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Good question. I've edited my topic to clarify the issue.
I am still not convinced, but I agree on that Holden Caulfield is more unstable than a typical teenager.
Two deaths, or the first one alone, could have caused PTSD. Or, he just had had a type of personality more prone to a mental breakdown. How he responded to the death of his brother seemed because he gets upset easily and intensely and does not have an ability to control that. That is just how he is. Other symptoms also seemed, to me, from the unfortunate personality.
While I was reading, I inferred even less from the flashbacks; to be precise, I am not even sure whether they were flashbacks or just thoughts about past, like images of the book's cover, the desk I used for reading, or those evening sunlights I had before finishing the day's reading that I am thinking about as I am writing this. Of course, his is nearer to being traumatic but still not traumatic enough to be on a level that needs a medical assistance.
After all, the difference of views might be just how far he is from normal. Yet, if you take it as PTSD, I believe that lets you miss so much. "A teenager angst" also is not so correct. By setting a character who is a bit unstable, condescending, easy to upset, poor at concentration, or whatsoever, Salinger depicted the terrible mental status during the certain time of an individual's life. (Well, at least, this is what I once believed. After reading what people say on Goodreads, I was surprised so many people ask "what kind of person is this(Caulfield)?" You also might have been one with the same question without applying PTSD. Still, I believe if people are or were more keen about how one thinks, feels, or behaves during the teenage time, they will see how it is in the book is how you or, at least, others indeed are.) This purpose cannot be served if the character is thought to be suffering from PTSD, which is why I am reluctant to leave your opinion as an opinion; also since lessons from this book are—in both what and how—quite different from other books.
By the way, Don, I guess you wrote something relevant, but I am poor at poetry.
Good insights.
I see it as not an all-or-nothing proposition. There's some teen angst and some PTSD, making Holden a highly complex character.
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Monty J
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Oct 18, 2012 12:31PM
Good question. I've edited my topic to clarify the issue.
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I am still not convinced, but I agree on that Holden Caulfield is more unstable than a typical teenager.Two deaths, or the first one alone, could have caused PTSD. Or, he just had had a type of personality more prone to a mental breakdown. How he responded to the death of his brother seemed because he gets upset easily and intensely and does not have an ability to control that. That is just how he is. Other symptoms also seemed, to me, from the unfortunate personality.
While I was reading, I inferred even less from the flashbacks; to be precise, I am not even sure whether they were flashbacks or just thoughts about past, like images of the book's cover, the desk I used for reading, or those evening sunlights I had before finishing the day's reading that I am thinking about as I am writing this. Of course, his is nearer to being traumatic but still not traumatic enough to be on a level that needs a medical assistance.
After all, the difference of views might be just how far he is from normal. Yet, if you take it as PTSD, I believe that lets you miss so much. "A teenager angst" also is not so correct. By setting a character who is a bit unstable, condescending, easy to upset, poor at concentration, or whatsoever, Salinger depicted the terrible mental status during the certain time of an individual's life. (Well, at least, this is what I once believed. After reading what people say on Goodreads, I was surprised so many people ask "what kind of person is this(Caulfield)?" You also might have been one with the same question without applying PTSD. Still, I believe if people are or were more keen about how one thinks, feels, or behaves during the teenage time, they will see how it is in the book is how you or, at least, others indeed are.) This purpose cannot be served if the character is thought to be suffering from PTSD, which is why I am reluctant to leave your opinion as an opinion; also since lessons from this book are—in both what and how—quite different from other books.
By the way, Don, I guess you wrote something relevant, but I am poor at poetry.
Good insights.I see it as not an all-or-nothing proposition. There's some teen angst and some PTSD, making Holden a highly complex character.
