Character Analysis Of Phoebe In Catcher In The Rye

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One character who displays this theme is Phoebe Caulfield who is the child of the story that represents the innocence in children everywhere. Phoebe is Holden’s ten-year-old sister and views her as very beautiful and smart for her age. He explains how she has always been mature for her age, been very understanding and how she genuinely listens to anything you tell her. Phoebe is the most important person in Holden’s life and is the only person in Holden’s family that he likes to talk to or really be around for that matter. Phoebe is the only person who is not a “phony” in Holden’s life and is the only innocence that is left in his life that he knows of. Holden is stuck between almost being an adult and seeing what the world is truly like, but he does not want to see it all like this. …show more content…

Each time Holden extends himself, he is handed rejection, until he is finally driven insane. This is why he treasures Phoebe, because she does not have to deal with the phonies of the world yet nor does she reject him like others do. She has yet to fully see everything, and it seems like he misses that. While Holden and Phoebe are by the carousel, Phoebe is mad at Holden for attempting to run away from his life. She is riding the carousel and Holden states, “I was damn near bawling, I felt so damn happy,” (Salinger 213). Here, he begins to cry for the simple reason that she is able is still able to find so much joy in life and does not have to constantly worry about something like adults do. She can have simple, mindless fun and Holden is happy to see that she is still able to do that unlike him. She ultimately represents the innocence of all children that he wants to protect from falling off the cliff into adulthood. The innocence is what makes the world less phony. But it is in the moment at the carousel that the only way to preserve her innocence is to actually be there for

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