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I believe a big source of Holden's trauma is the failure to properly identify them itself.
Another source of Holden’s trauma is the death of his brother. He avoids all of his feelings related to what happened
to him, and instead just redirects his attention to judgement of his other brother and basically everyone else. He feels
depressed but fails to identify the source of it, “After old Sunny was gone, I sat in the chair for a while and smoked a
couple of cigarettes. It was getting daylight outside. Boy, I felt miserable, I was so depressed.”(page 110). He just feels
random spurts of depression and doesn’t know what to do with those feelings
He also acts out randomly as a result of his stress and depression.“All of a sudden-for no good reason, really, except
that I was sort of in the mood for horsing around- I felt like jumping off the washbowl and getting old Stradlater in a half
nelson”...”so I did it” (Salinger 34). He makes impulsive decisions that he later regrets. He also is frequently depressed
which can affect his judgement. An example of this is when he hired a prostitute. “It was against my principles and all, but
I was feeling so depressed I didn't even think. That’s the whole trouble. When you’re feeling very depressed, you can’t
even think” (Salinger 102).
Group 5: Personality Disorders
● CLAIM:Holden Caulfield identifies with Cluster B in the system of personality disorders;
antisocial, borderline, histrionic, and narcissistic personality disorders. Throughout the plot,
his actions, emotions, and thoughts portray him as an emotional, dramatic, and erratic
individual.
● EVIDENCE:
A sign of Holden’s personality disorder, is from the Lavender Room with the three
ladies.
Along with when he attacks Stradlater
Plus, the scene with Sunny.
● REASONING: Holden Caulfield has a borderline personality disorder, which is identified with
his extended periods of emotional irregularity. Holden shows a pattern of instability in
interpersonal relationships, self- image, and affects, and marked impulsivity. He shows a lack
of empathy towards others, which classifies with the characteristics of a narcissistic personality
disorder. He also meets the criteria for histrionic and antisocial personality disorders with his
disregard for, and violation of, the rights of others, and excessive emotionality.