Holden’ On to Childhood

Right from the start of The Catcher in the Rye, we’ve been exposed to Holden’s distinct narrative style including his strong thoughts, opinions, and views of the world. We’ve seen that he calls most things “phony” and can almost always find something negative to say about others when he meets them. Even the people he seems to like at first, such as Ernest’s mother whom he meets on the train, he criticizes. However, there are three people that Holden has never, not even in his inner dialogue, said anything negative about: Jane, Allie, and Phoebe. What they all have in common is that Holden’s memories of them are all of childhood and the accompanying innocence and freedom.

What Holden seems to believe is that when one becomes an adult, they only act to follow the meaningless conventions and expectations of society, or to earn money and recognition. However, children are free of this manipulation and the expectations, and they act genuinely to have a good life. Holden does not at all relate or find the “real world” society appealing, and he always gravitates towards the innocent lifestyle of younger people. These dynamics of Holden’s opinions become apparent through his interactions with or thoughts about others (for example, Ernie playing piano versus the child singing near the street, or movie stars being “fake” and just caring about fame compared to the nuns who chose to shed many societal conventions), and also through Holden’s descriptions of lawyers to Phoebe (190). Most concretely, though, his attachment to Phoebe, Jane, and Allie represents Holden’s respect and longing to keep his childhood in a world where he doesn’t feel as though he belongs, where he is forced to grow up, and where he must find his way through the “phony” adult path.

First, we are introduced to Holden’s memories of Jane. He fondly remembers moments such as playing checkers and holding hands at a movie, which are depictions of innocent and pleasant memories. However, Holden has gotten older, age-wise, and he knows that Jane has as well. Throughout the novel, he always has an urge to speak to Jane, especially in times where he feels rejected or down and needs to escape the phoniness, but he never is “in the mood” to do so (37). In reality, Holden is afraid that his thoughts of Jane may change and that she is no longer the innocent girl that he once could just play games with and be himself. Even though he may not directly realize or admit his feelings and connection to Jane’s innocence at the time, Holden’s fight with Stradlater reveals some of these. 

Although Holden may not have completely articulated his feelings during the fight, he was defending Jane. But, more specifically, he was defending his childhood and her innocence, knowing well that Stradlater was “unscrupulous” could have easily taken physical advantage of her (45). Their differences even show when Holden describes playing checkers together and asks Stradlater to speak to her about it, which he dismisses. Holden also says, “that kind of stuff doesn't interest most people,” referring to Holden and Stradlater’s separation over their views and values on maturity in relationships (36). Overall, Jane and Holden’s connection represents his attachment to the memories of childhood, and it also represents Holden trying to resist the inevitability of his relationships maturing with age.

Second, Phoebe represents a present child who Holden actively trusts and admires. When he ran away from Pencey to New York, Holden describes having an urge to call Phoebe and connect back with a kid, especially in the busy city where he must pretend to be older (but he couldn’t call because of his parents). However, later in the story, Holden does return home just to be with Phoebe. She still has that innocence from adulthood but is still “really smart” and “somebody with sense and all,” according to Holden (75). He trusts and admires her, and although she is growing, Holden can still rely on her not to be “phony,” as she has not completely been controlled yet by society. For example, instead of sticking with the conventional, a small detail is that Phoebe chooses a middle name for herself, “Weatherfield,” only because she does not like the one that was given to her (177). Not only does this moment show Phoebe’s imagination, but it primarily represents Phoebe trying to find her own path and things in life that mean something to her, rather than just going along with what society tells her to. Perhaps this passage represents part of Holden’s admiration for Phoebe, as well as what connects him overall to children. We also see Holden trying to protect Phoebe’s childhood innocence near the end of the narrative, when he doesn’t allow her to run away and when he watches her ride the carousel.

We can also see an opposite dynamic with D.B., who “used” to write “terrific” stories when he was a kid, but now that he has become an adult, he only writes less meaningful narratives depending on what society and the Hollywood industry wants to see (1). For example, Holden complains about D.B. writing a story on Annapolis, saying: “what's D.B. know about Annapolis, for God's sake? What's that got to do with the kind of stories he writes? … Boy, that stuff drives me crazy. That goddam Hollywood” (181). Unlike Phoebe, D.B. is only writing about what people expect in society and conventional culture, without apparent personal connections or desires.

Third, Allie represents Holden’s eternal connection to childhood, and how special it remains to him. Because he passed away, Allie cannot change or grow older. He is stuck as a child. Holden says that Allie will forever be the “most intelligent” person in his family, that he is a “wizard,” and he mentioned that he speaks out loud to Allie when he feels depressed (43, 75). Additionally, when Phoebe asks Holden to name one thing that he likes in his life, the first thing that he said was “I like Allie,” showing how he prioritizes Allie over almost everything else (189).

Holden’s attachment to Allie represents Holden trying to keep him alive through memory, and that he will always be special and represent Holden’s connection to young people. Holden is drawn to Allie because of the idea of eternal childhood, representing that innocence and the period of childhood is part of what he values most in the world. We can also see Holden’s admiration and infatuation with moments that last forever in the museum passage. He states, “certain things they should stay the way they are. You ought to be able to stick them in one of those big glass cases and just leave them alone. I know that's impossible, but it's too bad anyway,” which again ties to his relationship with Allie and of childhood passing with time (136).

Holden also mentions that Allie “never got mad at anybody”, and admired him for being so kind (43). Could this passage also relate and connect Allie to the museum segment, where Holden nostalgically recalls his memories of childhood and how if you touched something in the museum, the guards called you out but “always said it in a nice voice,” without getting mad? (134)

Lastly, I don’t think that Holden fully understands his connection to childhood and innocence. Perhaps this is why he tries to grow up even faster in a way, such as living and acting older than his age in New York while he smokes, drinks, and tries to find more “mature” relationships with others. Perhaps Holden is trying to distance himself from something that he knows he cannot get back, the period of childhood, yet he keeps returning over and over again to feel better and be able to understand or connect with the world. The only way that he can still keep these times is through his memories and connections with others. That is why Jane, Phoebe, and Allie, although they represent different aspects of childhood connection, are so important to him.

Through his memories and interactions with these three characters, Holden is resisting the inevitable “phony” society and holding on to what is left of his childhood.

Salinger, J. D. The Catcher in the Rye. New York, Little, Brown and Company, 2014.