The Catcher in the Rye is the ultimate depiction of teenage angst. Holden Caulfield is dealing with the transition from adolescence to adulthood and his mental state is fragile and not coping thus teenagers in the 21st century can and still relate to Holden Caulfield’s depressive mood and constant feeling of loneliness.
The Catcher in the Rye is one of the debatable texts that is taught in schools.
It has been examined as to its relevance for teenagers in the 21st century due to its developed subject matter and provoking narrator. “For readers, the prize catch in The Catcher in the Rye may well be Novelist Salinger himself. He can understand an adolescent mind without displaying one.” Holden is a teenager who deals with depression and loneliness on a daily basis to which all teenagers can relate to.
Depression is a continual feeling of sadness and is a mood disorder that can disrupt everyday life. Holden is continually depressed and the use of the words crazy and madman rank closely behind it. Holden’s own language begins to come through clearly that he is mentally unwell and on the point of possibly losing it.
“I’ll just tell you about this madman stuff that happened to me around last Christmas just before I got pretty run-down and had to come out here and take it easy.”(Chapter 1,pg 1)
The language technique used is foreshadowing.
This quote from the first page of the novel states that Holden is writing from a place where he would prefer not to be, later in the novel it is established that he is in a sanatorium.
One in five children and adolescents is affected by mental health problems and disorders. Those aged 18-24 have the highest prevalence of mental disorders of any age group.
This shows that the catcher in the rye is the ultimate depiction of teenage angst.
Holden repeatedly uses Allie as a continual contrast to everything around him He believes that only Allie can understand him. Holden’s mind space is like a kids, constantly going off track.
“Every time I’d get to the end of a block I’d make believe I was talking to my brother Allie. I’d say to him, ‘Allie, don’t let me disappear. Allie, don’t let me disappear. Allie, don’t let me disappear. Please, Allie.’ And then when I’d reach the other side of the street without disappearing, I’d thank him. “(Chapter 25, pg 178)
The language technique used in this quote is an apostrophe.
Throughout the novel, Holden frequently interrupts his narration to directly address Allie.
13.3% of Australian men aged 16 to 85 have experienced an anxiety and/or affective disorder in the past 12 months
This shows that the catcher in the rye is the ultimate depiction of teenage angst.
His parents don’t show any sign of understanding of when Holden’s brother Allie dies.
“I was only thirteen, and they were going to have me psychoanalyzed and all, because I broke all the windows in the garage. I don’t blame them. I really don’t. I slept in the garage the night he died, and I broke all the goddam windows with my fist, just for the hell of it… It was a very stupid thing to do, I’ll admit, but I hardly didn’t even know I was doing it, and you didn’t know Allie.” (Chapter 5, pg 34)
The language technique used is static character.
Holden is experiencing a range of personality alterations over the course of the novel. In this quote it is shown that he is depressed and experiencing a variety of emotions. Allie’s death seems cruel to Holden and explains why Holden broke all the windows as a way of venting his release of total sadness and anger over the loss of his brother.
12.2% of Australian males aged 16 to 85 have experienced an affective disorder over their lifetime.
This shows that the catcher in the rye is the ultimate depiction of teenage angst
Mr Antolini gives Holden a true and sympathetic advice warning that if he doesn’t change, his condition will control him. Unlike other adults Holden has met, Mr Antolini doe sent throw fake and phony catch phrases to him. Instead he tries to convince Holden that having high expectations can have an effect on your wellbeing if they don’t come to fruition.
“This fall I think you’re riding for — it’s a special kind of fall, a horrible kind. The man falling isn’t permitted to feel or hear himself hit bottom. He just keeps falling and falling. The whole arrangement’s designed for men who, at some time or other in their lives, were looking for something their own environment couldn’t supply them with. Or they thought their own environment couldn’t supply them with. So, they gave up looking.” (Chapter 24, pg 169)
The language choice used is metaphor.
Mr Antolini describes Holden’s depression as a fall that keeps falling until it is too late to stop.
13.3% of Australian men aged 16 to 85 have experienced an anxiety and/or affective disorder in the past 12 months.
This shows that the catcher in the rye is the ultimate depiction of teenage angst.
Loneliness is influenced by feeling sad about being socially isolated. By alienating himself, he is both protecting and harming himself. by not getting involved with other people, he prevents getting rejected and hurt. Also, he is not made to feel awkward in a social setting. So while alienating yourself can protect you it can also as it did Holden make you extremely lonely and depressed.
“I got up and went over and looked out the window. I felt so lonesome, all of a sudden. I almost wished I was dead. Boy did I feel rotten. I felt so damn lonesome.”
This language technique used in this quote is figurative language.
Holden uses lonesome to state that he is extremely lonely.
The number of deaths by suicide in young Australians is the highest it has been in 10 years
This shows that the catcher in the rye is the ultimate depiction of teenage angst.
Holden is cautious of who he gets close to as he is afraid of rejection, thus if he doesn’t have relationships he doesn’t get hurt in the process. Holden fears human interaction and his cycle of self-destruction will ultimately convince him that a majority of humans are phony.
“Don’t ever tell anybody anything. If you do, you start missing everybody,”
This language technique used in this quote is irony.
This is said to imply that when Holden gets close to someone, it excites him and he builds a relationship with them, thus making him miss that person because they leave him. Which convinces him that people are no good.
individuals aged 16–24 reported feeling lonely more often than people in older age groups.
This shows that the catcher in the rye is the ultimate depiction of teenage angst.
Holden hates seeing children affected by villainous acts of wording and graffiti. Which is ironic since he uses coarse language constantly himself.
That’s the whole trouble. You can’t ever find a place that’s nice and peaceful, because there isn’t any. You may think there is, but once you get there, when you’re not looking, somebody’ll sneak up and write “Fuck you” right under your nose. Try it sometime. I think, even, if I ever die, and they stick me in a cemetery, and I have a tombstone and all, it’ll say “Holden Caulfield” on it, and then what year I was born and what year I died, and then right under that it’ll say “Fuck you.” I’m positive, in fact.(Chapter 25,pg 183)
The language used in this quote is stream of consciousness.
This is said to state that Holden thinks that being a teenager is hard enough despite people writing F you to make you feel worse. He clearly doe sent understand how serious his mental decline is impacting him. Exact figures on loneliness and isolation can be hard to obtain, because respondents are sometimes reticent to name their loneliness due to stigma
This shows that the catcher in the rye is the ultimate depiction of teenage angst.
This is implying that when Holden wants to leave, he wants to leave everything behind and not carry any of those emotions with him. He rejects rules put on him by society only because he feels he is an outsider in a world that supports winners.
“What I was really hanging around for, I was trying to feel some kind of a good-by.I mean I have left schools and places I didn’t even know I was leaving them. I hate that. I don’t care if it’s a sad good-by or a bad good-by, but when I leave a place, I like to know I am leaving it. If you don’t, you feel even worse.”
The language used in this quote is stream of conciousness.
This is said to imply that when he wants to leave a place he wants to forget and not relieve those memories as it will make him sad.
Thirty percent of those surveyed don’t feel part of a group of friends
This shows that the catcher in the rye is the ultimate depiction of teenage angst.
In conclusion, the theme of depression and loneliness is very significant in The Catcher in the Rye. The Catcher in the Rye is the ultimate depiction of teenage angst as teenagers can relate to Holden’s depression and loneliness to a large extent.
“The idea of existential angst in some way draws from Catcher in the Rye as much as the novel reflects it. There is a strong dialogue between the book and the teenage experience – they are mutually shaping.”
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