Three seconds remain in the tied basketball game. The point guard shoots and scores right before the buzzer sounds off. I bet for a long time, that player worked hard in the gym to practice and perfect his shooting for game time situations like that. It just goes to show that nothing great can ever be achieved without hard work. Holden Caulfield from The Catcher In The Rye, however, does not quite understand this saying. In the story, Holden does not apply himself to his education at Pencey Prep, which results in his expulsion from school.
Throughout the story, Holden, as well as a few other characters, represent the terms expressed in Freud’s Theory of Personality known as the id, superego, and ego. According to Freud, the id operates on the pleasure principle and serves as the storage area for our desires. In The Catcher In The Rye, Holden plays a big part in the id. “I even tried to break all the windows on the station wagon we had that summer, but my hand was already broken by that time. ” (Chapter 5) This line expresses Holden’s id very well.
After Holden gets expelled from school, he decides to check into a hotel for a couple of days instead of going straight home for Christmas break. At the hotel, he serves as the id because he is able to do whatever he wants such as go to nightclubs, drink, smoke, and request a prostitute. Holden also represents the id in school. In the classroom, Holden neglected his assignments and never bothered to pay attention. As a result, he got kicked out of school due to failing grades, something he never cared about anyway.
The next component of Freud’s Theory, the superego, acts as your conscience because it keeps you from performing the activities the Id wants to do. Holden’s little sister, Phoebe, represents the superego by far. “That’s all I’d do all day. I’d just be the catcher in the rye and all. I know it’s crazy. ” (Chapter 22) This line expresses Holden’s superego very well. As Holden walks around town late at night, he decides to sneak into his apartment building to visit Phoebe. After he wakes her up, he tells her about his expulsion from school, at which she becomes angry towards him.
Phoebe acts as the Superego here because of how much Holden loves her and always tries to act as the best big brother possible. He considers her the only reason he wants to do better for himself. Mr. Spencer, Holden’s history teacher, acts as the superego as well. For Holden, school served as the only place where he had to actually follow some rules, and Mr. Spencer was one of the people that enforced them. Even after Holden receives expulsion from school, Mr. Spencer still scolds him for his lack of commitment to his schoolwork, but Holden does not stick around to listen.
Finally, the last term conveyed in Freud’s Theory is the ego. The ego makes the decisions and compromises between the ld and Superego. Jane Gallagher, Holden’s old companion, and Sunny, the prostitute, make a good representation of the ego. “Certain things they should stay the way they are. You ought to be able to stick them in one of those big glass cases and just leave them alone. ” (Chapter 16) This line describes Holden’s ego very well. While staying at the hotel, Holden thinks about the times he spent with Jane and how they got close to one another.
He also remembers a time when they were alone on her porch and they kissed. Jane portrays the ego here because Holden decides not to make any further advances towards her. He respected her and did not want to make her feel any more uncomfortable. Meanwhile, during his stay at the hotel, Holden requests a prostitute, Sunny, to come to his room. Sunny also serves as the ego because when she attempts to seduce him, he gets tense and decides to make conversation with her instead. After she gets annoyed and decides to leave, Holden pays her anyway.
In conclusion, Holden, as well as a few other characters, from The Catcher In The Rye represent the terms expressed in Freud’s Theory of Personality known as the dd, superego, and ego. Looking back on the situations involving Holden, he most definitely has trouble fitting into society. We should never expect affairs to go easy for us without putting in the work required. Sometimes it is okay to turn rebellious in order to get a point across, but sooner or later, we just have to persevere and obey orders.