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Like many people, Holden Caulfield suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder. Post-traumatic stress disorder occurs when one or more disturbing events create an overwhelming feeling of helplessness or powerlessness. 1 In Holden s case, this event in his life was the death of his younger brother Allie. Holden s relationship with Allie was so great that everyone Holden encounters has to fit Allies model. The fact that Allie was only a kid when he died is why Holden cares so much about Phoebe and why he can t admit to liking Ackley and Stradlater. Allies death affected Holden in such a way that he has difficulty having a relationship with anyone. Throughout the book, Holden always refers to kids in a delightful manner.
This is comparative to how Allie was like when he was alive. In Holden s eyes, Allie was the perfect kid. When Holden was with Allie he felt wonderful and saw the world as a perfect place. When Allie died, Holden lost what he thought to be a perfect world, and returned to reality. Afterwards Holden struggles in school having to transfer from school to school several times. Adolescents 12 to 17 years of age may exhibit similar to those of adults; problems with peers, antisocial behavior Also common are withdrawal, isolation, school avoidance, academic decline. 2 This was an early indication that Holden suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder.
While Holden was writing a composition for Stradlater, we get another direct glimpse of Holden s anxiety. On the day of Allies death, Holden slept in the garage and smashed all the windows with his fist resulting in a trip to the hospital. Reactions to trauma may appear immediately after the traumatic even Children 6 to 11 may show extreme withdrawal, disruptive behavior 3 The damage Holden s fist was so severe that he was still in the hospital during Allies funeral. In the book, Holden has a very pessimistic view of the world. He strongly feels that the death of Allie was his fault.
A person with this (pessimistic) mindset is one who readily assumes personal blame for negative events. 4 This revelation was brought to us when Holden was speaking to the nuns about Romeo and Juliet. It was Romeo s fault. I mean I liked him best in the play, Old Mercutio The thing is, it drives me crazy if somebody gets killed-especially somebody very smart and entertaining and all 5 The metaphor here is that Holden is Romeo and Allie is Mercutio. While at Peace, Holden was sharing a room with Stradlater. Holden first describes Stradlater as a nice guy and all, but later gets in a fight with him.
The fight was started innocently enough when Holden asked Stradlater how his date was with Jane Gallagher, Holden s old friend. When Holden approaches Stradlater about having sex with Jane, Stradlater avoids the question. This irritates Holden so much he goes ahead and punches Stradlater. Depressed children and adolescents are often irritable, and their irritability may lead to aggressive behavior. 6 Depression also shows from one s outlook of life. While on a date with Sally Hayes in New York, Holden starts the date awkwardly enough like his encounter with Stradlater. When Sally Hayes arrives for their date, Holden could not stop praising her and telling her how much he loves her.
At the end of the evening, Holden comes up with a radical idea; he wishes to take Sally of to a cottage somewhere in Massachusetts or Vermont. Sally refuses to go with Holden saying there is more to look forward too after collage. They feel unloved, pessimistic, or even hopeless about the future. 7 Holden goes on saying he does not want to live a boring and repetitive life. Holden gets irritated because Sally will not agree with him and insults her. This sudden outburst ends the evening and leaves Holden regretting what he said. Holden s view of what he wants life to be like is an isolated one, away from civilization.
Isolation is a typical sign of depression, along with aggressive behavior caused by unreasonable irritability. When Allie died, Holden felt alone and helpless. Like most people with post-traumatic stress disorder, Holden fears the event to happen again. People with post-traumatic stress disorder, which was caused by the lost of a love one, often distant themselves from others fearing the pain they felt from the first event, may return. 8 This fear of commitment to others in Holden is prevalent with his relationship to Ackley.
Ackley is first described to us by Holden in a repulsive manner. Holden is obviously disgusted by Ackley s hygienic habits and his unusual mossy-green teeth. Even though Holden is repulsed by the presence of Ackley, he in no way tries to remove him from his room. This is our first sign that Holden is lonely and longs for attention.
This is more affirming after Holden s struggle with Stradlater. Ackley was sleeping during the fight, and is abruptly awakened by Holden. While in Ackley s room, Holden starts to criticize the odor of the room and has the nerve to get annoyed at Ackley. But still, Holden stayed in the room with Ackley, taking in the comfort of his presence. After this date with Sally Hayes, Holden finally admits to himself that he was lonely.
While in New York he was having a drink with an old acutance, Carl Luce. Carl Luce and Holden were having a friendly little chat when Holden started to annoy Carl. Finally Carl was fed up and started to leave when Holden made his confession. He was leaving his tip and all and he was starting to go. Have just one more drink, I told him.
Please. I m lonesome as hell. No kidding. 9 Later that evening, Holden goes to visit his old teacher, Mr. Antolini. This is the part in the book where Holden feels comfortable around anyone; he even opens to Mr. Antolini and listens to him.
After their little talk, Holden falls asleep on Mr. Antolini s sofa. During his sleep, Holden wakes up finding Mr. Antolini patting his head. Holden jumps out of the sofa and quickly changes, fearing Mr. Antolini was making a pass at him.
Once outside of the apartment, Holden regrets leaving so suddenly. This is a way Holden shoes his distancing himself from a relationship. The regret he feels from leaving Mr. Antolini s place brings out Holden s desire for companionship. Phoebe was to Holden like a replacement Allie.
Holden would always remember Allie as a kid, that s why when he compares anyone with Allie; he can never find a perfect match, except in Phoebe. Holden found in Phoebe the childish innocence he loved in Allie. Children and Adolescents with depression form a fantasy which they live in to escape from reality. 10 The harsh reality is that Phoebe is doing one thing Allie can t do, and that is growing up. When Holden sneaks back into his New York apartment, he finds Phoebe sleeping and wakes her up. She is surprised to see Holden home from school so early, and makes the correct assumption that Holden was kicked out from school again. This is an indication that Phoebe is growing up already.
At this point Holden is somewhat shocked about what Phoebe came up with. During their conversation, Holden s parents came home and Holden hid in a closet. When his parents went to bed, Holden came out and started to leave, but before he left, Phoebe gave him the last of her Christmas money. This shows that she knows when to make sacrifices proving her growing maturity. Later on that day Holden meets Phoebe at the museum. Upon her arrival, she is carrying a suit cause with her clothes in it.
She was planning to go with Holden to live in the cottage with him. This may seem like a childish thing to do, but Phoebe is still a child and her purpose of going was a selfless act of caring. She only wanted to go with Holden to take care of him and give everything up for that. Holden refused to let Phoebe go and got so irritated he even said he was all set to hit her.
This goes to show that his depression is hidden not only to others, but also to Phoebe. Holden was not the only one getting annoyed; Phoebe too was losing her patience and ran across the street walking parallel Holden towards the zoo. After the zoo Holden and Phoebe made their way to the park with the carousel. Holden bought Phoebe a ticket and watched her ride the carousel. While riding on the carousel, Phoebe tries to reach for the gold ring.
Holden was afraid she d fall but then realizes, The thing with kids is, if they want to grab for the gold ring, you have to let them do it, and not say anything. 11 The metaphor for the gold ring is growing up, as well this is a realization to Holden that everyone grows up and not everyone can be like Allie. When Allie died it took a lot out of Holden. He became depressed and isolated. Holden s expectation of how the world is supposed to be like was based on the relationship he had with Allie.
The sad thing is that Holden only knew Allie as a kid and excluded anyone who wasn t like him. This meant he was isolating himself from the rest of the world. Allie s death affected Holden in such away that he has difficulty having a relationship with anyone. 1. John Craig, Healing emotional trauma Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, 1 Nov. 1996, 11 May 2001. 2. Cathleen Henning, Panic and Anxiety, Child &# 038; Adolescent Trauma 20 May 2001. 3.
Ibid. 4. Mental Health: A Report of the Surgeon General, Children and Mental Health 14 May 2001. 5. J. D. Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye, (Toronto: Little, Brown and Company) 111. 6.
Mental Health: A Report of the Surgeon General, Children and Mental Health 14 May 2001. 7. Ibid. 8. Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, 1 Jan. 2000, 11 May 20001 9. Salinger 149. 10. Mental Health: A Report of the Surgeon General, Children and Mental Health 14 May 2001. 11. Salinger 211.
Free research essays on topics related to: post traumatic stress, carl luce, sally hayes, traumatic stress disorder, aggressive behavior
Research essay sample on Traumatic Stress Disorder Post Traumatic Stress
