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Catcher In The Rye: An Analysis Of Holden Caulfield's Life

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Catcher In The Rye: An Analysis Of Holden Caulfield's Life
The Catcher in the Rye

Abandonment – the act of one leaving or being left; or as every young adult sees it, the act of leaving and losing the ones you love forever. Many teenagers fear their friends and families leaving when they grow out of their transition from childhood to adulthood. Holden Caulfield’s life is revolving around his anxiety of abandonment in J.D. Salinger’s novel, Catcher in the Rye. Holden’s apprehension of desertion springs from his inability to maintain friendships, incompetence to deal with his feelings, and incapability to cope with the pain of missing people. Holden Caulfield’s withdraw from society stems from his feeling of abandonment through his relationships with friends and family. Holden’s withdraw from society …show more content…
Holden was talking to Phoebe, and she asked him what he likes. Holden presumes to say that he likes Allie and he liked sitting with Phoebe and talking to her. When Phoebe said that Holden couldn’t like Allie because he’s dead, Holden yells, “I know he’s dead! Don’t you think I know that? I can still like him, though, can’t I? Just because somebody’s dead, you don’t stop liking them, for God’s sake – especially if they were a thousand times nicer than the people you know that’re alive and all” (Salinger 171). Holden lashes out towards Phoebe because he cannot handle the fact that he still loves and misses Allie, even though Allie is gone forever. He knows that Allie will never be with them again and it angers him because he still can’t get over the traumatic realization that Allie is vanished from his life. A portion of the reasoning behind Holden’s choice to back away from society stems from his incompetence to deal with his …show more content…
Holden often hides things deep inside and doesn’t let people know that he misses them. To stress this thought, Holden declares, “Don’t ever tell anybody anything. If you do, you start missing everybody” (Salinger 214). Holden kept a lot to himself during the duration of this novel. He really didn’t talk to anybody, except Allie, about his thoughts. Holden builds his walls, around his feelings and painful experiences, so high, that he won’t let anybody in to break them down and help him recover. Holden’s incapability to deal with the pain of people leaving adds to his reasoning to withdraw form
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