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Inspiring Holden
Keith Gaynor with the first in an occasional series giving a psychological perspective on fictional characters.
18 February 2005
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In J.D. Salinger's book The Catcher in the Rye (1951) Holden Caulfield struggles through the beginnings of a mental breakdown over several traumatic days in New York. Finally he begins to recount his tale from a psychiatric institution. For several generations of readers Holden has been a symbol of adolescent angst and insight. Holden Caulfield inspired many in psychology to try and catch those running through the rye before they fell.
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