Catcher in the Rye Psychoanalysis

Holden Caulfield Psychoanalysis

In the book Catcher in the Rye by J.D.Salinger the main character named Holden Caulfield is a 16 year old male that I can deduce is affected with antisocial personality disorder(APD) . Some symptoms of this are avoiding doing things or speaking to people out of fear of embarrassment ,avoiding situations where you might be the center of attention also everyday experiences that may be hard to endure when you have social anxiety disorder like dating or going to school . I can claim this due to the facts that his brother left him at the age of 13 years old, he also got expelled from Pencey Prep his high school, this can also be shown when Holden calls Jane Gallagher multiple times to “hang out” but then changes his mind every time and then decides not to go. One common theme in this book is loneliness has negative effect on reality because it causes us to become more isolated to others and ourselves.

The death of Holden’s brother is used as a traumatic experience where the author uses Logos to tell you that Holden's brother Allie died when Holden was 13 (Chapter 5). This is important while it isn't concrete evidence researchers have found that problems in life like the loss of loved ones may cause APD This is important because this would explain why Holden doesn't have any other relationships that would be like Allie and Holden in the book. Another situation that helps further proves this case is when Holden gets expelled in Pencey Prep. The author uses Pencey as a symbol of society so when he gets expelled he essentially gets thrown out of society in which he would then start exploring New York by himself nonetheless.

Another situation in which Holden show symptoms of APD is when Holden Talk to Jane Gallagher over the phone to meet up. This proves that Holden has APD because while Holden can carry a conversation with Jane he keeps