The Catcher in the Rye Theme of Sadness

Sadness permeates The Catcher in the Rye. Main character Holden Caulfield finds nearly everything depressing, from receiving gifts to hearing people say "please." The conclusion drawn, however, is that isolation and alienation from others is the greatest source of unhappiness. The difficulty comes from the fact that escaping this isolation is a battle in itself – one that can often be, unfortunately, quite depressing.

1. Check out all those things that make Holden depressed. Do they have anything in common?
2. Holden is most happy at the end of Chapter Twenty-Five, while he watches Phoebe go around on the carousel. In fact, he's so happy that he's "damn near bawling." What's up with that? Why does this, of all things, make him happy?
3. From the tone of his narration, does Holden sound like he's still sad, now that he's seventeen and telling the story? Or is it more of a, "Sure, I was sad then, but I'm OK now" sort of deal?

Isolation is the greatest source of Holden's melancholy in The Catcher in the Rye.

The more Holden connects to other people in The Catcher in the Rye, the more depressed he becomes.