Holden is clearly struggling to find meaning within his life, as he cannot find it in his schoolwork, his relationships, or in his environment. This is shown when Holden vents his frustrations with the world during his date with Sally Hayes. Holden yells:
“Did you ever get fed up? I mean did you ever get scared that everything was going to go lousy, and all that stuff?...well, I hate [school]. But it isn't just that. It's everything. I hate living in New York and all. Taxicabs, and Madison Avenue buses with the drivers and all always yelling at you to get out the rear door, and being introduced to phony guys…and going up and down in elevators when you just want to go outside…” (Salinger 130).
It is evident that Holden is more than just mildly annoyed. He begins the date elated, at least for Holden's standards, and ends by calling her “a royal pain in the ass” (Salinger 133). Holden isn't usually a rude person; he is shown being very polite to the nuns, for example, and even donating money to the Church when he has admitted to being an atheist. Holden is losing any sense of enjoyment he had in every area of his life, and when Sally doesn't take well to his ramblings, he loses pleasure from her as well.
Holden may not explicitly be thinking of suicide, but he is flirting with the idea of his own demise. After Holden leaves the bar where he got wildly drunk, he begins to wonder if he could die from pneumonia, like his brother Allie. Holden states about his possible death,
“I felt sorry as hell for my mother and father. Especially my mother, because she still isn't over my brother Allie yet. I kept picturing her not knowing what to do with all my suits and athletic equipment and all. The only good thing, I knew she wouldn't let old Phoebe come to my goddam funeral because she was only a little kid. That was the only good part” (Salinger 155).
Luckily, Holden seems to view his death as a negative event. He seems to feel a lot of empathy for his family, who would understandably be devastated by the death of a second son, the same way he does throughout the novel. However, it is still concerning how far into detail he imagines the world without him, and it could potentially escalate to something much more dangerous.