"The Catcher in The Rye": The Emotional Breakdown of Holden Caulfield

In his novel, The Catcher in the Rye, J.D. Salinger narrates the psychological and physical tribulations of Holden Caulfield, an overanalyzing, mentally unstable teenage boy, searching for satisfaction in an ever-changing world. In one selection, Holden describes his nighttime journey through Central Park; on the edge of an emotional breakdown, he seeks companionship yet continuously scorns the idea of being with those who care about him. Through Salinger's manipulation of detail, setting, and repetition, he underscores Holden's feelings of loneliness and detachment, and he exposes his deteriorating mental state.

In order to capture and demonstrate Holden's unspoken emotions, Salinger employs an ironic selection of details. Holden, lonesome and forlorn, longs to disregard his past experiences; however, as he breaks the record intended for his sister Phoebe, he "...didn't feel like just throwing [the pieces] away" (Salinger 154). This unbroken tie to his past reappears as he describes the stress and concern of his parents and his "whole goddamn stupid bunch of" relatives if he died (155). Ironically, he imagines only his fear of "...picturing [his mother] not knowing what to do with all [his] suits and athletic equipment and all" and his abhorrence of his grandfather "...calling out the numbers of the streets when you ride on a goddamn bus with him"; these insignificant and unprecedented details highlight Holden's ultimate mental degeneration (154, 155). Holden's psychological deterioration continues as he complains about squandering all of his money; after making this proclamation, he unwarrantedly casts his coins into the pond and explains that "...[he didn't] know why [he] did it, but [he] did it..."(156).

Holden's feelings of solitude and wavering mental conditions parallel the disheartening, abandoned setting of the lake in Central Park. As Holden wanders through the park looking for the lake, he expresses that he "...knew right where it was...but [he] still couldn't find it" (154). This statement embodies Holden's psychological state of being; he proposes that he knows what he wants in life yet cannot seem to locate it. When he finally does find the lake, it appears to be "...partly frozen and partly not frozen..."; in this condition, the lake symbolizes Holden's precarious position on the border between rationality and insanity (154). Desperately searching for the ducks, Holden again appears to be seeking companionship. However, all of the ducks have disappeared, and he is left in isolation. As Holden edges toward the condition of mental instability, he symbolically comes close to "damn near [falling] in once" (154). By italicizing the word "in," Salinger creates a double entendre; Holden appears to be in jeopardy of literally falling into the lake and figuratively plunging into a state of mental collapse.

Finally, through his use of repetition, Salinger emphasizes Holden's preeminent detachment from the world and progression into physiological insanity. As he wanders through the park, he continuously reemphasizes the darkness around him; in fact, as the chapter progresses, the scene is described as "...getting darker and darker..." (154). Ultimately, Holden expresses that "It's not too bad when the sun's out, but the sun only comes out when it feels like coming out"; just as the darkness of the scene successively appears to be significantly intensifying, Holden's feelings of isolation magnify to the extent of escalating his feelings of hopelessness (156). These emotions eventually generate apprehension and fear of death, the ultimate state of isolation and disconnection from others. As Holden ponders this possibility, he repeats the assertion that cemeteries are "Surrounded by dead guys"(155). Feeling isolated and solitary, he concludes that his detachment from society will infinitely aggrandize after death; therefore, he cannot "...take [his] mind off..." his fear of "...getting pneumonia and dying" (156). In his mentally degenerating state of being, Holden truly believes that he is perishing; consequently, he also deems it necessary to consistently reiterate his sister Phoebe's fondness and adoration of him. Needing to verify this love in order to convince himself of its actuality, he asserts that "She likes me a lot. I mean she's quite fond of me. She really is"; this repetition illustrates Holden's hesitation in recognizing blatant human affection (156).

As Holden Caulfield wanders through Central Park, J.D. Salinger adroitly incorporates an ironic selection of detail, a symbolic setting, and a revealing repetition of facts in order to examine this estranged, disturbed character's emotions. Sinking further and further into a state of psychological abnormality, Holden's detached and deteriorating thought processes ultimately foreshadow his impending, complete mental breakdown.