AN ANALYSIS OF HOLDEN CAULFIELD’S SUPERIORITY COMPLEX IN JEROME DAVID SALINGER’S THE CATHER IN THE RYE

The objectives of this research are to reveal the behavior, causes, and impacts of superiority complex suffered by Holden Caulfield that is appeared in Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye. The objectives are psychology of the main character and the internal conflict. Thus, the researcher analyses the main character using individual psychology by Alfred Adler because it is related with psychology particularly in superiority complex. To analyze the data, the researcher used qualitative approach. The main data are in the forms of expressions related to the research objectives in Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye. The key instrument for collecting the data was the researcher himself. As the main instrument, the researcher took a role as the designer, data collector, data interpreter, and also reporter of the finding of the study. In addition, to ensure trustworthiness of the data, the researcher applied triangulation. There are three findings of the research. The first finding is Holden’s superiority complex behaviors. There are five peculiar behaviors indicating that Holden suffers from superiority complex: giving excuses, aggression, depreciation, accusation, and self-accusation. The second finding is the causes of Holden’s superiority complex. The researcher finds that there are three main causes of Holden’s superiority complex: low social interest, pampered life style, and neglected life style. The last finding is the impact of superiority complex toward Holden’s personality. There are two major impacts that are creating unrealistic goals and having a narrow perspective. Thus, it can be concluded that the protagonist of Salinger’s The Cather in the Rye suffers from mental illness of superiority complex