Holden Caulfield's Identity Crisis

The Catcher in the Rye is the only novel that has been written by postwar American writer Jerome David Salinger. Once after the novel was published, it has received much popularity from readers, especially the adolescents. In a first-person narrative style, the writer particularly depicts the anguish psychological world of the protagonist Holden Caulfield, a sixteen-year-old adolescent who is born into a well-to-do middle-class family. Most importantly, the writer has portrayed Holden's identity crisis as well as his process of searching for identity.Generally speaking, identity is the cognition of oneself. It is about the sameness of one's existence. Adolescence is the key stage of identity in which the adolescents have more new roles and responsibilities along with some changes in the body and mind. Only through the integration of these new roles with old roles can one form a complete and coordinated identity, thus avoiding identity diffusion.The thesis mainly applies American social psychologist Erik Erikson's identity crisis theory to analyze the protagonist Holden's identity crisis. Erikson divides self consciousness into eight stages. And the fifth period is the adolescence stage, that is, ego identity versus identity diffusion stage, in which the adolescents attempt to explore who they are and who they are going to be. In this stage, the adolescents are faced with many new choices and social requirements. Only through successful transition from childhood to adulthood, can they form a new self identity. Otherwise, they will develop some kind of role confusion.The thesis divides into five chapters.The first chapter is the introduction. The first part briefly introduces the background of the study. The second part introduces the novel and the author, and the third part introduces the framework of the thesis.The second chapter is the theoretical basis and literature review. The first part introduces Erik Erikson's identity crisis theory. The second part reviews the relevant studies that have been made upon the novel by both the foreign and domestic researchers from the following three aspects, including linguistic studies, thematic studies and theoretical studies on the novel.The third chapter mainly analyzes the sources of Holden's identity crisis from two aspects, including social context and Holden's estrangement from family and school.The fourth chapter is the main body of the thesis. This chapter analyzes and interprets Holden's identity crisis from three aspects. According to Erikson's identity crisis theory, if the adolescents who are in this crisis stage cannot form complete self identities, they may form negative identities. The first part analyzes the expressions of Holden's negative identity from three aspects, including his language, behaviors and thoughts. Unwilling to enter into the adulthood, Holden expects to stay in the childhood forever. He is experiencing what Erikson has claimed as "moratorium". Thus the second part interprets Holden's need of moratorium from his distinct dressing, his love for stasis, his failure in school and sexuality. Meanwhile, in this process, Holden is also surveying his former self and changing his former opinions and ideas. Finally, through his sister Phoebe's love and his own epiphany, Holden has a miraculous transition. The third part analyzes Holden's transition. The fourth part analyzes the influences that have been made upon Holden from two aspects, including his attitude towards the past and future.The last chapter is the conclusion. This chapter mainly summarizes the contents of this study, analyzes its significance and furthermore, points out the limitations and trend of the future study.Through the analysis of Holden, the readers can have a more clear knowledge of the psychology of the adolescents and adolescence. Furthermore, it can help the adolescents pull themselves through the painful stage and convert their roles successfully. Despite of the particularity of specific era, Holden's search for identity and transition can be used as a reference for those people of different times and different nations.