Cite and discuss specific events or passages dealing with the theme of death in J.D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye.

There are two major deadly events that affect Holden in Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye. The first major death is when Holden is 13 years old and his 11 year old brother Allie dies from Leukemia. The second death he experiences at Elkton Hills prep school when a schoolmate, James Castle, jumps out of a window to flee from bullies. Both of these traumatic events happen during Holden's young teen years to children. He's not just dealing with death, but he's dealing with senseless deaths of young boys who had their whole lives ahead of them. Children aren't supposed to die. Wrapping his head around these deaths is almost too much for a young boy to deal with--and he doesn't, in fact. He fails out of schools and has a mental breakdown that lands him in a mental facility in California.

Allie's death is discussed a few times throughout the novel, but events surrounding the death itself are described mostly on pages 38 and 39. Holden's reaction to his brother's death is as follows:

"I slept in the garage the night he died, and I broke all the goddam windows with my fist just for the hell of it. I even tried to break all the windows on the station wagon we had that summer, but my hand was already broken and everything by that time, and I couldn't do it" (38).

Clearly, Holden wasn't handling the death of his brother in a healthy way. And who could really blame him since he was only 13 years old and really looked up to his little brother. This certainly influences his weekend gone AWOL as told in the book.

James Castle's death is described later in the book, but happens prior to the narration of the story. Apparently, Holden was in the shower when James jumped out of the window and he describes it as follows:

"I put on my bathrobe and ran downstairs too, and there was old James Castle laying right on the stone steps and all. He was dead, and his teeth, and blood, were all over the place, and nobody would even go near him. He had on this turtleneck sweater I'd lent him. All they did with the guys in the room with him was expel them. They didn't even go to jail" (170).

Here are two major experiences with death that poor Holden has as a young teenager. No wonder he has mental breakdowns! Back then, mental stress wasn't discussed or treated as well as it is today. He may have received better help in today's world.