The Catcher in the Rye 8

The Catcher in the Rye
J.D. Salinger

I decided to spend my last blog for ap lite ranting because it's more fun.  First of all, what happens to Jane and Sally?  From the first few chapters, I really liked Jane because she and Holden had had a thing, and I think that he still likes her.  After Stradlater had taken her out, Holden grew very upset and jumped on him.  Jealousy?--I think so.  Possibly, Holden wanted to figure himself and his mind out before contacting her, or maybe he actually didn't like her.  We won't find out because the novel only takes place over the course of a long weekend.
      And what problem, exactly, does Holden have?  That was also annoying to the reader--that he never explicitly states his mental condition.  I think that in the present, he may still be struggling and in denial of a problem since he still won't openly talk about.  Since we are privy to only Holden's thoughts and recollections, we see only a biased perspective, and maybe he hasn't admitted the problem to himself yet.  However, he does mention several times that he's crazy or "a madman" (Salinger, page 199), but I don't think he's seriously diagnosing himself then.  [My mind= Hello Holden! you are a madman]  Although this novel takes place within like four days, it's classified as a Bildungsroman (Yay German class!) because Holden really does mature, well sort of, and obviously realized that he needs some help.  That is why he decided to go to a mental institution to "take it easy" (Salinger, waaaay back on page 1).