Adolescent Psychology of Holden Caufield from JD Salinger
Adolescent Psychology of Holden Caufield from JD Salinger
Adolescence is a complicated time in a person's life. Often, an adolescent does not know where they fit in. As an adolescent Holden Caufield is faced with the harshness and pressures of reality in growing up. A feeling of loneliness and alienation is what typical teenager’s face on their passage towards maturity. Holden Caufield’s psychological battle leads to his destruction amongst his relationships with other people but is really just typical teenage behavior which many feel is a “rite of passage” to maturity.
Holden begins his struggle when he drops out of school for his low grades. When Holden decides he will move on with life and move out on his own, he encounters many problems with his relationships. When he decides to stay with his teacher, Mr. Spencer, for the night he comes across his unconcern for what he plans to do with his life. Mr. Spencer says to Holden, “Do you feel absolutely no concern for you future, boy?”(Salinger 14). Holden quickly responds with, “Sure I do”(Salinger 14), but when he thinks about it, he realizes he really does not have much concern. Holden seems like he does not care about where he is going or what he is doing. Holden ends up getting himself from Pencey to New York where he and his sister meet. While with his sister, he sees the little girl in her, so innocent to the world around her, that he thinks it is so depressing. Holden shows his love for Phoebe when he says, “You never saw a kid so pretty and smart in your whole life”(Stalinger 67). Holden feels deep compassion for his sister and tells her to do things he can not do, but later turns around and tells her not to do them. He can not keep strait thoughts and has trouble focussing and accepting true reality.
Holden’s dirty and bad habits are typical of teenage behavior in that many teens don not care to be neat and clean. Holden drinks, smokes, swears, and has other nasty habits that don not seem to bother him. Holden drinks to escape the pressure he faces as an adolescent. When he try’s to meet new people at clubs, he always fails because of his behavior and rude remarks. Holden says to some blonde he...