Similarities And Characters In 'The Catcher In The Rye'

In the novel, The Catcher in the Rye, Holden is a rather unique character. He has several complications with other characters that he runs into, and does not seem that he is able to relate to anyone. However, Holden has a younger sister named Phoebe, and he seems to connect with her in a way that he does not with anyone else. She is only ten years old, so she and Holden both have a childlike mind. On the other hand, Phoebe seems to have a positive outlook on life while Holden sees most things in a negative light. Another contrast between them is that Phoebe puts in effort at school, and Holden is clearly not concerned his performance at school.

Contrast and Contradiction- During the novel, The Catcher in the Rye, Holden’s older brother, Allie, and younger sister, Phoebe, play an important role in the story. Allie and Phoebe are the only ones Holden goes into depth about. None of the other members of Holden’s family are mentioned like his mom, dad, and other brother DB. In the beginning of the story Holden said he was not going to tell about his whole life, but only about what happened last Christmas. Holden contradicts what he says in the beginning of the story when he tells about his brother and sister, “My brother D.B.’s a

Holden's younger sister Phoebe, is also in need of Holden's protection. He must protect her because he failed to protect his brother Allie from death. Holden feels that it is his responsibility to protect Phoebe from whatever may put her in danger, even himself: "I was glad. All of a sudden I wanted her to cry till her eyes practically dropped out. I almost hated her. I think I hated her most because she wouldn't be in that play any more if she went away with me." (207) He does not want Phoebe to turn out like himself. He wants

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

Holden does not realize his misconstrued state in life. He believes he is an adult; however he is clearly a young man who has lost his way in life. He has every confidence that the world works in the way he imagines and even says: “It’s funny. All you have to do is say something nobody understands and they’ll do practically anything you want (Salinger 84).” Holden displays a sense of arrogance in the way that he envisions that he is better than the rest of the world. Holden believes he is an adult who knows how to handle himself, but he must constantly rely on the guidance of his little sister Phoebe for direction in his life (Svogun n.p.). Holden is just a boy who portrays himself as more than he is, but soon realizes that what he believes himself to be is in fact not genuine.

1. Phoebe Caulfield is Holden-the main character’s-little sister. I think that she is incredibly ambitious, especially when she wants to run away with Holden towards the end of the book. She is also very caring; she gives Holden all of her money because she sees that he may need it more than she does, even though it was her Christmas money. Along with that, she is also dependable for the same reason.

Active Reading Notes- Section 6 Chapters 23-26 Chapter 23 Pg 192 Symbolism Holden assumes Mr. Antolini is the only one who does not behave like a “phony.” He respects Mr. Antolini and doesn’t seem to criticize him a lot. When Holden says, “He was the one that finally picked up the boy that jumped out the window I told you about, James Castle.”

When Holden arrives, he finds Phoebe sleeping in D.B.’s room. "Holden!" she said right away. She put her arms around my neck and all. She's very affectionate. I mean she's quite affectionate, for a child. Sometimes she's even too affectionate. I sort of gave her a kiss”(161). When Holden arrives at his home for the first time since he left Pencey, he is tightly embraced by Phoebe, who is very happy to see him. Phoebe is the only person who loves Holden unconditionally. Phoebe is able to love Holden even when he makes poor decisions. Here we see how important to she is to him and he is to her. In this situation, Phoebe is very affectionate towards Holden because they love and appreciate each other would be when she sees her child after a long time. Phoebe and Holdens conversation changes very rapidly, from catching up to a deep, confrontational conversation lead by Phoebe. "You don't like anything that's happening." It made me even more depressed when she said that. "Yes I do. Yes I

Holden Caulfield is immature. This is unsurprising in and of itself, but after reading the book, it really hits home. This lack of Maturity is quite apparent in his interactions with other people, particularly with people that he used to know. There are several notable examples of how his immaturity affects his interactions and relationships with other people. The first of these examples is his interaction with Ackley and Stradlater in his dorm at Pencey.

The age difference between Holden and Phoebe is six years. Sometimes, Phoebe acts more of an adult than Holden does. An example of this is when Phoebe has to give Holden money so that he can continue on with his journey. The roles reverse though when Phoebe tries to move west with Holden. Phoebe shows up with a suitcase and Holden has to try to talk her out of going with him.

Holden Caulfield and Phoebe Caulfield are siblings in the novel The Catcher in the Rye. Being siblings, they have many similarities as well as differences. Holden is the main character in the novel, and the narrator of the story. Holden is writing from a mental hospital about his experience, “around last Christmas just before I got run down.” (Salinger, 1) He writes about his journey from Pencey Prep School, in Agerstown, Pennsylvania, to his home in New York City. Along the way he encounters many different important people to the story, one of the most important characters he encounters along the way is his sister Phoebe who teaches Holden what it means to be mature.

The Catcher in the Rye and The Things They Carried compare how the two main characters are Isolated and in Exile. Each book the two charters are Isolated and Exiled in different way but in some way also similar. Two young men trying to find a way to be accepted in the adult world is still a mystery to them. The loss friends, family along the way and they can’t seem to find trust in relationships. When you’re young you do not know what is out there in the world. Who would think that growing up would be so hard. My comparisons are about the main characters Holden in “Catcher in the Rye”, and O’Brien in The Things they Carried.

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.

“I swear to God I’m crazy. I admit it.” It is very easy to automatically assume that Holden Caulfield is crazy. It’s even a logical assumption since Caulfield himself admits to being crazy twice throughout the course of the book. However, calling Holden Caulfield crazy is almost the same as calling the majority of the human race crazy also. Holden Caulfield is just an adolescent trying to prevent himself from turning into what he despises the most, a phony. Most of Caulfield’s actions and thoughts are the same as of many people, the difference being that Holden acts upon those thoughts and has them down in writing.