Does Holden have a character arc? What does that character arc say about loneliness and depression?

Some people like Holden, some people hate him, but everyone agrees that he's depressed.

“I felt so lonesome, all of a sudden. I almost wished I was dead.” (26)

“Boy, did I feel rotten. I felt so damn lonesome.” (26)

“I got feeling so lonesome and rotten, I even felt like waking Ackley up.” (27)

“It made me too sad and lonesome.” (28)

“What made it worse, it was so quiet and lonesome out, even though it was Saturday night.” (44) - beginning of chapter 12

“It makes you feel so lonesome and depressed.” (44)

“Anyway, it made me feel depressed and lousy again, and I damn near got my coat back and went back to the hotel, but it was too early, and I didn't feel much like being all alone.” (46)

"’Have just one more drink,’ I told him. ‘Please. I'm lonesome as hell. No kidding.’” (80)

“I was crying and all. I don't know why, but I was. I guess it was because I was feeling so damn depressed and lonesome.” (82)​

For some, this helps them understand the negative things he’s said, mainly the screaming at Sally about their future and insulting her and the god-awful conversation with Luce. For others, it doesn’t. Most people like Holden in the beginning and lose a connection to him as he gets more depressed and starts acting weirdly. Similarly, the information we learn about James Castle also clouds the way we perceive him at the end of the book. In what ways does Holden truly change throughout the book, and in what ways has he really been the same throughout? Has he had some character development, despite the most “obvious”/jarring episodes in the novel occurring later on? I’ll attempt to answer this question a little bit by going back to the first couple of chapters and trying to “recognize” the Holden at the end with the Holden pictured there.  ​

At the beginning of the novel, I thought Holden’s style was upbeat. I thought the sarcasm and the judgment were either justified (in the case of phonies at Pencey) or just a joke (in the case of football and committing suicide). Looking back, you can see the roots of his discontents start to foreshadow his mental breakdown later on, as well as some happier thoughts. After he talks about how phony and fake Pencey is, he mentions how nice it was to throw a football around with two friends. On the same page, he says, “After I got across the road, I felt like I was sort of disappearing. It was that kind of a crazy afternoon, terrifically cold, and no sun out or anything, and you felt like you were disappearing every time you crossed a road.” (3) At the very end of the book, he comes back to these thoughts, right as he’s deciding to quit everything and hitchhike his way out West. At the end of the book, he adds that he talks to Allie as he crosses these streets and begs him not to let him disappear (103). I didn’t even remember that line when I read it the first time, but now we can see he already feels like he has no anchor in his life. As he’s leaving his third (?) prep school, we know he considers himself a nomad, and he doesn’t care about what he does or where he goes. This becomes a frequent theme, and in a way, it's the plot of the entire book. Holden makes fantasies of escaping his situation by physically moving away and living in quasi-isolation (e.g., cabin with Sally, going out West, Catcher in the Rye), and we can see he is already tending towards this behavior when he runs across Route 204 to get to Mr. Spencer’s house.

Again, right at the end of chapter two, Mr. Spencer tells him, “good luck,” and he mentions how much he hates it (9). I don’t mind it particularly, but I thought it was an amusing “edgy” comment and reflected on how “good luck” can really be an ominous thing to say. At the end of the book, the secretary of Phoebe’s school also tells him “good luck” as he leaves, and he has the same reaction. These parallel situations show that Holden is still very uncomfortable when he thinks about his future, and it makes him feel more anxious when people tell him “good luck” in such a vague and broad sense. Of course, the last chapter also plays a role in Holden’s “stance,” but before then, it doesn’t seem like Holden feels any more avoidant towards his future.​

One argument for the idea that Holden really loses “character development” over the course of the novel is that in the beginning, he seems to get along with the people around him. Even when he’s lying to Mr. Spencer, he’s being “charismatic” in a way and saying what he has to say to make an unpleasant experience as pleasant as possible. Similarly, his interactions with Stradlater and Ackley seem friendly and bro-y as well. Even if people didn’t like his inner monologue, they could still have some positive feelings about Holden because he seems like a nice guy to be around (although Stradlater might find him a bit annoying). After all, he invites Ackley out when he doesn’t have to, and he goes to Mr. Spencer’s when he doesn’t have to either. His narrative of himself and Jane Gallagher also makes him seem like a decent guy. Even in the mid-section of the book, his interactions with Mrs. Morrow and the nuns are positive, at least from Mrs. Morrow’s and the nuns’ perspectives in the moment. Maurice and Sunny are a different story because they are the villains, so they’re excluded from this. Only after he’s spent a couple of days on his own and he’s feeling more depressed, lonely, and lost does he really start to become a guy you don’t want to be around. Sally is clearly scared and disturbed by his outburst of hate for everything and his cabin proposition. Then, Luce is clearly trying his best to hold on as much as possible for Holden’s sake, but he also has to go because Holden asks such wildly inappropriate questions over and over. Only when he finally talks to Phoebe again does he begin to recover “normal” conversation skills.​

All in all, lots of people say they lose touch with Holden halfway through the book and that he becomes “an asshole” pretty much. I have to agree with that, solely based on the stuff he says to Sally and Luce. I also consider that perhaps his outburst to Sally happened because he had been holding things in for so long with no real support system or even routine socializing (like Stradlater and Ackley provided). I honestly can’t understand Holden’s behavior with Luce, but I know it has something to do with depression and loneliness.

I think what Salinger is trying to express in this novel is that loneliness and depression can change people’s behavior for the worse, causing them to push others away when they need them most.

*my page numbers are very off since I’m using a pdf instead of my physical copy since I lost it