subject: What The Female Catcher In The Rye Characters Tell Us About Holden Caulfield [print this page] The main theme of The Catcher in the Rye is isolation, which is interesting coming from a guy who spills his guts to the world for 200 pages. Nevertheless, the contradiction characterizes Holden Caulfield perfectly; he cant decide whether to call all his buddies together for a round of drinks and chatting or flee to the woods for some Into-the-Wild style escapism.
This is just the tip of an entire iceberg of narrative inconsistency. Holden loathes phonies but constantly lies, hates Hollywood but pretends hes the star of a gangster flick, wants people to like him but intentionally irritates them for fun, and complains that everybody over-generalizes all the time. Holdens narrative presence so fully dominates the story that its difficult to get an accurate read of any situation, meaning whatever comes through the Caulfield Perception Machine must be reverse engineered before we can make sense of it. Lets look at Holdens relationships with the two other most important Catcher in the Rye characters.
Phoebe Caulfield
According to Holden Caulfield, Phoebe is the (second) greatest person ever (right after his little brother, Allie, who died of leukemia). Shes the nicest, smartest, prettiest, most superlative-y sibling a person could ask for. So what does this tell us? Nothing without proof. Heres a more nuanced approach to the brother-sister relationship:
Exhibit A: Phoebe takes Holden seriously. When Holden says hes going to hitch hike out west, Phoebe packs her suitcase, sneaks it out of the building, lugs it around for the day, and meets him at the museum with his red hunting hat on and everything they need but the getaway car. Compare that to the reception Holden gets when he asks Sally to run away with him. (He achieves the running part, just in the wrong direction.) Which is not to say that running away with Sally would even be a good idea, but the point is that practically everyone laughs/tells Holden off like hes a complete idiot which we (and Phoebe) know couldnt be farther from the truth.
Exhibit B: Phoebe gives Holden stuff. Which may not seem like a big deal except that shes the only person in the novel who does. Holden constantly lends/gives things to the people around him, who often dont offer so much as a thank-you in return. In the first ten chapters alone and there are 26 he gets screwed out of a coat, an essay, a typewriter, and thirteen dollars worth of drinks. Phoebe, on the other hand, not only shows immense gratitude for his gifts (remember when she lovingly stashes the broken shards of the record in a drawer?), but also lends Holden her Christmas savings when she finds out hes broke and gives him back his red hunting hat when hes feeling blue. Its a sad day when a 10-year old shows more generosity than an entire prep schools worth of entitled teenagers.
Exhibit C: Phoebe wants to hear about Holden even when she doesnt want to. Holden hates that people never notice anything, and while hes busy making brilliant behavioral and emotional observations about everyone he meets, theyre so busying trying to be impressive that they cant think of anyone but themselves. Phoebe, however, wants to know what time Holden arrived, what hes up to, whether or not hell come see her play, why hes a few days early, which classes he failed, and why he didnt try harder. Even though shes mad, Holden could tell by the back of her neck that she was listening. She always listens when you tell her something. Whats more, shes the only person paying enough attention to figure out that he was kicked out of school. Not bad sleuthing for a 10-year old.
Jane Gallagher
Aside from Allie, Jane is the novels most tantalizingly elusive figure; although Holdens thoughts wander to her often, she never makes a physical appearance in The Catcher in the Rye. Holden is careful not to reveal too much about Jane, but its obvious that he likes her. Perhaps even loves her. Lets review the evidence.
Exhibit A: Holden cant get too sexy with her. As per his philosophy on sex (i.e. sex is inherently degrading), the only women in the novel he sexualizes are the ones he cant respect. Remember the stupid but pretty dancer whose fantastic butt twitched so nice and all? Or what about Holdens name-dropping, Luntz-loving friend with the little blue butt-twitcher of a dress? (Apparently, he has a type.) In contrast, the closest Holden gets to sexualizing Jane is in revealing that she has a terrific figure, but he only divulges this information because he suspects her step-dad is sexually abusing her. Admittedly, Holden makes a point of avoiding Jane throughout all this madman stuff, but just remember the key word in respectful distance is respectful.
Exhibit B: Jane keeps all her kings in the back row. Why is that important? Its not, but the fact that Holden thinks so says a lot about their dynamic. The things Holden thinks are important enough to tell us are that she plays checkers and golf, that her mouth always hangs open, that shes great to hold hands with, that her stepdad is a lousy boozehound, and that her red sweater knocked him out. Knowing that Stradlater doesnt give a damn about any of this (or whether her name is Jane or Jean, for that matter) drives Holden up the wall.
Exhibit C: Holden doesnt complain about Jane. Not once. And Holden complains about literally EVERYTHING except Allie. Even Phoebe can be very snotty sometimes, but when it comes to Janes faults, he is suspiciously silent. And coming from Holden, thats saying something.
