Holden's Depression

Everyone feels depressed in his/her life at some point or the other. However, when depression becomes so much of a person’s life, this person can no longer experience what is defined as “happiness.” This is what happens to Holden Caulfield, the main character in J.D. Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye. The causes of Holden’s depression are his brother, Allie’s death, his lack of personal motivation, and his loneliness. Since Holden has no one to turn to when he feels depressed, because he thinks that everybody is phony, this causes him to go into a deeper state of depression.
The main thing that makes Holden depressed is Allie’s death. Allie was one of the few people that Holden liked. From what Holden explains, he was a “perfect” kid. For this reason, when Allie died of leukemia, Holden fell into a state of depression, because of the unfair fact that a kid as perfect as Allie should die. Moreover, he feels guilty for his death. He shows this by breaking the windows in th...