Allie represents childhood. He was Holden's younger brother who died of leukemia at age eleven. Holden adored Allie and his death hurt Holden deeply. In Holden's mind, Allie stays forever young. He is a symbol of the bliss of youth. In Holden's opinion Allie had many good qualities, he was smart, he was patient and "God, he was a nice kid" Holden sees all children like Allie. He loves the way kids are sweet and honest. For most of the book, he wishes for them to stay this way forever and never grow into adults. He represents his desire for permanence with the history museum. "The best thing, though, in that museum was that everything always stayed right where it was." He wants to be the catcher in the field of rye and save kids from falling off the cliff of genuine childhood into the phony adult world. Holden values children so greatly because they are not adults. Children have not entered the corrupt world of bastards and phonies that adults live in. D.B. is Holden's older brother, he represents adulthood because he has become a phony in …show more content…
She is a fourth grader but during her discussion with Holden in her bedroom she demonstrates the perceptive skills of an adult. She realizes that he has been kicked out again and knows what he needs to hear. These two sides combine when she offers to run away with him. She is childish enough to believe things will work out, but mature enough to understand that Holden needs her unconditional love. He shows his newfound maturity by deciding to stay. He realizes that aging is inevitable and expresses this by saying "The thing with kids is, if they want to grab the gold ring, you have to let them do it, and not say anything. If they fall off they fall off, but it's bad if you say anything to them." Phoebe helps Holden realize that kids need to find their own path to adulthood and find their own ways to deal with the phonies and bastards of the