As the novel comes to a close the depth of Holden Caulfield’s character grows. Holden is coming to terms with his emotions and is learning how to deal with them in an effective manner. At the same time is his learning about others sentiments and how to react to their emotions. When talking to his sister, Phoebe, Holden withdraws from the conversation as it progresses into more emotional depth than he is comfortable with. Holden knows that his sister “gets very emotional” and he is not prepared to deal with her emotions at this point in time (Salinger 182). This is due to Holden’s own inability to cope with his own feelings, let alone the emotions of another person. Later on in the novel, Holden expresses his emotions in a way that has not been
