Holden’s younger brother, Allie, has died of leukemia. There is no “right” way of coping with such a tragic reality within a family, but Holden takes an unhealthy approach, by breaking things and using his fists rather than his words. “I slept in the garage the night he died and I broke all the goddamn windows with my fists, just for the hell of it” (Salinger 38). Holden is terrified of accepting his brother has died. He does not know what to do or how to respond. He uses violence to help him avoid directly facing his brother’s death. Holden later admits that he was not at the funeral of his brother, due to the injury he sustained to his hand. “I wasn’t there. I was still in the hospital. I had to go to the hospital and all after I hurt my hand” (155). Holden does not want to face the reality of his brother’s death and see him lying there in the coffin, so he deliberately injures his hand and terrorizes his own home to allow him to run away from the tragic situation of Allie’s
Holden’s younger brother, Allie, has died of leukemia. There is no “right” way of coping with such a tragic reality within a family, but Holden takes an unhealthy approach, by breaking things and using his fists rather than his words. “I slept in the garage the night he died and I broke all the goddamn windows with my fists, just for the hell of it” (Salinger 38). Holden is terrified of accepting his brother has died. He does not know what to do or how to respond. He uses violence to help him avoid directly facing his brother’s death. Holden later admits that he was not at the funeral of his brother, due to the injury he sustained to his hand. “I wasn’t there. I was still in the hospital. I had to go to the hospital and all after I hurt my hand” (155). Holden does not want to face the reality of his brother’s death and see him lying there in the coffin, so he deliberately injures his hand and terrorizes his own home to allow him to run away from the tragic situation of Allie’s