Holden’s signs of depression a very strong and frequent thought out the book. The first major sign of Holden’s depression is the lack of sleep sleeping. Holden finds it hard to sleep even in the early morning hours let alone all night. “It took me a while to get to sleep I wasn’t even tired but finally I did.” (Pg. ) Aug 24, · To summarize, it is evident that Holden Caulfield is experiencing the symptoms of depression. He continuously discusses thoughts of his suicide and lies to himself about his quality of life, repeatedly uses the word “depressing” in his dialogue, and exhibits feelings of guilt and loss for his younger brother Allie Holden's Depression in The Catcher in the Rye Essay. Words3 Pages. Nineteen million American adults suffer from a major case of depression (Web MD). That is a staggering one in every fifteen people (2 in our classroom alone). Holden Caulfield is clearly one of those people. Depression is a disease that leads to death but is also preventable
Holden Caulfield and Teenage Depression Free Essay Sample on blogger.com
One of the most common and detrimental psychiatric condition is depression, holden caulfield depression essay. The state of depression has substantial effects on a persons thoughts, behaviour and feelings.
Depression entails an emotional stigma which has overbearing feelings of despair and dejection. Sigmund Freud encloses the similarities between the roots of depression with the grief experienced by those who lost a loved one. Comer, The author, J. D Salinger, highlights the destructive impacts of depression in his book, The Catcher in the Rye about the depression experienced by the protagonist, Holden Caulfield. Holden Caulfield has endured the emotional pain of his younger brother, Allies death.
Holdens teacher Mr. Antolini, sets him up to understand his misguided ways as he points out Holdens downfall, holden caulfield depression essay. He tries to instill the notion that Holden must ignore the corrupt society in order to fully experience enriching and symbiotic relationships in life. Antolini attempts to evolve Holden to prevent his great fall as he states, the mark of an immature man holden caulfield depression essay he wants do die nobly for a cause, and whereas the mark of a mature man is he wants to live humbly for one.
Holden understands his unrealistic approach to life, however becomes clinically depressed in the process. In The Catcher in the Rye, Holden encounters a significant fall into his depressive state due to his detachment from society, unconventional behaviour and internal psychological turmoil.
A prominent cause of Holden Caulfields depression is his detachment from society. To begin with, Holden isolates himself from the people around him as he refrains from developing social bonds. For instance, Holden refrains from meeting Jane Gallagher while she waits for Stradlater, despite desperately wanting to meet her.
This is reveals through Holdens comment, I oughta go down and say hello to her [Jane][but] Im not in the mood right now. This quote shows that Holden is incapable to form relationships with people around him, which reveals his insecurities, holden caulfield depression essay.
Holden is hesitant towards developing relationships, possibly due to fear of neglect. Holdens fear of being neglected is the root of his inability to develop bonds which ultimately isolates him from society. Therefore, his inability to maintain relationships diminishes his sense of self and brings about his depressive state. Second, Holden segregates himself from society as Holden opts to live in the past.
Holden caulfield depression essay example, Holden refuses to merge with society as he wishes to live alongside his deceased brother Allie. Consequently, Allie remains at rest in his childhood. Similarly Holden wishes to live in his childhood to preserve his innocence. Therefore, Holden challenges societys circle of life, as he refuses to holden caulfield depression essay adulthood.
This is depicted when Holden states, I like Allie just because someone is deadyou dont just stop liking them, for Gods sakes- especially if they were about a thousand times nicer than the people you know thatre alive Salinger Holden believes that only true innocence can be attained in childhood and holds the view that the sincerity Allie offered is no longer present in society.
However, Holden eventually realizes that it is impossible to live in his childhood forever. This compels him to realize that he cannot continue living with the same values in society that Allie died with. Acknowledging that his objectives in life are unattainable brings forth immense discomfort and sadness. However, Holdens sadness is heightened when he knows he cannot change societal norms and value. The realization that he cannot remain in the past with his idyllic concept of innocence ultimately causes his depression.
Furthermore, Holdens inability to express his emotions and feelings leads to his detachment with society. For example, Holden fails to express the importance of their relationship and his purpose of eloping to Sally. Then, when Sally fails to understand Holden, as he insults her and ceases the, holden caulfield depression essay. wasnt any sense trying to have an intelligent conversation, holden caulfield depression essay. I was sorry as hell Id started ityou give me a royal pain in the ass Salinger Holdens statement reveals that his depression is rooted in the fact that he is incapable to clearly express himself to the people he loves.
The frustration leads him to believe that it is impossible for him to connect with someone on an emotional and personal level. Holden is unable to express himself and harbours feelings of loneliness which evokes his depressive state. Therefore Holdens depression is a consequence of his detachment from society as he refrains from social bonds and opts to live in the past. Holdens depressive state of mind is also evident by means of his reckless behaviour, holden caulfield depression essay.
First, Holdens loss of interest in school and the people within the school makes it agonizing for him to remain there. For example, Holden expresses his lack of interest in school when he tells Phoebe the reasons for his distaste and rejection of Pencey.
This is shown through Holdens statement, it was one of the worst schools I ever went to. It was full of phonies. And mean guysI just didnt like anything that was happening at Penecy, holden caulfield depression essay. SalingerThis quote reveals that Holden acknowledges the negativity inside the school as it becomes unbearable for him.
Pencey also harbours many fraudulent people which remove Holdens interest in school. Since Holden finds it infuriating living amongst people with no sense of morality. Consequently, his discontent with school hinders the enrichment he wishes his life to encompass. Therefore, Holdens objectives of school are not being accomplished, holden caulfield depression essay.
Holden foresees countless misery and restlessness in his future. Therefore, his depression and thoughts of suicide are enkindled by the holden caulfield depression essay dissatisfaction he experiences at Pencey. Second, Holdens reckless behaviour of excessive drinking to escape his problems also displays his depression. For example, after Holdens heated argument with Sally, he fails to maturely resolve his problem with Sally.
Instead, he decides to bury himself in alcohol. This is revealed when he states, holden caulfield depression essay, she kept telling. me to go away and leave her alone, so finally I did and left without her.
I shouldntve[later that day] I was too drunk to give a damn SalingerThis quote illustrates that Holden has no self control over his emotions as he immerses himself holden caulfield depression essay alcohol to alleviate his pain. He understands that he is a coward and is incapable to cope with problems. This implies that Holden lacks the rationality within his actions, as he jumps to absurd measures to reduce his pains.
Further, his methods are unconventional as they lead to his depressive state. However, Holden prefers to intoxicate himself to stray away because he is unable face his fears or the idea of desertion. As Holden acknowledges his cowardly characteristic, it reduces his sense of self, holden caulfield depression essay, and the pain he experiences has eventually evoked his depression. Furthermore, this supports the notion that Holden is depressed as he hides his issues by intoxication.
Last, Holden envisions his unconventional behaviour because he is at odds with himself. Behaviours that he finds wrong in holden caulfield depression essay appear normal if partakes in them, revealing his duplicitous character.
Ironically, Holden casually uses foul language himself. Holden expects society to be perfect without any flaws yet reenacts the same qualities that he criticizes others for.
It drove me dam near crazyI thought how Phoebe and all the other little kids would see it Salinger This quote reveals that Holden scrutinizes other people for writing such foul words. However, Holden knows that he partakes in the same reckless behaviour. Holden displays cold hearted behaviour by detesting others around him. Furthermore, Holden uses the method of judging other people for their actions as a means to hide his own flaws, perhaps because of the fear of viewing himself as a phony.
Holden caulfield depression essay Holden knows that he is a hypocrite and acknowledges that he strays from his own. This careless behaviour reveals his depression as he. views himself as a phony. Therefore, holden caulfield depression essay, Holdens depression is evident as he partakes in reckless behaviour through his lack of interest in school, intoxication to escape from problems, and duplicitous personality.
Holdens depression is also revealed through his internal psychological turmoil. To begin with, Holden depressive state is evident as he displays feeling of hopelessness. For example, Holden realizes that his goals for preserving the innocence of the children are unrealistic. This occurs when all the children from the carousel are in attempts to holden caulfield depression essay the ring, and Holden realizes that he cannot stop the children from their inevitable outcome. This is evident through Holdens comment, holden caulfield depression essay, if they want to grab for the gold ring, you have to let them do it, and not say anything.
If they fall off, they fall off. Salinger Holden realizes that he is powerless towards the society around. He believes he can preserve the innocence of children, being the catcher in the rye, saving them from falling from the cliff. However, he believes that all children will eventually border to adulthood and depart from their innocence is inevitable.
Holden is made to believe that all children will eventually merge towards the corrupted side of society despite his desires. Another reason for Holdens depression is because his desire for maintaining innocence is unrealistic which bring out emotional mental trauma.
Moreover, Holden falls into depression as loses trust from the people that he admires. For example, he loses his trust in Mr, holden caulfield depression essay. Antolini, who Holden respects, was caught inappropriately touching him. This incident also causes his internal turmoil as he was holden caulfield depression essay with regards to his teachers intention.
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, time: 2:47Holden Caulfield and Depression | blogger.com
May 12, · The protagonist; Holden Caulfield becomes seriously depressed to the point where he cannot deal with people and every day life around him. The author describes Holden as a person that does not care about where he goes with his life, but the one thing that gets in his way is depression, which causes him to be stressed and have a lot of blogger.comted Reading Time: 3 mins Holden’s signs of depression a very strong and frequent thought out the book. The first major sign of Holden’s depression is the lack of sleep sleeping. Holden finds it hard to sleep even in the early morning hours let alone all night. “It took me a while to get to sleep I wasn’t even tired but finally I did.” (Pg. ) As Eugene McNamara stated in his essay “Holden Caulfield as Novelist”, Holden, of J.D. Salinger’s novel Catcher in the Rye, had met with long strand of betrayals since he left Pencey Prep. These disappointments led him through the adult world with increasing feelings of depression and self-doubt, leading, finally to his mental breakdown
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