Holden's Mental State in The Catcher in the Rye Essay

Throughout the story the author shows that Holden has irregular outbursts of anger and depression after his brother died. I slept in the garage the night he [Allie] died and I broke all the goddamn windows with my fist (39). This quote shows that Holden is not able to deal with his brothers death and because his brother died Holden has emotional outbursts. In this case Holden breaks all the windows because he doesnt know how else to deal with Allies death. Breaking the windows shows Holdens desire to break free of his own grief and depression.

The death of a loved one leads to various types of depression. Holden gets depressed once in a while and regrets things that he had not done with Allie when Allie was alive. So once in a while, now, when I get depressed, I keep saying to him [Allie], Okay. Go home and get your bike and meet me in front of Bobbys house. Hurry up (P.99). Holden felt depressed and regretted that he did not take Allie on the bike trip with Bobby. People often rue things that they should have done when they have the chance to. In this case, Holden regretted that he did not take Allie with him; this could have allowed him to spend more time with Allie. In addition, he also felt guilty for not taking Allie with him, because he could have had more good memories of his favorite brother.

Holden is very depressed at this point because his life is so messed up, that he feels like he could just disappear. Every time I came to the end of a block and stepped off the godamn curb, I had this feeling that Id never get to the other side of the street......Allie, dont let me disappear. Please, Allie. (p. 198) Hes scared of dying like his little brother Allie, and views Allie as his beacon of light leading him from the darkness. Perhaps, to Holden, the day Allie died meant the end of all goodness and light in his world. Therefore, only by seeing or talking to Allie again can he get back that light.

Holden has both angry and depressive outbursts that are irregular. Holden has an angry outburst when he smashes all the windows in his garage on the night that Allie died, trying to break free from his confinement just like Allie has already done. In two instances Holden is very depressed and in both of them he tries to communicate to his brother Allie though he is dead. Though these three instances are different they are similar because they all show that Holden is troubled by his brothers death.