Sexual Trauma in The Catcher in the Rye Essay Example

In the novel The Catcher in The Rye by J.D Salinger, Holden’s greatest and most impactful setback is the sexual trauma he has endured; he has repressed it, but it is the foundation of his longing for intimacy and the cause of his inability to have meaningful relationships with those around him. 

Although never explicitly stated until the near end of the book, Holden’s underlying sexual trauma can be seen in the ways he simultaneously craves and rejects both emotional and physical intimacy. While waiting for the prostitute offered to him by Maurice, Holden sits and reflects upon the moral dilemma he has during a previous experience at Pencey. He thinks to himself,  “They tell me to stop, so I stop. I always wish I hadn’t, after I take them home, but I keep doing it anyway” (Salinger 121). Holden’s desire to continue is him wanting to conform to society’s view of normalcy to combat the abnormality that is what happened to him and creates separation from what he has endured. Still, his trauma continues to hold him back and prevents him from receiving the pleasure he so badly wants. In addition, Once Sunny arrives at Holden’s hotel room, he observes her behaviour after a failed attempt at small talk and notices that, “She was very nervous for a prostitute. She really was. I think it was because she was young as hell. She was around my age” (Salinger 123). Holden’s ability to identify how her age may contribute to her anxiousness during their encounter demonstrates how his traumatizing experience from a young age allowed him to empathize with Sunny’s situation and no longer want to be physically intimate with her. As a result of his sexual trauma, Holden cannot fulfil his longing for intimacy and instead rejects it. 

Not only does the damage from Holden’s past contribute to his longing for sexual relationships despite consistently keeping sex an arms distance away. His trauma has also tainted his idea of a healthy, emotionally intimate relationship. During the aftermath of the uncomfortable experience he had with Mr Antolini, Holden begins to spiral to the point where “The more I thought about it, the more depressed I got. I mean I started thinking about how maybe I should’ve gone back to his house. Maybe he was only patting my head for the hell of it” (Salinger 253). The way Holden is in denial about Mr Antolini’s true intentions showcases how his trauma prohibits him from recognizing what unhealthy relationships look like, which in turn causes his inability to be emotionally intimate with others. Furthermore, once Holden gets back to his family’s apartment, after a brief argument with Phoebe, she questions him about what he’d like to do with his life, to which Holden responds, “I’m standing at the edge of some crazy cliff. What I have to do, I have to catch everybody if they start to go over the cliff– I mean, they’re running, and they don’t look where they’re going. I have to come out from somewhere and catch them. That’s all I’d do all day, I’d be the catcher in the rye and all” (Salinger 224). The sexual trauma that Holden faced at such a young age stripped him of his innocence and purity. Which in turn caused him to want to protect those that he views as “pure”  from experiencing something similar. Still, this desire causes him to retract from all forms of emotional intimacy as it forces him to come to terms with the fact that he cannot save everyone the way he needs to be saved.