Catcher In The Rye Tragic Events

Tragic events can affect your mindset in irreversible ways, causing self-destructive behavior, low self-esteem, and devious actions. Jerome David Salinger in his novel, The Catcher in the Rye, develops the character of Holden Caulfield, an adolescent boy who is living a tragedy, inflicted with suffering and deep pain within himself. According to Mary Klages from the University of Colorado, she incorporates Warren Hedges and Freud through a psychoanalytic lens and come to a conclusion that psychoanalytical approaches reveal how and why people behave as they do, which helps clarify Holden Caulfield’s actions in the novel. Holden is presented as a troubled adolescent, facing discontent of his childhood in which he desires to not describe in much
When Holden encounters women he behaves with devious actions. Specifically when he was staying at a hotel he met a hotel worker and later on he set Holden for an intimate date with a prostitute who the man knew. Then the time came when the prostitute arrives at Holden’s room. She began to undress, but Holden just wasn’t capable of acting like an adolescent teen would have acted, as to accepting and taking the women into his hands. Holden spoke up and said,”Do you mind cutting it out?... I’m not in the mood, I just told you. I just had an operation” (Salinger 97). Because Holden wanted to remain an innocent child, he had to ask the prostitute to leave. Other adolescents would have acted differently when encountered with a girl. In addition, Holden once again encountered another girl, this time the girl’s name was Sally. Sally had a friendship before he was back from failing his Preparatory school and they encountered each other when Holden gave her a call, to meet up. When they met up they started talking and Holden all of a sudden mentioned that they should both leave together on a forever lasting journey, but Sally declined. They then got into a conflict because Holden told Sally, “You give me a royal pain in ass, if you want to know the truth” (133). Things were getting serious and tension was arising, yet Holden unable to control himself ‘I shouldn’t have’ but ‘I laughed...I made old Sally more madder than ever” (134). Holden also acts in an inappropriate manner when he mentions, “I felt like I was in love with her and wanted to marry her” (Salinger 124). Holden’s lack of control causes him to react inappropriately and immaturely towards women. Similarly, Salinger got married about five times and like Holden they both don’t know how to control themselves, which causes them to act immature and can’t maintain a relationship. On Holden’s behalf he also doesn’t want to get into a strong and deep