Essay Comparing Holden Caulfield And Phoebe

Comparing and Contrasting Phoebe and Holden In the novel, The Catcher in the Rye, J.D. Salinger shows many differences between Holden and Phoebe, and although there are not many, also similarities. Holden Caulfield shows many characteristics of not being mentally stable through his pessimistic comments, while Phoebe seems to be one of the only Stable people in this book. Although holden not nearly as innocent as Phoebe he still maintains a childlike mind and that is one of the few similarities between them. Throughout the novel it is shown that Holden makes drastic decisions, not really caring of the consequences, while Phoebe is always there to reprimand him for these decisions and make him see the wrong in his actions. In the novel Salinger makes it obvious that Phoebe and Holden differ most in the area of socialism and education, Holden is not …show more content…
After Holden’s little brother Allie’s death, he punched a wall and sort of stopped in the midst of growing up. Phoebe on the other hand was not old enough to understand, so she just let it be, she still does not understand the relationship that Holden and Allie shared. At the end of the story when holden tells Phoebe that he was leaving to out west they both make drastic decisions. Phoebe meets Holden at the museum and tells him, “I’m going with you. Can I? Okay?” (206) this shows that she didn’t care about the consequences, she just wanted to be with her brother, protect him. In return to this revelation Holden tells her to shut up and that she can’t go which upsets her. These irrational decisions are what will ultimately bring them together, this is one of the only similarities between the two. Along with Holden and Phoebe’s actions differing, so did their role on education and their socializing