Phoebe In The Rye, By J. D. Salinger

In chapter 21 Holden returns home two days early because he wants to say his goodbyes to Phoebe, when arriving at his family's apartment he walks over to Phoebe’s room and sees that she is not there, he then goes to D.B’s room to find her sleeping. Before deciding to wake up Phoebe, Holden sits in D.B’s room and looks at his brother’s desk and says “You ought to see her doing her homework or something at that crazy desk. It’s almost as big as the bed. You can hardly see her when she’s doing her homework. That’s the kind of stuff she likes, though” (Salinger 175-176). Phoebe is a smart, strong and a confident young woman. Phoebe redefines stereotypes by being intelligent which is one of the traits that Holden admires throughout the course of the novel. Phoebe embodies such a conception of perfection by being intelligent that she becomes an ideal for Holden as he thinks highly of

The relationship between Holden and Phoebe forms a major theme that the novel aims to deliver. The fact that he is having this conversation with Phoebe, a child who is anything but simple and innocent, reveals the oversimplification of his worldview. Holden himself realizes this to a degree when he acknowledges that his idea is “crazy”, yet he cannot come up with anything more pragmatic; he has trouble seeing the world in any other way. His “catcher in the rye” fantasy reflects his innocence, his belief in pure, uncorrupted youth, and his desire to protect that spirit. On the other hand, it represents his extreme disconnection from reality and his naïve view of the world. Phoebe exposes to Holden a living embodiment of childhood. And it is a scene with her where she exposes to Holden the illogical nature of his supervisory actions, indicating that his desire to preserve her innocence will only halt her own inevitable development. Phoebe is the Greek word for “protector of children” (Bloom 2009, p185). Within the novel she is Holden’s protector. She comforts him, provides him with financial security, and protects him from getting in trouble with their mother. Reiff describes this reversal of roles between Holden and Phoebe as “Now, instead of saving the world by protecting the children, Holden wants to reject the world and shut himself off from evil by becoming a ‘deaf-mute’ in the West. It is Phoebe who rescues him from this total withdrawal” (Reiff 2008, p71). Phoebe forces Holden to view her as a human—living and progressing— rather than as a forever preserved child, and it is this humanization that causes Holden to accept her eventual progression into

The second example J.D. Salinger uses to show that Holden’s depression is not only affecting him, but the people around him, is through Phoebe. Phoebe is Holden’s younger sister. Even though their ages are significantly different, they get along well with each other. Phoebe does very well in school and she also has other talents like dancing. She is a happy, well adjusted child. After Holden gets kicked out of Pencey as a result of his depression, Phoebe becomes angry when she guesses why he came home early. She angrily exclaims, “You did get kicked out! You did!” (165) Phoebe cares for Holden and his failure in school upsets her. This shows how his depression has a ripple effect and reaches his relationship with Phoebe.

Holden looks fairly mature and, as stated in the novel, can usually get drinks due to his height and gray hair. However, Phoebe is and looks like a child. She represents childhood innocence. Holden looks older than he is and is becoming an adult. He struggles with this as he misses being a child, but he also seems to enjoy some of the benefits of his independence as an “adult.” These similarities and differences are not only external, but internal as well.

Conversely, Holden expresses some admiration for his brother, stating that he enjoys his stories, but it does not compare to the amount of admiration he has for his younger siblings. This has to do with what Holden prioritizes in people. “When we compare Holden's attitudes toward his brothers D. B. and Allie,” states Alsen, “we can see clearly that he respects Allie's kindness more than D. B.'s success” (Alsen). Literary critic Sanford Pinsker also comments on the attributes Holden prioritizes in others in his article “O Pencey, My Pencey!” stating that, “The point is that Salinger's protagonist prefers the innocence and secrets of childhood to the world of getting and spending where writers give up goldfish for Hollywood gelt” (Pinsker). Pinsker is stating that Holden values curiosity and ignorance over success. He prefers his younger siblings to his older brother because they are children and therefore kind, curios, and intelligent in his eyes. Holden also seems to value Phoebe over his parents. This is because Phoebe cares more about Holden than anyone else in the novel. For example, she shows she cares about Holden when she gets mad at him for dropping out of

In J. D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye, the character of Holden Caulfield does not convincingly embody a compassionate and caring character. Holden, after having a difficult year at school, finds comfort in his memories of his brother Allie. Another instance of Holden finding comfort, is when he spends time with Phoebe. In the same way, Phoebe is supportive when spending time with Holden. However, this takes a turn for the worse, as Holden reveals to Phoebe that he is leaving. Holden finds comfort and love through his memories of Allie, his experiences with Phoebe and the support from he receives from her.

In the novel Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, Holden Caulfield, our protagonist, makes a mental journey in relation to dealing and coping with the grief accompanied with the death of his brother, and we are able to see how his mental status changes and how he needs guidance from loved ones. In this journey, he learns about how to make connections and that staying close to the people he loves can improve his outlook on life and overall mood. During the book, he isolated himself from others and always found the negative in everything, which did put him in a very grim place. In fact, he even becomes clinically depressed, as we can clearly see from our point of view. He soon learns that being with his younger sister Phoebe almost brought

This further develops Holden’s character to vent over the death of Allie and reinforce his moral code. When Phoebe is with Holden, Holden mentions Allie when he snaps and explains that, “[He] know he's dead!” He then says “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." This allows Holden to vent his frustration allowing him to move along the stages of grief. (Salinger Chapter 22) Phoebe's character also heavily complies with Holden's moral values. Holden values a attentive and authentic persona rather than the fake and passive persona that he perceives many people to possess. When he was younger he noticed “When[he talked to] Allie[...]old Phoebe'd be listening. Sometimes you'd forget she was around, because she was such a little kid, but she'd let you know. She'd interrupt you all the time. She'd give [Holden and Allie a] push or something, and say, Who? Who said that? Bobby or the lady? And [they'd] tell her who said it, and she'd say, Oh, and go right on listening and all. She killed Allie, too. He liked her, too. She's ten now, and not such a tiny little kid anymore[...] Anyway, she was somebody you always felt like talking to on the phone. ” (Salinger Chapter 10) This reveals how he value the authenticity and attentiveness of Phoebe and he strongly relates and connects with his siblings. This evidently reveals that Phoebe works as a confidant for

She is represented as both a child and an adult when she interacts with Holden. When Phoebe asks why Holden is not “home”, meaning back at school, he lies and says “I told you. They let us out early. They let the whole-“ (165) just before he could even finish, she cuts him off and immediately points out that he got kicked out. Phoebe does not even question her answer because she knows she is right just as Holden says “If you don’t think she’s smart, you’re mad.” Right after she figures out Holden got kicked out, she “flopped on her stomach on the bed and put the goddam pillow over her head.” The fact that she recognized that Holden was lying to her as to why he wasn’t at school shows her ability to differentiate between lies and the truth and essentially show her level of maturity. Although there is a mixture of maturity in her character, in the end she is still a child as she hid under a pillow like any child would when upset. These swaps from child-like to adult-like traits remind us of Holden himself as he too is an adult yet refuses to enter adulthood. His refusal to tell Phoebe was his way of protecting her innocence. He does not want to influence her in a negative way because he values her purity since she is still just a

I don’t know why. It was just that she looked so damn nice, the way she kept going around and around, in her blue coat and all. God, I wish you could’ve been there.(213)” This quote shows the influence Phoebe has on Holden. The only reason Holden didn’t run away, was because of Phoebe and the way she made him feel in that

Although it is obvious he doesn't enjoy many people’s company , Phoebe is the one of the few people that Holden has nothing but positive things to say about. When Holden goes to visit his little sister , Phoebe shows many of her character traits such as her mature attitude and

In fact, without Phoebe Holden’s story would not be the same to any extent. She is genuine and candid with him, very far from the “phony” characteristics Holden so intently loathes in people. Even with her blunt perspective on life, contrary to past people in Holden’s life, she is not rejected or ignored. Holden’s deep rooted obsession with Phoebe is a clear example of his extreme loneliness. The one person he feels comfortable to talk too is much younger, and is way out of reach. The character of Phoebe brings out a whole other side of Holden unseen by readers in the beginning half of the novel. The relationship between the two siblings is by far the most legitimate relationship Holden has with a person clearly more stable and everlasting than any other stints he’s had with previous friends, teachers, or relatives. Both Holden and Phoebe’s love for each is evident proving they are siblings by nature but best friends as

Holden has a bleak outlook on life, due to him believing that most people, things, and words are “phony”(Page 106). He wishes that you could just put some things in a glass case so they’d stay the same forever(Page 122). Phoebe is more cheerful and matured than Holden and understands that nothing lasts forever. Eventually, she encourages him to get some help towards the end of the book. Holden and Phoebe have differing personalities that compliment one another.

Not only does Holden feel great affection for Phoebe, Phoebe feels great affection for Holden as well. It isn't too hard to understand that she and Holden are especially close since one of their brothers is dead and the other lives miles from their home. It is also surprising on how quickly Phoebe realizes that Holden came home earlier than expected. It is obvious that Phoebe is much more mature and articulate for her age to realize something like that so quickly. It is as if she is Holden's older sister instead of the younger one.

When Holden finally encounters someone willing to genuinely listen to him (in the form of Phoebe), he remarks that “If somebody at least listens, it’s not too bad” (172). After hours of searching, Holden gets his chance to spill his heart out. And though Phoebe might not fully understand the pain he’s going through, it doesn’t matter because Holden is no longer closing himself off. And from here, Holden begins to see that despite his attempts at withdrawing from society – he did genuinely make some kind of connection with his peers. Holden tells Mr. Antolini that after not seeing he classmates for a while, “[he] sort of missed them” (187).