Holden Caulfield And The Stages Of Grief English Literature Essay

There are seven phases of heartache through the procedure of life and back. These phases are denial, depression, choler, bargaining, guilt, Reconstruction, and finally credence. Different phases of heartache are represented through the chief character Holden Caulfield in the novel, The Catcher in the Rye. Three phases of the phases of heartache stands out the most and are focused on as Holden goes through the procedure of finally accepting his loss. In the novel the Catcher in the Rye, the character, Holden Caulfield, goes through the many phases of heartache, such as, choler, denial, and depression, after the decease of his brother, Allie.

Two phases such as choler and denial in the phases of heartache are represented when Holden retraces one of his memories after Allie ‘s decease. The memory Holden portions with us, is the clip when he decides to pass a dark in his garage Through his choler from his brother ‘s decease, Holden rampages in the garage, interrupting all of its Windowss. From this scene, Holden shows the phases of choler and denial.

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“ I slept in the garage the dark he died, and I broke all the goddamn windows with my fist, merely for the snake pit of itaˆ¦ it was really stupid I have to acknowledge, but I barely did n’t even cognize I was making it, and you did n’t cognize Allie ( Salinger, 39 ) . ”

During that dark, Holden expresses his choler and denial by interrupting all of the glass Windowss and non acknowledging why he did so. From the loss of his brother Allie, Holden expresses his choler and denial physically and mentally. Holden ‘s choler was expressed through his actions of physically interrupting the garage windows with his fist, and his phase of denial was represented by him non acknowledging why he did so. Harmonizing to Sarah Cifelli, Holden ‘s denial of his brother ‘s decease leads him to take action in the garage, and when asked why he did so, Holden does n’t acknowledge and take recognition for what he has done. “ His inability to accept the loss of his brother becomes cleareraˆ¦ The action of interrupting an full garage full of Windowss airss inquiries, but the chief point is, he did non acknowledge the ground for interrupting them ( Cifelli 2006 ) . ” Although both of the phases of choler and denial are present here, the most of import phase represented is really denial. By Holden non acknowledging why he broke the Windowss in the garage in the first topographic point, the phase of denial is the most of import phase represented here. As Sarah Cifelli has stated before, “ aˆ¦ the chief point is he did non acknowledge the ground for interrupting themaˆ¦ ” shows that Holden still believes that Allie is still alive, which leads to the chief ground of why Holden took the action of interrupting all of the Windowss.

In another memory Holden portions with us in the novel the Catcher in the Rye, the phase of denial and depression are present as he tries to keep both his artlessness and relationship with Allie. Holden Caulfield wants to be the “ Catcher in the Rye ” . In other words, he wants to catch all the kids who are falling off a drop into maturity. Both of the phases are represented together as Holden “ gimmicks ” everyone from losing their artlessness.

“ And I ‘m standing on the border of some brainsick drop. What I have to make, I have to catch everybody if they start to travel over the cliff-I mean if they ‘re running and they do n’t look over where they ‘re traveling I have to come out from someplace and catch them. That ‘s all I ‘d make all twenty-four hours. I ‘d merely be the backstop in the rye and all. I know it ‘s brainsick, but that ‘s the lone thing I ‘d truly wish to be. I know it ‘s brainsick ( Salinger, 173 ) . ”

During this scene, Holden is seeking to state his small sister, Phoebe, that he wants to maintain everyone safe and to “ catch ” them from falling off a drop. By “ catching ” people from falling off the drop, Holden is mentioning to halt childs from turning up and losing their artlessness from the grownup universe. Holden wants to protect those that he loves and whom he is close to. Besides his small sister Phoebe, Holden besides wants to protect all of the kids and their artlessness. Becoming the “ backstop in the rye ” in Holden ‘s head, this means that he still wants to “ catch ” Allie from falling off the drop. Bing that Allie is already dead, this shows that Holden is in denial of Allie of all time deceasing. This besides relates to Holden ‘s depression in a sense that Holden is non traveling to accept the fact that he needs to turn up and fall in maturity instead than playing games and all. As everything around Holden is stating him to turn up, Holden turns off from what he thinks will convey him further apart from his relationship with Allie. As Parthkatri provinces in the undermentioned quotation mark, he helps explicate that Holden does n’t desire to alter and would instead be with his brother Allie as a kid. Unfortunately, Holden does n’t recognize that Allie is dead, and hence boots him into the phases of denial and depression. “ Holden is non willing to accept the inevitableness to changeaˆ¦ After Allie ‘s decease, Holden equates the loss of artlessness from the alterations of the grownup universe ( Parthkatri 2009 ) . ” Basically, Holden is in fright of turning up because of two grounds. One being that his brother Allie died as a kid and another because Holden believes that all kids hold their artlessness before they lose it in the grownup universe. The phase of heartache represented here are denial and depression because Holden wants to keep his relationship with Allie as a kid and keep onto his ain artlessness, but at the same clip, Holden is on the brink of going an grownup, coercing him into more emphasis and trouble go forthing him to depression. Therefore, Holden wants to protect kids and “ gimmick ” them from falling into the grownup universe. Meanwhile, Holden is really on the brink of falling himself off of the drop and onto the lap of maturity. As Parthkatri has explained before, Holden does n’t desire to alter, but as he continues on his journey in the novel, the universe is demoing him that he has to alter because turning up is a portion of life and you can non run off from it.

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