Re: wait...that gray-hair thing...
Cheryl Cline (ccline@uclink4.berkeley.edu)
Tue, 30 Jun 1998 19:40:01 -0700
JediMars@aol.com wrote:
>
> schizophrenia?? where do you see that in the book??
> holden a schizophrenic??
> i haven't read the book in a long time... but i seriously don't remember
> reading anywhere in catcher in the rye that holden is schizoprenic, or would
> make him seem to be....
> ~marisa
>
> In a message dated 98-06-30 22:03:37 EDT, you write:
>
> <<
> Half of Holden's head is covered with gray hairs, while the other side
> is fine. I always took this to mean that he is split between growing up
> and staying young. But isn't "split-brained" another term for
> schizophrenia, or do I just have a confused memory of my psych textbook
> from high school? Maybe I'm just reading way too much into this.
>
> Cheryl >>
Supposedly the feeling that one is disappearing is a sign of
schizophrenia, and Holden describes this feeling several times in the
novel. No matter how angsty someone is, I don't think it's normal for
that person to feel as if she or he is physically disappearing, so I buy
into the schizophrenia argument.
He also talks out loud to Allie a lot, despite being something of an
atheist. Would this indicate a problem as well?
Cheryl