The Catcher In The Rye
...Holden Caulfield is crazy. It’s even a logical assumption since Caulfield himself admits to being crazy twice throughout the course of the book. However, calling Holden Caulfield crazy is almost the same as calling the majority of the human race crazy also. Holden Caulfield is just an adolescent trying to prevent himself from turning into what he despises the most, a phony. Most of Caulfield’s actions and thoughts are the same as of many people, the difference being that Holden acts upon those thoughts and has them down in writing.
Holden Caulfield is a teenager growing up in New York in the 1950s. He has been expelled from school for poor achievement and “was flunking four subjects and not applying myself and all.” He decides to leave school a few days than what he is supposed to in an attempt to deal with his current situation. “Besides, I sort of needed a little vacation. My nerves were shot. They really were.” Caulfield goes to New York to take a vacation before having to face his parents’ inevitable wrath. During this time, he experiences a nervous breakdown that was characterized by his sudden unexplained depressions. “What I really felt like, though, was committing suicide.” “I felt so lonesome, all of a sudden.” Before his eventual nervous collapse he experienced impulsive spending and generally odd, erratic behavior. “All I had was three singles and five quarters and a nickel left – boy, I spent a fortune since I left Pencey. Then what I did, I went down near the lagoon and I sort of skipped the quarters and the nickel across it, where it wasn’t frozen.” “About halfway to the bathroom, I sort of started pretending I had a bullet in my guts.”
During Caulfield’s psychological battle, life continues around him. His condition is being ignored...
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