Mental Illness In Catcher In The Rye

Words: 713
Pages: 3

Holden: Mentally
Holden has a few mental issues throughout the book “The Catcher in the Rye” and a lot of events built up to his mental breakdown. He has a close relationship with his sister, Phoebe. Holden feels she is always there for someone to listen to him, despite her being 10 years old. In Holden’s past he lost his younger brother, Allie, to cancer and he was not to happy about it. Lastly, Holden himself had a big affect on his mental state.
Holden’s little sister, Phoebe, plays a big role in his life even though she can be stubborn and test his patience sometimes. After Holden left Pencey he went and lived in a hotel on his own for a few days. His plan was to let the news get to his parents then come home when the commotion died down.
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In the book he repeated himself a lot, changed the subject very often, and just thought of the things around him in a totally different way. One moment he is planning to move back home after getting kicked out of school and the next he is planning to move out to a ranch and visit Phoebe before he left. He did not really get along with anyone other than his siblings. Anyone he talked to had a bit of a problem with him. For example, Stradlater just used him for homework and Sally was not to fond of Holden after he blew up on her. He also get along very well with kids. They did not really look at Holden they way you would say a teenager or an adult would. He was a pretty depressed kid with a smart mouth and a unique way thinking. “‘Why should I?’ I said- I was practically yelling. ‘That's just the trouble with all you morons. You never want to discuss anything. That’s the way you can always tell a moron. They never want to discuss anything intellig-’” is what he said before Stradlater punched him, giving him plenty of warning to stop smart mouthing him but Holden kept going. Anyone with a brain would of stop talking but something in Holden made him keep going egging Stradlater on till he got his lights blown out. Holden really is a unique type of person. He brought himself to his own mental