The Catcher in the Rye: Is Holden really Crazy?

Okay, so, I’m just going to get straight down to the nitty-gritty here. I’m sure everyone can admit that throughout this whole novel, one question just kept digging at you with every single page turn. That question is this: Is Holden Caulfield crazy? I’m dedicating my next two blogs to this topic, and I’m going to analyze it to come up with a solution for myself.  From the first page Holden already admits that he isn’t at home or at school like a normal adolescent would be. “I’ll just tell you about this madman stuff that happened to me around Christmas just before I got pretty run-down and had to come out here and take it easy.” (Salinger, pg. 1) He then begins telling his story, and by the end, he mentions a psychoanalyst and a lot of people asking him a lot of questions. (Salinger pg. 213) Throughout the novel, you notice that some of the things Holden describes (especially the things that happen to him) aren’t exactly normal. He can’t really see it himself, but as a reader, you start to pick up on some odd things that happen to him. Right before he leaves the school he says that his “nerves are shot” (Salinger pg. 51) and he up and leaves school, not really sure where he’s going to go at all. He wanders New York and stays at different hotels, trying to mix with adults, but not really succeeding. He seems pretty sane so far, and I got used to how he talked and how he socialized with people and was just so random.  Everything changes on his date with Sally, and I think that it is this event where Holden begins to break down.  He and Sally Hays go ice- skating, and at this point, Holden’s grip on the world starts to tip. During the meal they have together after skating,  He  launches into a rant about school and life and how much he hates everything, making all these crazy notions and getting severely hostile with every word.  Sally asks him not to shout, and he thinks “Which was very funny, because I wasn’t even shouting.” (Salinger, pg.130) He is completely un aware that he his yelling very loud and getting really worked up. Next he gets this crazy idea, and  asks her to run away with him, spinning this outrageous tale, and Sally, this time, asks him to stop screaming at her. He again denies that he is screaming at all. (Salinger, pg 132) He gets hostile with her after that, and calls her a “pain in the ass, then laughs maniacally at the whole fight and ends off with “I swear to God I’m a madman.” (Salinger pg 134) At this major event, it seems that Holden is quite crazy. But these aren’t the only events that occur, and in the next blog I’m going to target other occasions where Holden’s mind isn’t in the best sorts, and I’m going to conclude what I think.

            Salinger, J. D. The Catcher in the Rye. Boston: Little, Brown, 1951. Print.