One of the major reasons for Holden’s depression is failing at many different things. Holden does not have any close friends to talk to and has a very hard time establishing long term relationships. Another cause for his depression is the death of his younger brother Allie, he has always thought that the world would have been better off if he had died instead of his brother. There are many reasons for Holden’s depression including multiple failures, having very few friends, and the death of his younger brother Allie. A large portion of Holden’s depression comes from failing multiple times.
Now that Allie is dead and that D.B. moved away, Holden feels that he doesn’t have anyone. It is just he and his little sister Phoebe. Holden also misses his family, and rarely gets to see them because he goes to a boarding school. Holden feels depressed from the prior events in his family, and no longer has the desire to learn or strive to be successful.
His family abandoned, his son not even knowing what he was like had to ask his neighbors. A comment was made to his wife about missing him and she replied, “I already have. Missing him all these years.” (Goodman 398) It is important for a man to have balance in his life. Men can get so engulfed into their work that they forget to enjoy their life and before they know it, it’s over. Phil had a heart attack because he was so stressed out from work, and he didn’t have a life outside of work so he was always stressed out.
He never went to school and stayed at home with his mother and his father was never around. His father was an alcoholic and his parent’s relationship was breaking apart right in front of his. He saw and met the man that his mother abandoned her children and husband for to start a new life because she deserved more. He lived with his Grandmother and Grandfather, and Him and his Grandfather were extremely close. As he had gotten older, he grandfather had passed away and was completely devastated.
Marla: All I remember from my childhood is hearing my mother yelling through the walls that I shared with them, or seeing her with a black eye or broken arm and not being able to take care of me; while my father takes off for couple of days or a week. I cannot recall ever having a family dinner with my parents that was argument free and heard laughter. Clinician (Dardree): How was the relationship between your parents? Marla: The relationship between my parents was toxic, but my mother loved him a lot. Now that I’m older, I think about it and still cannot understand why she did.
This caused Walter to stop going to work and go on a three-day drinking binge. Mama eventually gave in; she couldn’t see her son like this any longer. So she gave Walter the rest of the money, which was $6500 under one condition. Walter had to make sure he put up some money for Beneatha so she could go to medical school. Walter doesn’t do that instead he just hands over all the money to Willy Harris to go invest in the liquor store.
His colleagues think he is boring because he does not go for a drink with them after work on a Friday, but this is the day he visits his mother at her home. There is no mention of a father. Did he leave at an early age or has he passed on? Does he feel guilty that his mother is in a home? He would love the job because he feels that his mother would
Superficially, all seems well because his family lives a comfortable existence. Emotionally, however, his family has missed his emotional support for years. His wife, Helen, gave up “trying to compete with his work years ago.” All of his children grew up in a so-called normal family with a father and mother. At his funeral, though, they do not have enough memories about him to say a proper eulogy. Phil himself was “overweight” and unhealthy, obsessed with work and negligent with his personal life.
9). This shows that he does not have many real friends because nobody wants to talk to him, even on the phone. Holden's gloomy youth all started with the death of his brother, Allie. There are many examples where the reader can tell that he misses Allie and where he refers back to him. "Allie, don't let me disappear.
Moving to the small town of Pleasantville was definitely a struggle, especially because the kids of Northview High were “unfriendable.” My Papa’s AA meetings weren’t assisting with the living conditions at home: I still returned most nights to the sight of him passed out in a puddle of his own vomit. Days were long and nights were even longer; not to mention I never really felt my mother’s warm touch. She left us before I developed the ability to make memories so it’s just been us guys. I guess I seem to have simply disregarded all of it after so many years of disappointment. The hardships in my life were most of what shaped me into what I became that day.