Re: I luv Holden

Cheryl Cline (ccline@uclink4.berkeley.edu)
Wed, 01 Jul 1998 14:55:13 -0700

Matt Kozusko wrote:
> 
> Holden is coherent, clear and sensible throughout his narrative.  This
> suggests that while others might think he is in need of help, the reader
> is supposed to realize he's okay.  He's honest and plain and he appears
> to have a grasp on his situation.  Madness recollected in tranquility,
> perhaps, but his account of the events that put him where he is betray
> no epic breakdown.  See the Franny Glass narrative for the behavior of
> Salinger characters experiencing breakdowns.  And remember, too, that
> all Salinger characters who are alive at the end of their stories have
> recovered, or will soon.  In fact, you might say that Salinger's stories
> are about people getting better.
> 
> --
> Matt Kozusko    statelyplumpbuckmulligan@parallel.park.uga.edu


Bridget C:
> i think that one 
> of the main points of the book is that holden is confused about growing 
> up, not a raving maniac with a bunch of people running around in his 
> brain.
> 


Salinger's characters' breakdowns seem merely to involve a lot of tears.
All of Salinger's characters have recovered or are in the process of
recovering by the end of each novel, (of the two I've read, Catcher and
Franny and Zooey, I don't know about the others) but the question is
whether or not the characters have mental problems during the story. 
Actually, Franny seems pretty stable to me, but Holden's feeling that is
he disappearing seems to betray a mental disturbance.  Also, admitting
that the stories are "about people getting better" mentally suggests
that there is a mental problem that they are recovering from.

I don't mean that Holden's some kind of raving lunatic-I just want to
hear others' opinions on whether Holden is really mentally clear
throughout the novel or if he does in fact have schizophrenia or some
other problem.  I was told that Holden's fear of disappearing is a
symptom of schizophrenia-I heard an example of a man imagining himself
to be an orange, who then fears being peeled, eaten and gone.  Of
course, Holden doesn't have such extravagant delusions, so I could be
wrong.

I think that if there was any mental problem at all, it would have had
to be caused almost totally by Allie's death-it is only when Allie dies
that Holden first does something questionable, that is, puts his fist
through all the garage windows, and the family starts to think about
getting help for him.  Actually, it's possible that all this
mental-illness thing is just severe grief for Allie, a grief that kind
of muddles Holden's perceptions, although not to the extent of a disease
or disorder.

Cheryl