Holden Caulfield, A Jungian Analysis
Holden Caulfield, in The Catcher in The Rye by J.D Salinger, is not your typical archetype. He seems to be neither a hero or a villain in his story. He instead seems to act as both. A prime example of this is shown with his constant battle with himself being the major conflict of interest in the book. Throughout the book we see his good and bad: the ‘forgets the fencing equipment Holden’ and the ‘too kind to lose his virginity Holden’. Both those examples aren’t extremes in their natures, yet they still slide to one side of the good or bad spectrum, but they are ultimately grey areas, an example of Holden’s nature, a man in the grey.
To understand and consider both sides of this idea its important to first understand he terms connected with it. An archetype is, “in literary criticism, a primordial image, character, or pattern of circumstances that recurs throughout literature and thought consistently enough to be considered a universal concept or situation” (“Archetype”). Carl Jung a famous psychologist is responsible for the theory of the archetype One Dr. C. George Boeree clarified Jung’s theory in his article entitled “Carl Jung 1875–1961.” He suggests that in order to completely understand archetypes in Jung’s theory, we first must recognize his theory of the collective unconscious. This theory implies that there are experiences and knowledge that all of humanity is born with. Because everyone has this innate knowledge, we have archetypes, or “unlearned tendencies to experience things in a certain way” (Boeree 5). Archetypes are all around us, built into our society literally and figuratively, seen in statues, decorations and folk stories.
But just as they will be in society they will be in literature. And so it must be understood then what type of archetype Holden Caulfield is. Most literature contains a hero archetype, a strong, courageous character that is almost perfect except for one small flaw that acts as his or her weakness. Holden seems to be an anti-hero, a person with constant weaknesses.
Holden is also an anti-hero because of his many character flaws and quirks that make him who heis, but I think this is what makes him such a lovable character. His insecurities make him a hero that feels human. When asked by Stradlater to write his essay for him Holden does and even then Stradlater gets angry at him for doing it wrong
“You always do everything back***wards… You don’t do one d*** thing the way you’re supposed to” (Salinger 41)
Holden always tries to help people, but no one appreciates his unique way of doing things, he is greatly misunderstood and underappreciated.
There is still yet another part of Jung’s theory of archetypes that relates to Holden. He holds that in our archetypal selves, we each have a persona, shadow, and anima.
In literature, the persona is the image that the character shows to others. It can be the best part of them showing, or just the part that they want everyone to see. Holden puts on the persona of a person ‘too cool for school’ he acts as though he doesn’t care about anything when it so obvious that he is such a selfless person After observing a couple next to him and listening to their conversation, he decides that they’re obnoxious and has no respect for them, but he still feels inferior on the inside
“I certainly began to feel like a prize horse’s ***, though, sitting there all by myself” (Salinger 86)
The shadow is the opposite, it’s the part of someone that they hide. AS dark as it sounds its not necessarily evil. It’s basically the side of the character that he’s ashamed of. We have seen that Holden hides his insecurities, he sincerely cares about people, he was just born in a time where feminine characteristics are disliked in men.
The anima is the driving force of a person. It is usually either a person or the feminine side of someone. Holden has both, he clearly has a feminine side with him being much more affectionate and insecure than others but I think his main acting one is his little sister, Phoebe.
It is clear that Phoebe Caulfield is an anima to Holden. Whenever he talks about her he constantly mentions how great she is.
“You should see her. You never saw a little kid so pretty and smart in you’re whole life” (Salinger 67).
At one point he talks about her for more than two pages. He debates on whether or not he should call her and decides not to because his mother might pick up. He clearly loves her, she drives him to be better.
Holden is stuck between worlds. He is stuck between adulthood, and childhood, stuck between acting like a man, and facing his insecurities, he is stuck between being the villain in his story and the hero. Holden like anyone, is not in a world of black or white but instead a forever grey. Holden Caulfield cannot be defined to a specific archetype, just as no one can.
