Analysis Of Holden' Psychological Symptoms And Their Roots In The Catcher In The Rye

J. D. Salinger is one of the famous post-war writers in America. As the representative as well as a most controversial work of Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye is an excellent post-war fiction, which wins him tremendous popularity after its publication. The novel explores the adolescent protagonist's depression, mourning, alienation and innermost conflicts as well as his thoughts on life and society, especially the great impact the relationship between family members brings upon children's personality and psychology development in his initiation journey. This thesis mainly attempts to apply American development psychologist John Bowlby's emotional attachment theory to make an analysis of Holden's spiritual world and reveals that the roots of Holden's agonies and inner conflicts are the insecurity attachments established in Holden's childhood and the insane society in which he inhabits.As a human ethnologist, John Bowlby believes childhood is a sensitive period for the development of social and emotional responsiveness in human life. The quality of caregiving, the character or emotional climate of their homes children received in their childhood decides their quality of emotional attachments. The stability of emotional attachments'quality shapes their behavior and forecasts their outcomes. Children who have formed secure primary attachments to their family members expect positive experiences in life and remember them especially well. They are more likely to earn higher grades later in adolescence, develop better social skills and more positive representations of peers, and enjoy closer, more supportive friendships. On the contrary, children who have established insecure attachments tend to expect and recall the more negative events. They are more likely than those with secure attachments to experience poor peer relations and fewer close friendships and to display deviant behaviors (e.g., disobedience at school) and other psychopathological symptoms throughout childhood and adolescence.The adolescent protagonist in The Catcher in the Rye, Holden, is in the process of transition from childhood to adulthood. He can not get rid of the negative influence of his experiences in childhood. The long ignorance from parents, elder brother's degeneration, and younger brother's death cast a gloomy shadow on him. He is rather empty, lonely and helpless owing to alienation from society, lack of adults'guidance and understanding from peers. He can not perceive many phenomena of the society and exhibits a series of unfitted symptoms:depression, agony, alienation and inner-most conflicts in his psychology and behavior. He can not get along with his surrounding world.The roots of Holden's adolescence crises are the quality of caregiving he received and the unique family environments he inhabited in his childhood. Holden's mother does not belong to the type of sensitive and careful caregiver. She does not have a positive attitude toward her children and is not usually sensitive to their needs. She can't establish interactional synchrony with them and provide ample stimulation and emotional support. Therefore Holden is not securely attached to his mother. His younger brother Allie's death has worsened her mental condition. She is indulged in it and can't provide necessary care and guidance to overcome his adolescence crises. Holden's father does not belong to the type of sensitive and careful caregiver, either. As a lawyer, he is involved in business and can't give enough care to Holden and his siblings. He has not attached necessary importance to Holden who is expelled from school for the fourth time. Neither has he given a psychological analysis to Holden who is undergoing the painful transition from childhood to adulthood. Thus Holden can't build a secure, supportive relationship with his father. This insecure attachment to his father can't help compensate for the potentially negative effects of an insecure mother-child attachment relationship. Elder brother, younger brother and younger sister have built a close attachment to Holden. Yet his gifted elder brother prostituted himself to Hollywood for money; the talented writer younger brother comes to a premature-end because of illness. All of this brings a disastrous attack upon Holden. He pours all his emotions into his younger sister Phoebe. Out of childish innocence, Phoebe can not provide sensitive response to her brother's needs and therefore is unable to understand Holden is on the verge of breakdown.Another important factor of Holden's adolescence crises is the surrounding environment he inhabits in. Schools, teachers, peers and strangers in Holden's life circle are all irresponsive and realistic. Nobody perceives his loneliness and helplessness. No one has really built a pure, close and reliable relationship with him during his painstaking initiation journey. They have not rescued Holden by pulling out his adolescence crises. On the contrary, their words and behaviors deepen the poor adolescent's despair toward the world.Authoritative parenting is warm and responsive and is consistently associated with such positive outcomes as secure emotional attachments, a prosocial orientation and good peer relations, high self-esteem, a strong sense of morality, and many other virtues. As Holden's case can be found in literatures of all countries and generations, how to establish an authoritative parenting and how to guide him regain a secure attachment through communication to his family and surrounding people is quite necessary in his personality development and process of socialization. Besides, schools and teachers shoulder important civilizing function in his personality development and socializing. Last but not least, the whole social should pay attention to adolescents'healthy psychological development and foster a favorable atmosphere for their smooth socialization. This is the author's human nature logo for the novel and a question put forward for literature and literature research.