Character+Analysis

**__Character Analysis__**
Holden Caulfield is a deeply troubled sixteen-year-old boy who is totally alienated from his environment and from society as a whole. He looks on people and events with a distaste bordering on disgust. Although he is intelligent and sensitive, Holden narrates in a cynical and jaded voice. He finds the hypocrisy and ugliness of the world around him almost unbearable, and through his cynicism he tries to protect himself from the pain and disappointment of the adult world. However, the criticisms that Holden aims at people around him are also aimed at himself. He is uncomfortable with his own weaknesses, and at times displays as much phoniness, meanness, and superficiality as anyone else in the book. As the novel opens, Holden stands poised on the cliff separating childhood from adulthood. His inability to successfully negotiate the chasm leaves him on the verge of emotional collapse. Holden has once again flunked out of prep school, where he failed every subject but English. On this day, he says goodbye to his history teacher, Mr. Spencer, who is home with the grippe. He views the sick man with both sympathy and disgust and escapes hastily after the teacher begins to lecture him about flunking out of three prep schools. And the story continuted with two fellow students, Bob Ackley and his playboy roommate, Ward Stradlater. Holden decides to leave Pencey that very night then he packs his belongings, heads to the railroad station and grabs a train to New York City. Holden is everybody's favorite judgmental cynic. He also has a bit of a problem: he's completely alone and he knows it – we stopped count at about 22 when we tried to track the number of times he admits to being lonely. The clear conflict here is that he judges and hates everyone, but at the same time wants them to join him for a drink and chat it up for the evening. He seems perpetually caught in this very limbo: judging a person, making a half-hearted attempt to reach out, and then being disappointed when that person isn't there to support him, talk with him, or try to understand him.
 * Holden**

Despite all this instances, Holden never makes himself out to be a victim. He doesn't seem to notice that he gets taken advantage of – repeatedly. This is part of his own youth. Despite his judgmental exterior, Holden is surprisingly eager to please – and to make friends.  Holden would be interested in: []

Phoebe is Holden’s ten-year-old sister, whom he loves dearly. Although she is six years younger than Holden, she listens to what he says and understands him more than most other people do. Phoebe is intelligent, neat, and a wonderful dancer, and her childish innocence is one of Holden’s only consistent sources of happiness throughout the novel. At times, she exhibits great maturity and even chastises Holden for his immaturity. Like Mr. Antolini, Phoebe seems to recognize that Holden is his own worst enemy. Phoebe is always straightforward and independent. She says exactly what she means. She does not share Holden's disenchanted view of the world. Quite the opposite, she scolds Holden for not liking anything at all. This hurts him very much because Phoebe is his favorite person — the only one with whom he can truly communicate. Phoebe is bright, well-organized, and creative. She keeps all her school work neatly in notebooks, each labeled with a different subject. She also loves to write books about a fictional girl detective named Hazle [sic] Weatherfield, but according to Holden, she never finishes them. Holden delights in taking her to the zoo and the movies and other places, as did their dead brother, Allie. Her directness and honesty are both refreshing and amusing. Stradlater** Stradlater is Holden's roommate at Pencey Prep. He is athletic, handsome, popular, and self-satisfied. Holden finds out that Stradlater is a "secret slob" because Stradlater's toiletries, such as his razor, are unclean. Holden thinks that Stradlater is the phoniest of all phonies that he has met. Stradlater is also sexually active and quite experienced for a prep school student; Holden calls stradlater a "sexy bastard." For example, when Stradlater went on a date with Jane Gallagher, all he cared about was having sex with her. According to Holden, I would think that Stradlater has an athletic body. He would probably be 5'10" and weigh 160 pounds and have brown hair.
 * Pehobe**
 * [[image:http://www.costumes4schools.co.uk/1940%27s%20girl.jpg caption="Phoebe"]]

Other people's descriptions: [] [] Links that Stradlater would be interested in: []

Holden’s younger brother. Allie dies of leukemia three years before the start of the novel. Allie was a brilliant, friendly, red-headed boy—according to Holden, he was the smartest of the Caulfields. Holden is tormented by Allie’s death and carries around a baseball glove on which Allie used to write poems in green ink. The night of his death, Holden broke all the windows in the garage and had to be hospitalized. The information Holden gives us may seem overly-factual or even sparse, but it's incredibly telling. Allie was left-handed – he was a unique individual. He had red hair – he really stood out from everyone else. He wrote poems on his glove – he was sensitive and emotional, and he did so in green ink – again, he was a unique individual. This makes sense when we think about Holden's mindset. Allie died when he was eleven years old – while he was still a child, and still "innocent." Having never been corrupted by the world of sex and adults, Allie is possibly the only person Holden //could// catch in a field of rye, the only person who never has to "go over the edge" of the great cliff. This is why, when Phoebe asks Holden to name one thing he likes, he responds with "Allie." Allie would be interested in: []
 * Allie**

Ackley is Holden's next door neighbor in his dorm at Pencey Prep. Ackley has a lot of pimples and has terrible dental hygiene. Ackley often barges into Holden's room and annoys Holden, ignoring Holden's hints that he should leave. Holden believes that Ackley makes up stories about his sexual experiences because of his unpopulatrity. In general, Ackley and Holden share many things in common. Ackley can be seen to be the reality of Holden's life. If I were to describe Ackley, I would say that he probably has greasy hair, yellow teeth, and a lot of pimples. Other people's descriptions: [] [] Links that Ackley would be interested in: []
 * Ackley**

Holden’s former English teacher at the Elkton Hills School. Mr. Antolini now teaches at New York University. He is young, clever, sympathetic, and likable, and Holden respects him. Holden sometimes finds him a bit too clever, but he looks to him for guidance. Like many characters in the novel, he drinks heavily. Although Mr. Antolini has a wife, he may be homosexual because he calls Holden "handsome" before heading off to bed, and then sits next to him in the dark (while Holden's sleeping), and pets his head.
 * Mr. Antolini**

Maurice is Sunny’s pimp. He sells her body for money for a certain amount of time. He is also the elevator operator at the Edmont Hotel. According to Holden, Maurice was very large and had a hairy belly that stuck out. When Holden refused to pay five more dollars, Maurice gave him a great punch in the stomach; Holden describes it as a gunshot. He lay there on the floor, breathless, as Maurice left with Sunny. Including Holden’s description of Maurice, I’d picture him to be very big, tall and wide. He would probably be very dirty, oily, and sweaty, too. He would also probably have a deep, raspy voice that was capable of making Holden cry.
 * Maurice**

Sunny is a prostitute that works for Maurice. She is sent up to Holden’s room to stay with him for the night. She is a young woman that speaks with a high voice that isn’t too friendly. When Holden asked her to leave, she demanded to be paid ten dollars. Maurice said the price was only five dollars, so Holden refused to give Sunny another five dollars. However, in the morning, while Maurice is beating on Holden, Sunny takes the extra five dollars out of his wallet. Sunny would seem like a tall, slender, young lady. She would probably be good-looking as well, or at lease Holden might think so. I’d imagine sunny to be a sunny blonde female with fair skin. Holden’s history teacher at Pencey Prep, who unsuccessfully tries to shake Holden out of his academic apathy. Mr. Spencer is old and aesthetically displeasing. Old Spencer says to Holden, “Life is a game, boy. Life is a game that one plays according to the rules.” He is, however, good for one thing: he introduces us to the way adults (or at the least authority figures) view Holden, and the way he views them in return. What we see is primarily a big lack of understanding. Mr. Spencer can't understand what's wrong with Holden, why he doesn't apply himself, or how to help him. "Now he's out in Hollywood, D. B., being a prostitute." (page 2) He's not selling sex for money. Holden doesn't mean it literally, but figuratively. D. B. is a man with talent who could write wonderful short stories that Holden admired like "The Secret Goldfish." But D. B. traded his talent for story telling to write for the movies in Hollywood which Holden considers an inferior art form. Holden believes that D.B.'s motive for using his talent for writing for movies is for money so D. B. is selling himself. Holden's brother who used to be a serious writer, but is now in Hollywood where he is writing for television programs. Holden views his brother as being a phony since he had "sold out" and given up his principles in return for money. D.B. would be interested in []
 * Sunny**
 * Old Spencer**
 * D.B.**

He describes his parents as nice, but "touchy as hell.Spencer says that he met with Holden's parents, who are "grand" people, but Holden dismisses that word as "phony." Invests lots of money on him to attend upper class schools. They are also unable to provide him with the parental understanding that he needs. His parents never really offer him the “shelter” that he is looking for. Holden’s parents are considered wealthy and provide him with expensive, top of the line luggage. Their only flaw mentioned is that they are too busy and do not understand him. Holden’s parents have been nervous ever since Allie’s death and are afraid of what the future holds for Holden; therefore, Holden hasn’t and probably never will have a great, loving, hug-and-kiss type of relationship with his parents.
 * Holden's parents**