Phoebe's Coming Of Age In Catcher In The Rye

When Holden goes back to visit his old school, he notices inappropriate graffiti on one of the bathroom stalls. Holden thinks about how this affects the children and imagines himself catching the “pervert bum” who wrote it. Holden says, “I kept picturing myself catching him at it, and how I'd smash his head on the stone steps till he was good and goddam dead and bloody.” (221). He imagines himself taking such a drastic action of killing the pervert because he wants to protect the children. This situation pertains to his relationship with Mr. Antolini. Initially Holden admires Mr. Antolini and recognizes him as one of the best teachers he’s ever had, but he soon notices a flaw. Holden is woken up by Mr. Antolini petting his head, which could have arguably been in a fatherly way but Holden perceives it as perverted. Holden says, “I started putting on my damn pants in the dark. I could hardly get them on I was so damn nervous. I know more damn perverts, at schools and all, than anybody you ever met, and they're always being perverty when I'm around.” (212). The fact that Holden was “so damn nervous” proves how fearful Holden is, and how he truly believes that Mr. Antolini is making advances on him. Later on, Holden says, “I mean I wondered if just maybe I was wrong about thinking be was making a flitty pass at me.” (214). Although Holden second

A little girl, she shows her love when she walks between her brothers holding hands, and most importantly, “[She’d] be listening” (68). Phoebe comes to represent an innocence and lack of self-consciousness that Holden is deeply missing in his life. Phoebe also provides what Holden needs, someone to listen to him. Yet she is too young to understand much of what

The relationship between Holden and Phoebe forms a major theme that the novel aims to deliver. The fact that he is having this conversation with Phoebe, a child who is anything but simple and innocent, reveals the oversimplification of his worldview. Holden himself realizes this to a degree when he acknowledges that his idea is “crazy”, yet he cannot come up with anything more pragmatic; he has trouble seeing the world in any other way. His “catcher in the rye” fantasy reflects his innocence, his belief in pure, uncorrupted youth, and his desire to protect that spirit. On the other hand, it represents his extreme disconnection from reality and his naïve view of the world. Phoebe exposes to Holden a living embodiment of childhood. And it is a scene with her where she exposes to Holden the illogical nature of his supervisory actions, indicating that his desire to preserve her innocence will only halt her own inevitable development. Phoebe is the Greek word for “protector of children” (Bloom 2009, p185). Within the novel she is Holden’s protector. She comforts him, provides him with financial security, and protects him from getting in trouble with their mother. Reiff describes this reversal of roles between Holden and Phoebe as “Now, instead of saving the world by protecting the children, Holden wants to reject the world and shut himself off from evil by becoming a ‘deaf-mute’ in the West. It is Phoebe who rescues him from this total withdrawal” (Reiff 2008, p71). Phoebe forces Holden to view her as a human—living and progressing— rather than as a forever preserved child, and it is this humanization that causes Holden to accept her eventual progression into

Holden does not welcome Mr. Antolini’s advice because Holden went to Mr. Antolini in hopes that Mr. Antolini would tell him his situation was not to bad and he would help try and drag him out of it. Holden had just been with Phoebe who seemingly betrayed him, as she was sleeping in D.B.’s bed and asked him about serious questions. In this way she was truly taking on her role as Benedict Arnold. Holden mentioned earlier in the book that D.B. is

Holden wants to keep Phoebe's innocence and youth safe by participating in childlike activities, which satisfies her and his inner child. He desires to protect the innocence of Phoebe because he does whatever Phoebe pleases, whether he wants to or not. Holden’s love and protectiveness for Phoebe prevent him from seeing the damage he causes her and that he needs to let her mature and grow. All things considered, while Holden's childish behavior indicates that he wants to avoid adulthood, he engages in adult behaviors such as dreaming of running away to a new life, drinking alcohol, and smoking cigarettes. Holden commits several adult acts in front of children, indirectly exposing them to the terrible realities of adulthood, though he is trying to protect the children’s innocence and purity.

Holden has a bleak outlook on life, due to him believing that most people, things, and words are “phony”(Page 106). He wishes that you could just put some things in a glass case so they’d stay the same forever(Page 122). Phoebe is more cheerful and matured than Holden and understands that nothing lasts forever. Eventually, she encourages him to get some help towards the end of the book. Holden and Phoebe have differing personalities that compliment one another.

Holden Caulfield is a New York high schooler with a past that remains a mystery. Holden throughout the Catcher in the Rye hints at his past and is very vague. One of these small hints to his past we receive is when his old teacher Mr.Antolini touches his head while he is sleeping. Holden says that things like that have happened to him many times, which hints that Holden's innocence may have been taken by an adult. Throughout the book Holden tries to protect the innocence of others and there is not a whole lot of explanation why.

Antolini serves to reaffirm Holden’s cynicism towards adults. Mr. Antolini simply wanted to help him, but his advice was a redundancy to Holden, who only saw that Mr. Antolini was just like every other adult in his life, against him. This perhaps explains Holden’s cynicism towards adults, as he had gone to Mr. Antolini with expectations of a solace, but he soon discovered that Mr. Antolini was just as against him as Mr. Spencer. Holden believes that nearly every adult in his life is against him, creating a cynicism towards adults, which perhaps is the root of why he is trying to prevent his loved ones from reaching

Holden and Phoebe are brother and sister in the novel, The Catcher in the Rye. Holden has this problem, where he wants to protect kids from losing their innocence. He is attached to a lot of little kids. But him and Phoebe are different for that story. Holden wants to protect her innocence, she knows how to handle Holden, and they have a connection that he doesn’t have with his older brother D.B., but he had one with Allie who passed away. Phoebe just has the innocence that Holden doesn’t have.

Holden’s best friend is his wise and likeable little sister Phoebe. When Phoebe is first introduced, Holden makes a point to note how she is different from kids her age. She is intelligent, “You should see her. You never saw a little kid so pretty and smart in your whole life. She’s really smart. I mean she’s had all A’s ever since she started school.” (75) Obviously Phoebe cannot be the average 10-year-old if a sixteen-year-old boy seeks solace in her company. Phoebe is so intuitive, meaning Holden can bring up and topic and she can pick it up instantaneously. She knows exactly what her big brother desires to be told even if he refuses to admit aloud. Holden describes Phoebe as emotional, at times too much, and creative. She displays these characteristics through stories about the orphan, ‘Hazle’ Weatherfield (76.) Another example of her empathic, nearly psych, nature is when she guesses that the reason Holden was home early was because he was expelled. Of course when her fear is confirmed, she has a meltdown claiming that, “Daddy’s gonna kill you,” over and over again (182-183.) Throughout Catcher in the Rye, Holden is seen not having anyone truly care about where he will end up as a young man that is until Phoebe illustrates the intense devotion and admiration she has for Holden. Once Holden resolves to running away from New York and starting a new life out

Phoebe gave Holden a feeling of love that he thought was gone when his brother Allie died. Holden made decisions based upon what he thought was best for the life with his sister, and he always thought about what was best for her. Phoebe is the one who in the end made Holden realize that he had to let some things go. “The thing with kids is, if they want to grab to the gold ring you have to let them do it and not say anything. If the fall off, they fall off, but it’s bad if you say anything to them.”

Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales offers the reader an insight into our past, providing vivid glimpses into the 14th century's social structure, and into the personalities, lives, and ethics of twenty-eight members of that society drawn together to travel on a pilgrimage. The General Prologue to the Tales deals primarily with introducing these people to us, providing physical descriptions and character outlines of virtually each pilgrim; it is a tribute to Chaucer's skill that his descriptions (as filtered through the neurotically happy narrator) succeeds in creating such lively characters out of what are, essential, two-dimensional stereotypes from his era.

Holden’s love for childlike innocence is apparent here. Holden is a teenage boy but enjoys reading children’s notebooks because he likes seeing how carefree and happy kids are. Holden wishes that he could still have that innocence that Phoebe has. He doesn’t want Phoebe to lose that innocence because he thinks it will change her and he wants her to stay the same.

In the novel, The Catcher in the Rye, Holden is a rather unique character. He has several complications with other characters that he runs into, and does not seem that he is able to relate to anyone. However, Holden has a younger sister named Phoebe, and he seems to connect with her in a way that he does not with anyone else. She is only ten years old, so she and Holden both have a childlike mind. On the other hand, Phoebe seems to have a positive outlook on life while Holden sees most things in a negative light. Another contrast between them is that Phoebe puts in effort at school, and Holden is clearly not concerned his performance at school.

Theme Discussion: The mother in “ The Rocking Horse Winner” is seemingly the root of all the problems in the story. Without her constant need for money and materialistic possessions, the other members of the family would not feel obligated to please her. The overwhelming need to please others and selflessness are two important factors in this story. Hester, the mother, has a strong need to have the finer things in life. Readers can see from the beginning of the story the strain money puts on the family. Lawrence says, “They read it in each other’s eyes” (Lawrence). From this statement the audience notes how apparent the struggle for money is. Readers can also see how selfless Paul is. He risks his own life for the sake of his mother’s well-being. After “looking into each other’s eyes” and sensing the need for money, Paul takes matters into his own hands. He feels the need to provide for his mother, so he tells the gardner, Bassett, all of his choices for the big races. Lawrence says, “I’ve got to know for the Derby! I’ve got to know for the Derby!”(Lawrence). From this, readers see Paul’s extreme urgency to win more and more money. As time progresses, Paul seems to worry immensely over helping his mother. Eventually, he starts to get sick. One night Hester heard a strange noise, but could not pinpoint it. Lawrence describes this noise saying, “It was a soundless noise”(Lawrence). The author’s use of hyperbole in this sentence makes readers feel almost eerie. Late in the night, the boy dies. The hypothetical “Rocking Horse of Life” is the cause of Paul’s death, even if no one else can distinguish it. Many recent movies carry the theme of selflessness just like “The Rocking Horse Winner”. In The Blind Side, Leigh Anne and Sean Tuohy take in Michael Oher, a football prodigy with awful living conditions. Even though they had an abundance of money and kids of their own, the Tuohy’s took Michael into their home as one of their own. In spite of the dirty looks they would get, the Tuohy’s did not care about their social status; however, they remained selfless and took care of Michael well past his college days.The theme of