Holden Caulfield Relationship Essay

Exploring Holden Caulfield’s relationships with his siblings in The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger

It is a common belief in society that the influence of one’s siblings assists in shaping their personality and character. This belief is prevalent in J.D. Salinger’s novel The Catcher in the Rye, particularly in the eyes of protagonist Holden Caulfield. Holden is a troubled teenager who finds himself lost and confused in the ‘real world’. During the story, Holden’s relationships and attitudes towards his three siblings help in shaping his mindset and worldviews. Holden’s relationship with his younger sister, Phoebe, helps explain his desire to maintain childhood innocence. His older brother D.B. represents all the aspects of adulthood that

Holden is constantly thinking about Phoebe. No matter what Holden is doing or where he is, Phoebe always stays on his mind because he loves her so much. Often, Holden thinks about giving Phoebe a call from a phone booth, just to check in on her well-being. When Holden is about to visit the Museum of Natural History in New York City, he decides at the last minute to not enter the museum because Phoebe is not there with him. He says that it just did not appeal to him because he is nostalgic for the memories he had with Phoebe there. Also, Holden is very protective of Phoebe. When Holden finds a notebook of hers, he discovers that bad words and inappropriate drawings are written in it. As a result, Holden becomes angry and lashes out because he believes that the world is corrupting his sister. Lastly, Holden proves his longing to protect Phoebe’s innocence while he watches her ride the carrousel in the park. Holden describes this powerful moment by saying, “I felt so damn happy all of a sudden, the way old Phoebe kept going around and around. I was damn near bawling...she looked so damn nice, the way she kept going around and around.” (Salinger, 233-234). Holden’s beliefs about childhood are conveyed through Phoebe, but his beliefs about adulthood are conveyed through his older brother

Like D.B., Allie is never encountered by Holden during the story, but this is for much different reasons. Allie died from leukemia when he was only eleven years old. Therefore, Holden’s idea of Allie has and will always remain the same as the innocent child he was. Since Allie will never grow up in Holden’s eyes, he will never have to watch Allie become corrupt the way that D.B. did. Allie’s innocence will stay preserved forever, just the way Holden likes it. Holden’s preservation of Allie’s innocence is symbolized in Allie’s old baseball glove that Holden has kept with him. Allie covered the baseball glove with poems written in green ink. This glove obviously represents Holden’s preservation of Allie’s innocence, but also Allie’s authentic uniqueness. Finally, while having a conversation with Phoebe, Holden states that he loves Allie more than anyone even though he has passed away. Phoebe finds this extremely odd. In response, Holden says, “I know [Allie is] dead...I can still like him though, can’t I? Just because somebody’s dead, you don’t just stop liking them...especially if they were about a thousand times nicer than the people you know that’re alive and all.” (189). Holden suggests that Allie is the ideal person to him, innocent, pure and preserved, even if that means that they are dead. Holden’s vision of Allie demonstrates his longing desire of preserving