Incase no one's done it already, i'd like to point out that 23 episodes of good anime were created largely around this quote - "I thought what I'd do was, I'd pretend I was one of those deaf-mutes" from catcher in the rye. 'The Laughing Man', antagonist of the Ghost in the Shell series, is obsessed with Catcher in the Rye. It's pretty famous as anime goes.

Case for Holden and Bipolar

1) His obvious depressive symptoms
- Especially near the end of the book, he openly states that he's depressed (sadness)
- Insomnia
- From his venture to Agerstown he does not eat for a full day - until breakfast with the nuns (Lack of appetite, appetite fluctuations)
- Holden does not follow through with his intentions or fails to act upon them entirely (indecisiveness)
- At Pencey Prep Holden does not perform according to his potential, because he doesn't want to (lack of motivation)

there are plenty more - I found a link to the beck depression inventory here I think holden would score pretty high.

2) Manic episodes: The one I have in mind is the conversation he has with Sally Hayze at the ice rink diner - his sudden desire to marry/run away with her. His infatuation with a girl he does not particularly admire isn't so unusual, but the sudden onset is a bit disturbing. Other episodes could include breaking the windows of his garage, and his sudden decision to travel to New York - obviously not very well thought out.

I'd say it's pretty clear. Get that kid on some mood stabilizers.

I generally disagree with the notion of specific changes leading from "childhood" to "adulthood". Associating maturity and immaturity (or any other quality) to specific age groups, is simply inaccurate. Those kinds of changes are ongoing. They can occur individually at any time in a persons life, or not occur at all.

So then, I'm going to approach this question a bit differently.

One of the key ideas Holden seems to be struggling with is Purity, or rather Impurity. He perceives the vast majority of the world to be impure or corrupt, labeling people and things as phonies. This struggle is also internal, as on some level he recognizes that he is plagued by the same flaws he sees in everyone else (specifically when he spends several paragraphs describing the way he sometimes thinks about doing crumby things with a girl).

In some senses Holden's ideation is extremely mature, he recognizes the differences between love and lust and realizes that the former is preferable for its authenticity. The overwhelming orientation of society however, and even a part of himself, is directed the other way - and Holden will continue to struggle until he comes to terms with his own humanity in this sense.

Candlemaker in the Lye

This is my Catcher in the Rye blog for Mrs. Jorgensen's American Literature Class. Me being Alex Prinsen.

After reading chapter's 1-7 I still don't give two shits about Holden Caulfield. My guess is he wouldn't give two shits about me either: Aside from the fact that he's simply a collection of I's and me's in a piece of classical literature called 'Catcher in the Rye' he doesn't feel very strongly about anything. He frequently contradicts himself, with intermixed feelings of contempt and pity for the people around him. The only strong feelings he posesses are similar aversions to Sex and Aging. More complex human affairs make him uncomfortable, I wouldn't be surprised if he kills himself at the end of the book, but that would be too gimicky for a classic.