A Study Of Holden Caulfield's Self-construction From The Perspective Of Psychological Trauma

The adolescent identity has been a main concern of many writers for a long time.J.D.Salinger has been one of the most distinguished American writer in the twentieth century.He writes many controversial works focusing on adolescents.His description of adolescent alienation and loneliness is extremely impressive,especially among adolescent readers.J.D.Salinger' s The Catcher in the Rye is about a young man Holden Caulfield's struggles in a social world of corruptionin.In this novel,Holden represents young people who have an identity crisis as a result of having been traumatized in the past.By depicting Holden's current condition and attitude toward life,Salinger discloses the young protagonist's identity crisis,which can be said to be a general problem of many adolescents.Holden Caulfield presents his own insecurities and loss of innocence through his vulgar speech and behaviors in the novel.Having suffered from traumatic memories and an identity crisis,Holden experiences difficulties in constructing a new identity for himself.This thesis uses Erik Erikson's theory to explore the causes of Holden's self-identity crisis,and analyzes Holden's strategies of self-construction in order to cure traumatic memories.It also discusses the results of his efforts in identity construction.The reasons of Holden' s identity crisis are shown in the first chapter,which mainly discusses his paradoxical sense of identity and role confusion;his struggling feeling about relinquishing his innocent world and about having to deal with social corruption in his adolescence.Holden presents his own insecurities and almost complete isolation from his family and phony school.Due to these factors,he ventures an intimate encounter with unknown girls in the hotel.In Holden's opinion,he has big challenges in adapting to social life.Then second chapter analyzes the strategies of Holden's self-construction from three different aspects,in order to understand how he attempts to achieve psychological growth and to balance himself between his innocent values and the corrupt social circumstances.It aims to analyze his efforts to attain a balance between a fragmental self and the status of regression,efforts that mark a primary step toward getting back to normal life.Retelling traumatic memories is the first way for traumatized people to recover.Holden bravely retells his traumatic experiences,which rescues him from the frequent haunting by them.Holden also gains enough power from his siblings,Allie and Phoebe,to face the traumatized past,which is his second strategy.Reconnecting with the outside world is another important strategy for Holden's self-construction.Holden's decision to go back to his school suggests he will reconnect himself with others.The third chapter explores the results of Holden's self-construction.Participating in family life is the first result of self-construction on his identity.After getting in touch with family again,he plans to return to his school and get along with his roommates.Stimulated by others,Holden gains enough power to face his traumatized past and decides to make a better and meaningful life.Through analyzing Holden's transition from identity crisis to identity reconstruction,this thesis attempts to demonstrate teenagers'puzzles and difficulties in the adolescent period.Only when they,like Holden,work through past traumas and establish their values in social life can they construct their identity successfully.