Instant Access To 100,000+ Essays!

Holden’s Falling Suffering from the loss of a family member can be very traumatic and in some cases, life altering. It can change a person’s outlook upon existence and the attitude displayed in society. Some people have a religious reawakening while others fall into a deep depression, leaving people unable to do normal, everyday chores, or the entire personality can change. In the case of Holden Caulfield, the protagonist within the novel The Catcher in the Rye, the death of his brother Allie brought upon him grief but also something worse; Holden lost sense of who he was leaving him all alone. Holden comes from a moderately wealthy family from Manhattan; however, he never took advantage of the fruitful life he could have. Holden has been falling since the death of his brother. His one time teacher, Mr. Antolini, mentioned this symbolic plunge to Holden, “This fall I think you’re riding for- it’s a special kind of fall, a horrible kind”(pg. 187, ch. 4). The fall that Holden Caulfield is experiencing stems from his brother’s death, his loneliness, and inability to find respect in himself. Allie was Holden’s younger brother by two years, but by the way he spoke of Allie, you could tell that Holden thought very