today, they would probably be undergoing treatment of some sort.
