Examples Of Phoebe's Relationship In Catcher In The Rye

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Every single person has had relationships. Relationships come in several different ways, some are more pleasant than others, but everyone experiences them. Holden from “The Catcher in the Rye” by JD Salinger is no different. Holden has many issues that affect his relationships. Most of his relationships are with girls, including, Jane, the Lavender Girls, and his sister Phoebe. His relationship with Sally and specially Jane is very protective, he doesn’t want them to lose their innocence, while with the Lavender Girls he doesn’t care and even plays with their innocence, but with his sister is different, he wants to protect her, but knows she has to grow up. At the end of the book he discovers he can’t be the Catcher in the Rye, referring …show more content…

He’s very close to Phoebe and he has mostly positive things to say about her. For example: “You never saw a little kid so pretty and smart in your whole life. She’s really smart.” This quote shows how positively Holden sees Phoebe and how he cares for her. He also said very positive things about Jane, who he also cares much about. Later in the book Phoebe was, in a way, responsible for bringing Holden back from the doomed path he chose. “‘You know that song ‘If a body catch a body comin’ thro the rye’? [...] ‘It’s if a body meet a body coming through the rye.’” At that moment, Holden starts to realize that catching a person from falling from innocence to adulthood wasn’t the right thing to do. When he and Phoebe are in Central Park and Phoebe is in the carousel Holden is afraid that Phoebe will fall, but he understands that it’s okay for her to fall because she would be alright. “All the kids kept trying to grab for the gold ring, and so was old Phoebe, and I was sort of afraid she’d fall off the goddam horse, but I didn’t say anything or do anything.[...] If they fall off, they fall off, but it’s bad if you say anything to them.” Holden cares about Phoebe like he does with Jane. He wants to protect her because she’s young and innocent, and he wants to keep it that way, but at this point in the book he realizes he can’t be ‘the Catcher in the Rye’ because he can’t protect them all the time, and it’s