Catcher In The Rye: A Psychological Analysis Of Holden Caulfield

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Struggling through life, unhappy, and constantly participating in irresponsible activities, Holden Caulfield was due for an appointment at the psychiatric hospital. Throughout the novel, Holden persistently makes bad choices and thinks bad thoughts. He generally shows signs of extreme sadness and never seems content with himself, bringing up his thoughts of suicide. Harsh Judgement towards others is something Holden toils with during his average day. He continually calls people “phonies” as he goes around being a phony himself, making my team and I believe that he also has a few hypocritical behaviors. Holden also shows signs of being very lonely throughout the novel as he constantly tries to get someone to “grab a drink” with him or start …show more content…
When you have seen something traumatizing, chances are that you will do everything you can not to have to relive that moment. So when Holden witnesses James Castle’s body lying dead on the concrete after falling out of a window in chapter twenty-two, he refrains from making the same mistake as he remembers what it was like to see James’ body and pictured his. This incident occurred at Elkton Hills High, where Holden had previously attended before Pencey Preparatory school. Additionally at Elkton hills, Holden Caulfield had been seemingly mugged and that ended up being one of the reasons he left that school. Another frequent symptom of PTSD is flashbacks. Flashbacks bring up unwanted memories and come with anxiety as well as a numbing of positive emotion that Holden frequently shows. In almost every chapter, there is a flashback of some sort. He flashes back to memories with his dead brother Allie, his childhood, and playing with Jane Gallagher. Holden is so reminiscent of the past- most commonly his childhood. I believe that Holden relates his childhood to the days of innocence where his mind was not yet corrupted to the world and it’s adult ideals. Now, he thinks of the age he is in now to the complete opposite of innocence. Holden seems to have good memories of the past but a good number of unwanted memories or memories that made him upset in the long
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