Depression In Catcher In The Rye

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In the novel Catcher in The Rye by J.D. Salinger, the main character Holden Caulfield struggle with what seems to be a mental illness. One of Holden’s acquaintances suggests Holden should go to a doctor to help him see the patterns of his behavior. Three problematic behaviors Holden would find a pattern would be his need to lie, how easily depressed he gets, and how he’s constantly contradicting himself. Throughout the book, Holden shows how he might have a problem. He lies constantly about his age and he shows how big of a hypocrite he is. Holden is known to tell a lot of lies throughout the whole book. For example, when he is on the train on his way to New York he meets a classmate’s mom. Instead of telling the mom, Mrs. Marrow, his real…show more content…
Holden has a lot of emotion but depression is one of the most popular he shows. Holden is known just to start crying even when the situation should make him angry and not sad. Holden says at one point “One thing about packing depressed me a little. I had to pack these brand-new ice skates my mother had practically just sent me a couple of days before. That depressed me.” This shows that Holden get depressed over the smallest things. This is concerning because it could lead to being depressed by bigger things. Another example is when Holden says “…I thought of her going in a store and buying it, and nobody in the store knowing she was a prostitute and all. The salesman probably just thought she was a regular girl when she bought it. It made me feel sad as hell – I don't know why, exactly”. Even Holden doesn't know why he finds everything so depressing. In this case, it seems that he's upset over Sunny's confinement to her role as a prostitute, her need to hide it from others, and the shame she most likely feels at her occupation. One final example of Holden getting depressed easily is when he says “All the two of them were eating for breakfast was toast and coffee. That depressed me. I hate it if I'm eating bacon and eggs or something and somebody else is only eating toast and coffee” This depresses Holden because he

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