Becoming one of the most banned, censored, and challenged novels during the years of

1966 to 1975 for its

explicit narration from an adolescent perspective, The Catcher in the Rye’s Holden Caulfield is
one of the most intricate

characters ever written. Holden Caulfield’s accurate portrayal of teenage angst could be the
outcome of suffering from

manic depression.

Readers are often torn between feeling sympathy or feeling annoyance to the disputed
Holden Caulfield. As

Holden begins his narrative about all the “madman stuff,” it’s established that his mental health
is deteriorating

(Salinger 1).

Manic Depressive illness, commonly referred to as bipolar disorder, is a mental disorder

that causes abnormal

shifts in a person’s mood, energy, and ability to function properly (National). The three day
period of Holden’s on and off

depression can be classified as one of the dramatic mood swings that someone suffering from
the disorder will

experience. The dramatic mood swing creates a feeling of euphoria and swings sharply to
sadness (National). Holden

progression from the different episodes of mania and depression can be supported by Holden’s
narrative in New York.

Holden is continuously restless while he’s in his hotel room. After calling an old friend’s
friend by the name of

Faith Cavendish, Holden is frustrated that he didn’t get the date he asked for. “It was still pretty
early. I’m not sure what

time it was, but it wasn’t too late. The one thing I hate to do is go to bed when I’m not even
tired” (Salinger 66).

Insomnia is one of the characteristics of bipolar disorder. Holden says that he hates going t o
sleep if he doesn’t have too

and is almost never tired throughout the whole book. When Holden was asking a cab driver for a
drink after leaving the

Lavender Room, the cab driver replies,

“’I ain’t got time for no liquor, bud,’ he said. ‘How the hell old are you, anyways? Why ain’tcha
home in bed?’

‘I’m not tired’”(Salinger 81).

Holden is still restless even after he’s spent a few hours partying with three girls in the Lavender
Room. His high level of

energy lets him create an even more in depth narrative about his three day stay but is one of the
first obvious symptoms

Holden shows that support the fact that he suffers from bipolar disorder.

Holden is easily irritated by the minute details in different scenarios. During the beginning
of the novel, Holden

decides to visit his history teacher, Mr. Spencer, and says that: “The minute I went in, I was sort
of sorry I’d come. He

was reading the Atlantic Monthly, and there were pills and medicine all over the place, and
everything smelled like Vicks

Nose Drops. It was pretty depressing. I’m not too crazy about sick people anyway. What made it
even more depressing,

old Spencer had on this very sad, ratty old bathrobe that he was probably born in or something. I
don’t much like to see

old guys in their pajamas and bathrobes anyway. Their bumpy old chests are always showing”
(Salinger 7). Holden has

the habit of noticing the physical attributes of Mr. Spencer that other people might think to be
normal for his age. Mr.

Spencer has a conversation with Holden and Holden comments on each time he hears a phony
word. For example When

Mr. Spencer says “’I had the privilege of meeting your mother and dad when they had their little
chat with Dr. Thurmer

some weeks ago. They’re grand people.

‘Yes, they are. They’re very nice.’

Grand. There’s a word I really hate. It’s a pony. I could puke every time I hear it” (Salinger 9).
Holden becomes so

irritated by his last days in Pency Prep that he decides to go to New York earlier than previously
planned. When Holden

decides to slip into the night scenes in various disco clubs, Holden discusses the topic of
“phonies” and how many there

are. He talks about how he despises the “phonies” that buy unnecessary drinks for their friends
to impress them but

Holden himself is buying drinks for his company. While at the Hotel Club Lavender, Holden tries
to persuade the waiter
into slipping some alcohol into his soda. The waiter apologizes and says that he’s unable to do
so, “’Okay, okay,’ I figured

the hell with it. ‘Bring me a coke.’ He started to go away, but I called him back. ‘Can’tcha stick a
little rum in it or

something?’ I asked him. I asked him very nicely and all. ‘I can’t sit in a corny place like this cold
sober. Can’tcha stick a

little rum in it or something?” (Salinger 69-70). The dulling effect that alcohol has on one’s body
might help distract

Holden from the irritating “phoniness” he sees around him. People who suffer from bipolar
disorder have a tendency to

abuse some kind of drug particularly cocaine, alcohol, or other medications (National). Even
though Holden isn’t getting

all the alcohol he’s requested for, his urge for alcohol yields to another characteristic of bipolar
disorder. In the clubs,

Holden compulsively spends money to impress his company. Referring to the three young women
from Seattle, Holden

says: “What they did, though, the three of them, when I did it, the started giggling like morons.
They probably thought I

was too young to give anybody the once-over. That annoyed hell out of me-you’d’ve thought I
wanted to marry them or

something” (Salinger 70). Holden states that he’s irritated by them but still dances with them
and covers their bills.

“With cigarettes and all, the check came to about thirteen bucks. I think they should’ve at least
offered to pay for the

drinks they had before I jointed them- I wouldn’t’ve let them, naturally but they should’ve at
least offered. I didn’t care

much though. They were so ignorant, and they and those sad, fancy hats on and all” (Salinger
75). Holden will willing

spend money if he wants to be seen as a gentleman and act on common courtesy. Holden
exhibits extreme irritability

when he visits Ernie’s Club. Holden explains that Ernie is the piano player but, ““You couldn’t see
his fingers while he

played-just his big old face. Big deal, I’m not too sure what the name of the song was that he was
playing when I came in,

but whatever it was, he was really stinking it up. He was putting all these dumb, show-offy
ripples in the high notes, and
a lot of other very tricky stuff that gives me a pain in the ass. You should’ve heard the crowd,
though, when he was

finished. You would’ve puked. They went mad. They were exactly the same morons that laugh
like hyenas in the movies

at stuff that isn’t funny”(Salinger 84). Holden stresses how annoyed he is by all of the phonies in
the club and tells us: ““I

swear to God, if I were a piano player or an actor or something and all those dopes thought I was
terrific, I’d hate it. I

wouldn’t even want them to clap for me. People always clap for the wrong things. If I were a
piano player, I’d play it in

the goddam closet” (Salinger 84).

Continuously, Holden talks about the atmosphere of clubs, streets, or describes what’s
happening in rooms of

hotels. Frequently, Holden cuts himself off in mid sentence and explains how one incident
reminds him of another and

how he’s become too depressed to want to do anything. Continuing from his meeting with the
three women in the

Lavender Club, Holden says that they told him about what their plans were while they were
staying in New York: “And

that business about getting up early to see the first show at Radio City Music hall depressed me.
If somebody, some girl

in an awful-looking hat, for instance, comes all the way to New York-from Seattle, Washington, for
God’s sake-and ends

up getting up early in the morning to see the goddam first show at Radio City Music Hall, it
makes me so depressed I

can’t stand it” (Salinger 75). Such a tiny thing as going to Radio City Music hall in the morning
has the ability to make

Holden depressed even though the certain action doesn’t even concern him. Holden swings from
feeling a regular mood

immediately to a depressed mood. Holden even shows how much he’d rather they not tell him by
saying, “I’d’ve bought

the whole tree of them a hundred drinks if only they hadn’t told me that” (Salinger 75). After
leaving the club and going

back to the hotel, Holden describes that, “There was hardly anyone in the lobby any more. Even
all the whory-looking
blondes weren’t around any more, and all of a sudden I felt like getting the hell out f the place. It
was too depressing.

And I wasn’t tired or anything” (Salinger 80).Similar to the first incident, an empty hotel lobby
also has effects on Holden

mentally. The irregular mood swings Holden has continues after he visits Ernie’s Club as well.
When Holden returns to

the hotel on the second night, he says “The whole lobby was empty. It smelled like fifty million
dead cigars. It really did. I

wasn’t sleepy or anything, but I was feeling sort of lousy. Depressed and all. I almost wished I
was dead” (Salinger 90).

Being in a depressive episode to the point where one is contemplating suicide is direct support
for the fact that Holden

suffers from bipolar disorder. Talking about feeling suicidal or wanting to die is one of the
symptoms that typically occur

in a mixed bipolar state (National). In mixed bipolar states, symptoms of mania and depression
come together and cause

the person to have a very sad and hopeless mood but feel extremely energized at the same time
(National). Holden is

both depressed and annoyed throughout the whole night but isn’t able to put his mind at rest.
Holden’s symptoms are

identical to the mixed bipolar state. To make matters worse, Holden is momentarily distracted
from himself when

Maurice the elevator guy asks Holden if he would like him to order a prostitute.

“’Innarested in a little tail t’night?’

‘Me?’ I said. Which was a very dumb answer, but it’s quite embarrassing when somebody comes
right

up and asks you a question like that.

‘how old are you, chielf?’ the elevator guy said.

‘Why?’ I said. ‘Twenty-two.’

‘uh huh. Well, how ‘bout it? Y’innarested? Five bucks a throw. Fifteen bucks the whole night.’ He
looked

at his wrist watch. ‘Till noon. Five bucks a throw, fifteen bucks till noon.’

‘Okay,’ I said. It was against my principles and all, but I was feeling so depressed I didn’t even
think.
That’s the whole trouble. When you’re feeling very depressed, you can’t even think” (Salinger
91).

Holden isn’t particularly aroused by the thought of prostitution but is interested in sex.

Holden explained that: “The trouble was, that kind of junk is sort of fascinating to watch,
even if you don’t want

it to be. For instance, that girl that was getting water squirted all over her face, she was pretty
good – looking. I mean

that’s my big trouble. In my mind, I’m probably the biggest sex maniac you ever saw. Sometimes
I can think of very

crumby stuff I wouldn’t mind doing if the opportunity came up. I can even see how it might be
quite a lot of fun, in a

crumby way, and if you were both sort of drunk and all, to get a girl and squirt water or
something all over earth other’s

face. The thing is, though, I don’t like the idea. It stinks, if you analyze it. I think if you don’t
really like a girl, you

shouldn’t horse around with her at all, and if you do like her, then you’re supposed to like her
face, and if you like her

face, you ought to be careful about doing crumby stuff to it, like squirting water all over it”
(Salinger 62). Even though

Holden has never given anyone the time, he is intrigued by the mere thought of sexual activity.
Holden might be

mistaken as a perverted teenager but having an increased sex drive is one characteristic of
people who suffer from

bipolar disorder. After seeing the sexual behavior from the other guests in his hotel, Holden says:
“After a while I sat

down in a chair and smoked a couple of cigarettes. I was feeling pretty horny. I have to admit it”
(Salinger 63). Holden

might’ve been affected by his bipolar disorder when he ordered for a prostitute. Before the
prostitute arrives, Holden

fixes himself up but explains in his narrative that he inexperienced when it comes to sex. “If you
want to know the truth,

I’m a virgin. I really am. I’ve had quite a few opportunities to lose my virginity and all, but I’ve
never got around to it yet.

Something always happens. For instance, if you’re at a girl’s house, her parents always come
home at the wrong time-or
you’re afraid they will. Or if you’re in the back seat of somebody’s car, there’s always
somebody’s date in the front seat-

some girl, I mean-that always wants to know that’s going on all over the whole goddam car. I
mean some girl in front

keeps turning around to see what the hell’s going on. Anyway, something always happens. I
came quite close to doing it

a couple of times though”(Salinger 92). When the prostitute arrives, Holden converses with her
and realizes that she’s

young and new in the career. The innocence of youth and preserving innocence has always been
what Holden longs for.

As he takes her dress to hang up for her, Holden experiences a mood swing that puts Holden in a
problematic situation.

“I took her dress over to the closet and hung it up for her. It was funny. It made me feel sort of
sad when I hung it up. I

thought of her going in a store and buying it, and nobody in the store knowing she was a
prostitute and all. The

salesman probably just thought she was a regular girl when she bought it. It made me feel sad as
hell-I don’t know

exactly why” (Salinger 95-96).Holden is repeating his cycles of mood swings and switches from
happy to unhappy

throughout the whole book. “’Look,’ I said. ‘I don’t feel very much like myself tonight. I’ve had a
rough night. Honest to

God. I’ll pay you and all, but do you mind very much if we don’t do it? Do you mind very much?’
The trouble was, I just

didn’t want to do it. I felt more depressed than sexy, if you want to know the truth. She was
depressing. Her green dress

hanging in the closet and all. And besides, I don’t think I could ever do it with somebody that sits
in a stupid movie all

day long. I really don’t think I could” (Salinger 96). Holden says that he started “feeling more
depressed than sexy,” like

how he suddenly became depressed when he learns that the three girls from Seattle are waking
up early to visit Radio

City Music Hall. Holden’s mood swings end up stopping him from going any further with the
prostitute. Even though

Holden offers to pay her anyways, she ends up bringing Maurice into the picture. Maurice
demands ten dollars from
Holden instead of five and rummages through his things until he finds it, in defense, Holden
starts insulting Maurice with

provocative comments. In the hotel room: “I was still sort of crying. I was so damn mad and
nervous and all. ‘You’re a

dirty moron,’ I said. ‘You’re a stupid chiseling moron, and in about two years you’ll be one of
those scraggy guys that

come up to you on the street and ask for a dime for coffee. You’ll have snot all over you dirty
filthy overcoat, and you’ll

be-‘ Then he smacked me. I didn’t even try to get out of the way or duck or anything. All I felt
was this terrific punch in

my stomach”(Salinger 103). Holden showed poor judgment in thinking that insulting Maurice
would help him at all in the

situation. Holden didn’t have any common sense to engage in aggressive behavior. Someone
who is affected by bipolar

disorder can show aggressive behavior. Holden was being provocative in his defense but didn’t
resolve the problem and

instead, made it worse.

When Holden’s younger brother Allie died of Leukemia, there is no doubt that it affected
Holden mentally more

than any of the other events Holden tells the readers. Holden’s mental health in a mixed bipolar
state causes him to

show unusual behavior before his mental collapse. Holden is still restless after the prostitute,
Sunny, and Maurice leave.

Holden describes what he does in this situation: “After old Sunny was gone, I sat in the chair for a
while and smoked a

couple of cigarettes. It was getting daylight outside. Boy, I felt miserable. I felt so depressed, you
can’t imagine. What I

did, I started talking, sort of out loud, to Allie. I do that sometimes when I get very depressed. I
keep telling him to go

home and get his bike and meet me in from of Bobby Fallon’s house. Bobby Fallon used to live
quite near us in Maine-

this is, year ago “(Salinger 98). Holden says that he likes to talk to Allie sometimes even though
Allie is dead. Holden isn’t

able to let go of Allie and this is the root cause of all of Holden’s mental problems. For this
reason, Holden is especially
happy when he is around children around Allie’s age. However, his sudden moments of
happiness are unusual and show

how deeply affected he is by his mental disorder. “He and his wife were just walking along,
talking, not paying any

attention to their kid. The kid was swell. He was walking in the street, instead of on the sidewalk,
but right next to the

curb. He was making out like he was walking a very straight line, the way kids do, and the whole
time he kept singing

and humming. I got up closer so I could hear what he was singing. He was singing that song, ‘If a
body catch a body

coming through the rye.’ He had a pretty little voice too. He was just singing for the hell of it, you
could tell. The cars

zoomed by, brakes screeched all over the place, his parents paid no attention to him, and he
kept on walking next to the

curb and singing ‘If a body catch a body coming through the rye.’ It made me feel better. It made
me feel not so

depressed any more (Salinger 115). Holden wants to be the catcher in the rye and seeing a child
sing the words,” if a

body catch a body coming through the rye,” helps work as unusual therapy for Holden’s disorder.

Throughout the entire novel, Holden Caulfield is affected by a mental disorder. Holden’s
activities and extensive

narration on the three day period he spent in New York City can be used to prove that Holden
Caulfield suffers from

bipolar disorder. Seemingly simple are the words to the song “Comin’ through the Rye,” but
these words symbolize how

Holden is an advocate for the non adults. Amidst his own confusion, Holden’s narration of his
stay in New York City

shows the preservation of innocence that Holden Caulfield longs for.