Holden's Imposter Syndrome
After leaving Pencey and recklessly running around New York, I can imagine Holden finally making up his mind to become the better version of himself. In the final chapters where Phoebe becomes a huge part of the story, Holden realizes that maybe there is more to his life than just calling everyone phony. Over and over again, we see Holden comply with everything that Phoebe tells him to do. This unconditional love for someone in his life kind of grounds him so that he doesn’t lose himself in his wild thoughts again. I think to extend the novel, he eventually gets diagnosed with imposter syndrome by Carl Luce's dad, the psychoanalyst mentioned at the end of the book.
During the interaction between Carl Luce and Holden, Holden demonstrates a rare interest that he had in Old Luce’s life which we have never seen with other characters. Throughout the entire conversation, Holden was trying to interrogate Luce’s personal life without thinking that he was being his own kind of phony. With these annoyed responses from Luce, “Must we go on with this insane conversation?” and “Let’s drop it,” we can definitely see that Holden is persistent about knowing Luce’s life (Salinger 190). By the end of the night, Luce brings up the idea of his psychoanalyst father, which Holden considers carefully (Salinger 192). I think it is important to mention that this is the first time he has accepted advice from someone in the book, so there is a big potential for the next part of his coming-of-age journey to start in the office of this psychoanalyst.
I have a strong belief that after the visits with the psychoanalyst, Holden will finally start to understand his own identity rather than the various personas he adopted throughout the beginning of the novel. Every time we discussed the honesty behind Holden’s narration, it might have been just another character that he was trying to be. I think with the diagnosis of his imposter syndrome, he can ultimately appreciate his life and maybe even leave the grief of Allie behind him. I believe the pivotal moment for Holden was the time that he stayed out in the rain while Phoebe rode the carousel. Salinger described the scene in such a way that Holden was rediscovering himself as the rain poured down, washing away the past. We can also see a dramatic shift in his narrative voice in the last paragraph of the last chapter. His thoughts are finally raw and clear as he shares sentimental thoughts, “All I know is, I sort of miss everybody I told about” and “I think I even miss that goddamn Maurice” (Salinger 277).
I agree with the final piece of the book providing good closure for Holden. It was incredibly important for him to realize he did have a place with his family and that something in the world does matter. At the end of the book, to my understanding, he was receiving treatment for a physical health issue instead of his mental health. Hopefully though he does indeed see a psychoanalyst or someone else to help him.
ReplyDeleteI really like the way you extend the novel by imagining what happens (or what could have happened) after the ending, especially with the idea of Holden being diagnosed with imposter syndrome. I think that kind of concept fits really well with how he keeps shifting personalities and never seems comfortable with who he actually is. I also agree with your point about Carl Luce; Holden's fixation on Luce's personal life does feel like a moment where he's almost projecting his own confusion without realizing it. I think you did a good job choosing the rain and carousel scene, as a kind of "cleansing" moment; it works well with your argument!
ReplyDeleteHi Helen,
ReplyDeleteI love the way you describe Holden's mental unraveling and the potential moments in time where he seemingly regained his insanity. I wonder, however, if Holden's diagnosis is simply imposter syndrome. Could he also be suffering an especially severe bout of derealization (a loss of identity and grasp on the real world) combined with depression (loss of interest in people in the world)? Or his he simply schizophrenic? While I hesitate to even suggest a diagnosis, I feel like the prospect is at least highly interesting.
Initially, the moment when Luce reminds Holden that he's been advising him to get psychoanalyzed for years reads like a simple joke: this guy has been "crazy" for a while, and we get some context for what Luce considers a "typical Caulfield conversation." But you note how, despite Holden blowing off Luce in most ways, this final suggestion DOES maybe get through to him. By the very end of the novel, he does refer to "this one psychoanalyst guy" at the clinic or whatever out west, and TALKING is of course central to psychoanalytic practice. So it is indeed possible to read the novel itself as a kind of extended therapy session, with Holden "on the couch" telling his story to a sympathetic and affirming analyst. Perhaps he will be able now to see the "patterns of his mind," as Luce advises. Is this related to Antolini talking about the "size" of Holden's mind? Maybe. But READERS can certainly see "patterns" in Holden's behavior, and it makes sense that analysis could help him acknowledge these. (One pattern he does seem to discern is that talking about this stuff has made him "miss everybody"--that's maybe something to build on in therapy. "Tell me, Holden, how does it make you FEEL when you realize you even miss old Maurice?")
ReplyDeleteI like the idea that Carl Luce's dad could mark the beginning of Holden accepting help. The fact that Holden even considers seeing a psychoanalyst, I agree is big, since he spends most of the novel rejecting advice and pushing people away. I also agree that Phoebe has this huge impact on Holden and is probably big reason why he wants to change. I think your point about imposter syndrome is interesting especially since he constantly judging others as "phonies" when he is pretty phony himself. I also hope that Holden finds self-understanding and heals with his time at the mental insitution and hopefully that sequel for Catcher in the Rye comes out soon.
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