The Catcher in the Rye
Final Essay (1)
Julia Schwartz
October 23, 2000
English I (Block A)
Psychological Findings on
Holden Caulfield (#724)
OVERVIEW
Holden Caulfield, of New York City (a city of mixed emotions in
itself), seems to be a troubled young man. While he seems to be quite
intelligent, he does not choose to show his intelligence in an ordinary fashion,
such as excelling in academics. Mr. Caulfield also has a strange way of
expressing himself in general. He seems to have a rather negative approach to
the world, always seeing the harsh side of things. He also seems to have some
sort of resentment toward adults. While Mr. Caulfield may seem to have his
values straight in his head, many of his contradicting responses and reactions
during my study reveal that he may have trouble distinguishing clear lines
between what he agrees with and disagrees with. While Mr. Caulfield seems to
have been offered everything a young man of his age could want, he never seems
to succeed.
PERSONALITY
The
conclusion of Mr. Caulfield (Holden) never succeeding reminds this psychoanalyst
of a nursery rhyme that goes, “Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall / Humpty Dumpty had
a great fall / And all the king’s horses and all the king’s men / Couldn’t
put Humpty back together again.” In
truth, this child’s rhyme seems to describe Holden exactly. At first, Holden
“sat on a wall.” He had everything: a wealthy New York family, a chance at a
wonderful education, and a lovely family. But then, Holden had a “great
fall” when his younger brother by two years, Allie, died of leukemia. From
then on, Holden became a troubled youth. His parents tried to get him back on
the rail by sending him to the top boarding schools for boys in New York, such
as Elkton Hills, Whooton, Choate, and most recently, Pencey Prep. Holden had
very little success at these schools, and at the last school, Pencey, was
failing four out of his five classes. As a matter of fact, this was the norm-
Mr. Caulfield kept having to switch schools because he was kicked out so many
times due to academic failure. As a teacher at Pencey, a certain Mr. Spencer,
stated, “I doubt very much if [he] opened [his] textbook even once the whole
term” (10). Many of Holden’s teachers also agree that he did not put even a
minimal amount of effort into his studies at the various schools. Since the time
of his brother’s death, Mr. Caulfield and many other adults and peers
surrounding him seem to be having a great deal of trouble ‘putting him back
together.’
Mr.
Caulfield’s personality is a strange one, indeed. He seems to constantly
switch topics- and moods. He often contradicts himself, such as saying one
moment that he is a “Catholic” (112), and the next calling himself “an
atheist” (99). He also has a
terrible vocabulary, with the constant repetition of swear words such as ‘goddam,’
‘sonuvabitch,’ ‘damn,’ and many others. His main hatred seems to be
directed towards anything (person, place, action, word, thing, or anything else)
that he considers to be phony. He also demonstrates a dislike toward people,
with statements constantly entering his conversations such as “people never
notice anything” (9), “people never believe you” (37), “people always
clap for the wrong things” (84), “people are always ruining things for
you” (87), “people never give your message to anybody” (149), “people
never think anything is anything really” (172), and “people are mostly hot to have a discussion when you’re
not” (187). He also seems to enjoy the female sex by his actions- he has tried
to hire prostitutes twice and is constantly discussing the issue of sex with his
friends- however his words seem to imply that he is annoyed by them: “they can
drive you crazy. They really can” (73), “most girls are so dumb” (73), and
“you never know what they’re going to think” (136). Within the past month,
Holden confesses to brief relationships with a Sally Hayes, Mrs. Morrow (a
mother of a fellow student), a prostitute named Sunny, three women he met in a
bar called Bernice, Marty, and Laverne, and a certain Jane Gallagher, to whom
Holden is constantly referring but seems never to have contacted. However, while
Holden severely dislikes ‘people’ and ‘phonies’ and is confused about
women, he appears to have a genuine love for children. He seems to hold a
particular love for his younger sister Phoebe. [He also has an older brother D.B.
out here in Hollywood, who he used to admire a lot but now feels as though he is
“prostituting himself” (2)] Mr. Caulfield demonstrates a very unique and
constantly changing personality that often is unexpected.
It
seems as though Mr. Caulfield is often trying to please his parents, to whom he
refers to as “nice and all” (1) and “touchy as hell” (1). He often
comments on how “[he’s] the only dumb one in the family” (67). He
obviously feels left behind from his brothers and sister. His younger brother
Allie (as mentioned before) was clearly Holden’s image of a perfect child,
with everybody who came across him loving him and him getting wonderful grades
in school. He seems to look at his younger sister Phoebe like this also (as
mentioned before). Lastly, although he now feels as though his older brother D.B.
is not making adequate use of his skills, he sees him as a very successful
screen- and storywriter. He feels that because he is failing at so much (i.e.
school and being successful socially) that he is the only imperfect child.
Unfortunately, his parents do not seem to accept him or encourage him; on the
contrary, they seem to be almost absent from his life. However, when a teacher
of Holden’s commented on how concerned his father actually was about Holden,
it is suggested that perhaps young Mr. Caulfield himself may be putting up some
sort of a wall between himself and his parents, while constantly trying to live
up to the images of his siblings- another contradiction in itself.
Note:
Mr. Caulfield has been kind enough to bestow upon us three incidents from his
history. While he is believable, one must realize that these events are strictly
biased, as they are from one person’s point of view.
While Holden’s reaction of breaking all the windows in his garage is a
common one, it still stands for a lot psychologically. First of all, his blind
rage suggests anger at his brother’s death, which is often found in teens
dealing with death. They do not understand why a loved one would be taken away
from them. Holden, in particular, didn’t understand this because he saw his
brother Allie as such a perfect little boy. Secondly, the idea of hurting
himself by the splintered glass was Holden’s subconscious way of punishing
himself for Allie’s death, another common trait of teenage sibling deaths.
Holden, of course, must have been almost oblivious to the pain at the time,
because he would have been concentrating on destroying things, as something [his
brother’s death] destroyed him. Lastly, Holden’s sleeping alone in the
garage says something also- that he did not want to be around his family. He
might have felt that they somehow didn’t do right by Allie, or Holden himself
felt guilty for Allie’s death, and felt he couldn’t face his family.
Finally, when Holden says, “my hand still hurts me once in a while” (39),
this is understood, but it is suspected that Holden’s heart still hurts
him once in a while- or more- when he remembers Allie. This incident left a deep
and permanent scar on Holden that somehow did not heal correctly.
Jane Gallagher, an elusive figure in Holden’s life, seems to have
impacted him greatly while not having a direct relationship with him in years.
Holden met Jane one summer when her dog, a Doberman pinscher, kept coming
into his yard. She and Holden apparently played a lot of checkers. He is fixated
on that, and the specific detail that she always kept all her kings in the back
row of the board because she “just liked the way they looked when they were
all in the back row” (32).
Holden describes her relationship with her as “quite [intimate], but
[nothing] physical or anything… [they] saw each other all the time” (76). It
seems like Jane is a figure in Holden’s past with whom he really wants to
regain contact with. She seems like she was the only friend Holden had other
than his brothers and sister- and both of his brothers were taken away from him
(Allie by death and D.B. by Hollywood). Jane represents, to Holden, his happier
days when he was younger, and an only friend. She also was the one person who
judged him for who he was, not by his schoolwork or against his siblings. Holden
talks about calling Jane a lot, but he never actually does. Perhaps Holden feels
scared of disappointing Jane and losing what friendship he has with her- or had
but was never discontinued, just paused. Therefore, Jane Gallagher is Holden’s
only friend whom he really wants to regain a connection with.
One afternoon in the men’s room of his Pencey dormitory, Mr. Caulfield
randomly beats up his roommate, Ward Stradlater. Holden says that “[he
doesn’t] remember [it] so hot” (43), but in fact he does, as he was able to
fairly recount the entire story. He says that all of the sudden, he just decided
to hit him, and “tried to sock him, with all [his] might… so that it would
split his goddam throat open” (43). As Holden says, something had possessed
him, and “[he’d] have killed him” (43). He says (after he describes what
happened) that he was angry because he “thought he could give the time to
anybody he felt like… he didn’t even care if a girl kept all her kings in
the back row or not” (44). This whole piece about the kings in the back row is
once again important to Holden because of detail. It relates back to Jane
Gallagher, and how Holden likes her so much that he wants to make sure that
every detail Stradlater has about her is correct. This statement, and the
fixation on the kings, shows Holden’s attention to detail, a characteristic of
intelligence. This fight with Stradlater shows Holden again taking out his anger
and confusion physically, but this time on a person instead of windows. He
obviously doesn’t know how to deal with his emotions very well.
Holden Caulfield is a very intriguing young man. While he constantly is
focusing on negative things, such as the lesser traits of people, and
depression, he has a clear reason for all of this. The death of his brother
Allie, the emotional loss of his brother D.B., and the separation from his
friend Jane Gallagher all have impacted him, turning into a troubled youth. He
does not know how to express himself, therefore constantly contradicting himself
and often getting becoming physical, and also has a very negative view of
himself, describing himself as a “madman” (1), an “exhibitionist” (29),
“yellow” (89), and “a jerk” (102). These views of himself are all
very negative. He also is constantly putting down “people” in general for
their faults, which all state them as never doing something which Holden feels
they should or shouldn’t have done. Incidents such as his brother Allie’s
death, a relationship with a friend, and a random fight with his roommate all
confirm these traits. He constantly tries to please his parents, to live up to
the standards set by his three siblings. Mr. Caulfield is quite intelligent, but
is what many would call an academic failure. Finally, while Holden seems to not
want to get close to people, he also has a tendency to reach out to them and try
to get their approval. Overall, Holden is a fine young man with a lot of
problems that can be worked out with patience and devotion.
TREATMENT
RECOMMENDATION
I recommend for Holden Caulfield, aged 17, continuing
sessions with a qualified psychoanalyst until he is emotionally sound. However,
there is a minimum of two months, with sessions three times a week. Mr.
Caulfield will be allowed out of the facilities, but must report to his triple
sessions. Failure to do so will result in temporary confinement to the center.
Mr. Caulfield is to be encouraged to maintain contact with his parents and
family. When a counselor feels that he is ready, he should call his friend Jane
Gallagher in New York to talk. Jane should be encouraged to visit Holden here in
California. If he shows any signs of depression, he should be hospitalized here
immediately and kept under watch. He also must be strongly encouraged to take
his medication for his illness at the prescribed times. If these instructions
are followed, Mr. Holden Caulfield should be mentally sound after the time
period given for treatment.