Sally Hayes Catcher In The Rye

In literature as in a life, an individual’s true identity is revealed not only by the person himself but by the people who surround him. In The Catcher in the Rye by J.D Salinger, Sally Hayes, Holden’s old girlfriend, plays a necessary part in showing who Holden really is. Although often overlooked, Sally Hayes is second only to Holden as the most important character in The Catcher in the Rye. Sally captures Holden’s story by mirroring all of Holden’s major flaws, being his answer at his weakest point, and representing all of Holden’s relationships, which ultimately end in one way: failure.

Sally Hayes’s significance is found in her personality by which she epitomizes all of Holden’s worst qualities. Throughout the story, Holden can always be counted upon to ignore what he knows to be the right choice. This character flaw leads to his downfall. He flunks out of

Pencey by failing, “ four of five subjects” because he never applies himself like Mr. Spencer, his mom, his sister and everyone says he should (4). Similarly, Sally goes against what her Mother says about Holden being, “wild and (having) no direction in life,” and instead follows the clear carnage that is Holden’s life by actively pursuing him (59). Holden is not someone anyone should try to follow, but Sally chooses to. Furthermore, although Holden criticizes all the phonies who surround him, deep down he too is a fake. Holden feels the constant need to pretend who he is. On the train out of Pencey, Holden makes up an unnecessary lie about being a student named “Rudolph Schmidt” for no real reason, so he can talk to Mrs. Morrow, a woman sitting next to him (54). Sally likewise, is the “queen of phonies,” and always seeks to present herself as a sophisticated person “by drooling all over… the Lunts” (116). By mirroring Holden’s shortcomings, Sally illustrates her importance in the story to reinforce Holden’s flaws.
Just as Sally Hayes exposes Holden’s worst traits, she also is Holden’s response in his worst moments.

Holden wants to be with Sally only when he is not thinking straight. After his long rant about school, he asks her to move to “these cabin camps… in Vermont” with him (132). Holden is not being level headed, which can be observed by Sally telling him to “stop screaming at (her)” multiple times (132). Later, after Holden calmed down, he realized he only “meant it when he asked her,” and “wouldn’t have taken her even if she’d wanted to” (134). When Holden is in a bad state of mind and is “too drunk… to give Jane a buzz,” he decides to give, “old Sally Hayes a buzz” (150). Holden feels attached to her and always seems to need her in these bad moments, but afterwards, he “wished to God (he) hadn’t even phoned her” (151). In moments of foolishness for Holden, he always falls back on Sally, and only later when he reflects on it, does he regret the decisions he made. Sally in Catcher in the Rye, is involved with many of Holden’s regrets, making her one of the necessary characters throughout Holden’s

journey.
One overall major motif Sally represents is the continuous repetition of Holden’s failed relationships. Almost every time Holden faces a difficulty in a relationship, he chooses to walk away from it rather than try to repair it. Right before Holden leaves Pencey, some of his last moments with Stradlater are of him “standing… on top of (Holden)” after a fight breaks out. Holden thereafter leaves a ruined relationship with Stradlater with the final words, “sleep tight ya morons” (52). Further evidence of Holden's failed relationships is his last moments with Mr. Anatoli, his old English teacher, after what Holden believed was perverted actions by Mr. Anatoli, urgently expresses his need “to go” without any intention of ever returning (192). Holden always seems to leave his relationships irreparably ruined. His last moments with Sally Hayes epitomize all of his relationships. After he insults her the date ends with Sally saying “no boy ever said that to me in my entire life” demonstrating even with a girl who was obsessed with him, Holden always ends up with irreversible failure (134). Sally is necessary in Holden’s story because she reveals a part of his character that is not always clear that is. If Holden cannot even maintain a relationship that appears to be infallible then he cannot maintain a relation with anyone.
In The Catcher in the Rye, Sally Hayes is undeniably one of the most crucial characters in Holden’s story. She mirrors Holden’s major flaws and thus makes them clear. Holden turns to Sally in his weakest moments thereby causing many of his regrets. Finally, Holden’s failed relationship with Sally illustrates all of his ruined connections with others. Her importance in the book cannot be ignored, for Sally leads the reader into a deeper understanding of Holden’s mind. Sally Hayes truly represents the worst of Holden making her the most important character beside Holden himself in telling his story.