Grief For Allie in The Catcher In The Rye by J.D Salinger

Almost every person will have to say goodbye to a person they love who has died. When an adolescent goes through this experience it could traumatize them. John Green once said â€Å"Grief does not change you. It reveals you.† In other words, the loss of a loved one doesn’t change who you are but reveals your character. A novel that explores the effect of grief on a young person is The Catcher In The Rye by J.D Salinger. The Catcher In The Rye is a novel about a teenager, Holden Caulfield, who is confused and makes life changing mistakes because of his inability to accept his brother Allie’s death. Elisabeth Kubler-Ross made up the five stages of grief. The stages are denial, anger, depression, bargaining, and acceptance. Holden goes through these five stages throughout the novel. Salinger uses the baseball mitt, the red hunting hat, and the carousel to explore the protagonist struggle to resolve his grief. Allie’s baseball mitt is a very important symbol in the novel. It is connected to the story, because the heart of the story is Holdens grief over his brothers death. When Holden finds out his brother Allie died he is in denial because he is refusing to accept Allie’s death. Holden is in denial as he thinks of why his innocent little brother had to die and not him. Holden needs help dealing with this grief. He must always take out the mitt, and acknowledge his feelings in order to release himself from the terrible guilt he feels. When Holden’s roommate at Pencey, Stradlater,Show MoreRelatedThe Tragedy of Holden Caulfield Is That He Cannot Accept the Adult World He Is Too Old to Continue the Innocent Life of a Child1033 Words   |  5 PagesThe main concern of the novel The Catcher in the Rye is not only that the protagonist is trapped between childhood and adulthood, but also the alienation and regression caused by grief when the sufferer does not address their loss properly. 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