Catcher In The Rye Dialectical Journal

The ending of the Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger, has finally given the reader some much-needed information about Holden, as well as his family. As the book winds to an end, we see Holden completely hammered at a bar; at the bar, he decides to give Sally Hayes a ring. After being shut out and told to go to bed by Sally, the pianist at the bar, and finally coat check girl, Holden decides to visit the ducks he has been talking so much about throughout the novel. At the pond, in a fit of anxiety, Holden remembers Allie and his funeral, he then decides to go home to have a little chat with his little sister Phoebe. After lying to the doorman, Holden finally sneaks home without anyone realizing. There, he tries to find Phoebe, who has decided …show more content…
Before we meet Phoebe, we read her notes she has written to herself and others in her notebook. The notebook is filled with the rich imagination of a ten-year-old; however, this journal reveals much more. One of the first things that pops out to Holden in the Notebook is that she has changed her middle name from Josephine to the last name of the fictional female detective she has conjured up, Weatherfield. From this, we can see that just like Holden, Phoebe is looking for adventure, as well as struggle to find herself. As Holden continues to converse with Phoebe, he tries to ask when his parents are home, after three attempts he says, "Wait a second, willya? I'm asking you a question. Did they say what time they'd be back, or didn't they" (87)? By hearing Phoebe go into immense detail about the film she has just seen without letting Holden get a word in, we can tell that just as Holden tends to digress so does Phoebe. Despite the fact that Phoebe cannot quite understand Holden's dark side, she can see right through his misdirection and continue to have a special connection with