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Is Holden Caulfield an INFP?

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#21 ·
Last semester I had the opportunity to diagnose Holden Caulfield in a paper for my Abnormal Psychology class in Uni. Definitely Borderline Personality Disorder. But with regards to INFP, in my opinion, he is one. He is a feeler, overwhelmed with the phony people in the world. It pains him so much to see the words 'fuck you' written on the wall in his little sister Pheobe's school. It pains him so much that he pictures himself bashing the guys head in. He wants to smudge it off, but he feels so defeated to do it. He wants to save kids from falling of the clift while they are playing in the rye. He desires to be the catcher. To save the innocent. He has a good heart, but just a bit messed up. His emotions swing from feeling love to feeling rejected and hate. The type of personality that he has makes him vulnerable to mood and personality disorders.
 
#25 ·
I say that Holden Caulfield is an INFJ, an unhealthy one. Ni and Ti, to an introverted extent, mimics the shadow Fi. Without Extroverted Feeling (known as the fake function) to balance out the INFJ, there's no way he can get out of the Fi shadow funk, unless Fe is allowed to go out (which happened with a mental breakdown at the end of the book). Look at Edgar Allen Poe, and see what happened to him. And also, Henry David Thoreau.

Inferior Extroverted sensing is noticeable based on the physical appearance of Edgar Allen Poe and Henry David Thoreau. And look at how Holden would go around the city smoking and in bad shape.

High Introvert: Ni + Ti : Fi shadow

Can identify with ISTP, ISFP, INFP, ISFJ, INTJ, INTP descriptions
 
#26 ·
When I read it years ago I wondered whether he was an INFJ. I thought this simply because he seemed to have a lot of conviction behind his cynical judgments. I never felt that certain about my cynicism - not when I was younger anyway - everything was always maybe/maybe not. I couldn't hate with certainty.


That said, I really identified with the middle section - the catcher dream. That was wonderful!

And as others have said, the reality/idealism clash -that I have really struggled with myself - is really at a head in that book. I now suspect he is an INFP.

I still can't work out whether Salinger was INFP or INFJ, some things just throw me off. I'm leaning more toward INFP though.

Damn he can write really well. Check out Raise the Roof Beams High, Carpenters.
 
#29 ·
So far I have tried reading the first few chapters of the book, feeling the character and the book themes are so sombre in nature...Would anyone be able to tell me if the book gets any better from Holdens perspective or if the book has any defining highlights worth reading?
 
#30 ·
I LOVED Catcher in the Rye when I read it for school sophomore year- a lot of people I knew hated it because they found it depressing, but what kept me engaged was Holden's bitterly entertaining sarcasm. All the observations he had about situations and people reminded me of me, and made me laugh out loud because of them. So, being an INFP myself, I wouldn't be surprised if Holden was one, too. All the celebrities and fictional characters I've always had a special unspoken connection with turned out to be INFP's, so it wouldn't be in the least bit shocking that Holden Caulfield, one of my sarcastic heroes, was also one. He's very in his own head, which is just something INFP's do.
 
#31 ·
I don't think it's possible to type Holden Caulfield. He's clearly mentally ill. (Like, @arwen7 I had to do an assignment diagnosing him, I said PSTD due to his brother's death, most other people just went with depression.) With this said, who knows how he would truly act like if his wires weren't so tangled. He could be an unhealthy ESTJ for all we know. I will say that he does act like an INFP throughout the book; it seems like Fi is his dominant function for reasons already mentioned.
 
#32 ·
lycanized said:
I've heard he's INTP actually haha

And reading it, he doesn't seem like much of an INFP...in my opinion, definite I, definite N...but not much of a feeler
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It seems like he's quite the feeler to me. This actually baffles me. After Strahdlater takes that girl he likes he overreacts and tries to sock him. He's crying often, and constantly wavering back and forth between liking someone or thinking they're a goddamn moron.

Feeling sorry for old Spencer about how he's so old, and wondering what he lives for. He brings up Allie's mitt, and tells the story how he broke every window in the goddamn garage when he died.

He gets along with his sister, who is only a goddamn kid. He hardly does any homework except English, a natural INFP move. When it comes to girls he seems to be highly irrational, and quick to perceive something they do as a turn-off.

Perhaps I've misunderstood most of the book, but I felt like Holden was a volatile emotionally charged mess. INTP or INFP it is still one of my favorite books.
 
#34 ·
i can understand those who type holden as intp, but i definitely recognize him as infp, for the following reasons:
-the reason that he is experiencing depression and suicidal thoughts is because the world he is in (i.e. pencey prep and other all boy private schools) have an extreme lack of sensitivity in their environment. as a feeler, holden has no way to express this in a way that is socially acceptable
-men in this time are expected to be manly etc, and so, the way that holden speaks is him trying to be "acceptable," and whenever he has thoughts that do not fit with this expectation, he tries to tone them down. "it's not like i dont wanna have sex, i just have to you know, actually like her first." (which would strike me as basic human decency, but apparently not, as holden has to downplay it.)
-he does obviously see the good in people, but he is only able to display this under a false name/situation. like when he speaks to that kid's mother and says he is the janitor at pencey, i would have to guess that these are thoughts that holden really has about people, but he cannot share them, as they do not fit with the manly facade that he has to put down. he obviously is able to see the good in people, otherwise, what would the point be of sharing these things with complete strangers? sharing them with strangers is an outlet to his F.
-he is a childlike person, hence his obsession with children, which is common in infps.
-he has a distinct refusal to grow up, which is also common in infps
-all in all i would say that holden is a sensitive person in a world in which sensitivity isn't an okay thing to have, and thus, that is how his mental state came to be in such shambles. the cruel jokes he makes are a result of cynicism that comes from a world in which holden's character has been rejected.
obviously i love catcher in the rye, and have read it only twice, but i have studied it very closely each time. holden is one of my favorite fictional characters, and catcher is my favorite book. i could be over-analyzing things or whatever, and as you can tell, i didn't provide direct quotes (though if you'd like i can point out the sections i referenced, i have the book right here), and to thoroughly prove holden as an infp i would have to find facts about infps as a type instead of just "this is common" etc...
i also agree that holden's mental state makes it harder to type him, but i think that we can use his type to figure out why he has come into that mental state at all.
 
#35 ·
Cyberbear said:
he was a MORON. that's what i thought back when i was seventeen and unaware that i'm INFP. and i still think he is one and should not be praised as a role model or whatever. plus he was a gay - he had a damn good radar thru the book and couldn't bang that slut.
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of course holden shouldnt be a role model. he was mentally disturbed and thus his opinions are skewed, but i do not think that salinger wrote catcher in order to have holden praised. he rejected the book after it gained popularity. i think this is because jd salinger did not want commentary like this on his novel. he wrote holden so that we could understand and sympathize with a personality that doesnt fit correctly with the world, and trying to fit holden in with a society that doesn't fit around him is exactly what we are not supposed to do.
aside from that, it doesn't really matter if he was gay or not. there's not really enough evidence to support that. his "radar" is because he has been trained in it (remember the "flitty" guy he invited to the bar?) and the fact that he couldn't have sex with the prostitute is because at that point holden was reaching out to anyone he could find, but he wanted to talk on an emotional level, not on a physical level, which is another example of how, throughout the novel, holden tries to make connections with anyone he can, but it only serves to injure him more, mentally, because the people he reaches out to are the exact wrong people.
 
#36 ·
I do think he's an INFP.

But I didn't like that book at all. It just seemed like a pretentious, hypocritical rant about "phonies," by a self-absorbed man who treats others with contempt and then wonders why no one cares about him.

If it's any consolation, I think most INFPs are better people than him. And there are some truly awful INFJs out there. Holden just isn't one of them.
 
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#37 · (Edited)
I adore this book but I'd go troubled INTJ or INTP. He jumps to conclusions an awful lot and his feelings towards things that occurred in his childhood are suppressed and come out in different ways. I'm pretty sure he has manic depression or maybe just depression and many people with depression are mistyped as INFPs. His obsession with feelings of loneliness are as a result of his depression. Thinkers are capable of deep feeling and Fi is shared with INTJ's.
 
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#38 ·
Jaytheinfp said:
It seems like he's quite the feeler to me. This actually baffles me. After Strahdlater takes that girl he likes he overreacts and tries to sock him. He's crying often, and constantly wavering back and forth between liking someone or thinking they're a goddamn moron.

Feeling sorry for old Spencer about how he's so old, and wondering what he lives for. He brings up Allie's mitt, and tells the story how he broke every window in the goddamn garage when he died.

He gets along with his sister, who is only a goddamn kid. He hardly does any homework except English, a natural INFP move. When it comes to girls he seems to be highly irrational, and quick to perceive something they do as a turn-off.

Perhaps I've misunderstood most of the book, but I felt like Holden was a volatile emotionally charged mess. INTP or INFP it is still one of my favorite books.
Click to expand...
A lot of teenagers are volatile emotionally charged messes. I was one myself
 
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#39 ·
Really do think he is INFJ. He seems to express his values in terms of human interaction which is an Fe thing. He doesnt at all seem to have the universal, objecive values of an infp. Ni also seems likelier than Ne: his intuition is an internal process that isn't as directly related to the world as an INFP's Ne.

Of course, I read it over 10 years ago...
 
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LeafStew
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