Character Analysis and Significance in The Catcher in the Rye

This assignment analyzes J.D. Salinger's 'The Catcher in the Rye,' focusing on the significance of the novel's title and its connection to Holden Caulfield's story. The analysis examines the roles of Phoebe and Allie, and how they impact Holden's development. The student argues that Phoebe is vital to the successful telling of Holden's story, contrasting her with the idealized memory of Allie. The paper explores the characters' impact on Holden's mental state and his journey towards self-understanding. The analysis incorporates critical perspectives and defends original theses regarding the characters' contributions to the novel's themes of innocence, loss, and maturation. The assignment highlights the contrast between Holden's desire for childhood innocence and the reality of growing up, with Phoebe's character serving as a catalyst for his personal growth.

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The Catcher in the Rye
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author note
1. Explain the significance of the novel’s title, The Catcher in the Rye, and explain
how it applies to or appropriately reflects the story of Holden Caulfield.
In the word of the critics the title of the novel, ‘The catcher in the Rye’ has been
inspired from the poem titled “Comin’ thro the rye”, which deploys the character who
quest was to maintain the attributes of his childhood. The implication of the
inspiration can be noted in the 16th chapter of the novel where by the protagonist of
the novel claims he hears the wordings of any unknown individual who anticipates the
arrival of Rye. The listener, who is the protagonist as well describes the scenario that
comprised of the kid who was walking down the sideways. The articulation of the
scenario, creates a sense of melancholia in the attribute of the protagonist, perhaps it
leads to his own recollection of the memories associated with his own childhood. It
can be also linked with the realization of Holden upon the fact that the child was
innocent unlike his parents. The implication of the poem lies in its emphasize upon
the loss of the innocence where the blame has been targeted towards the society for
imbibing the corruption in the attribute of the children. As such the realization
imbibes in the protagonist an urge to protect the children from the evils of society.
The importance of the title lies in the fact that the protagonist places himself in the
position of the child and relates himself with the children whom he wants to protect.
Thus the crisis arises in the disposition of the character from the position where he
was afraid of returning to his childhood; however he did not want to the phase of

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beautiful childhood the fear of encountering with the remembrance of his own
childhood. As such, the entire novel is pivoted around the fact that there is an urge to
return to the childhood and the fear of committing the same (Aubry).
2. “The character of Phoebe is an absolutely perfect example of the literary
importance of the minor character. Her character is simply essential for the
successful telling of Holden’s story.” Using the preceding statement as your topic
sentence (thesis), examine Phoebe’s role in the novel and then defend the claim that
her character is indeed vital for the “successful telling of Holden’s story.”
The protagonist of the novel, Holden expresses his quest to remain in the world of
childhood marked by its beauty and innocence. However, before the arrival of
Phoebe, who is attached with the Holden through the connect of siblings. The arrival
of Holden that places the remaining of the society in contrast to the innocence of the
childhood has been rendered in complexities. Her appearance dismantles the narrative
of Holden. She is dissatisfied with the urge of Holden to remain with the cocoon of
innocence that his childhood provided him with (Khisamova, Motygoullina, and
Moullagaliev). She exhibited certain amount of maturity, greater than that of her
brother. Her realization lies in the fact that the process of maturity and growing up is a
natural one and the denial of her brother to be a part of the process explicates the
external world. The character of Phoebe was stuck in opposition to the character of
her brother. Phoebe produces a trajectory of the character of his brother and narrates
the story of his childhood. The romanticized view of the childhood conjured with
innocence, purity and beauty has been dismantled by Phoebe with her realistic
approach towards life (Dashti and Ida Baizura).

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3. Holden’s younger brother Allie, though deceased, plays a unique role in the novel.
Identify and defend an original thesis in which you clearly explain the role that this
unique character plays in the story.
The importance of the character of Allie lies in the changes that it brings about in the
mental makeup of Holden. His death marked his decent into depression. Howevr, the
perspective about the character of Alien that is made available to us is through the
words of Holden. On being asked to write an essay Holden, recollects the memory of
Allie regarding Mitt who was left handed. Holden was haunted by the memory of his
loss. In his words, Allie turned out to be a perfect child. In anger and dissatisfaction
had punched the glass windows of the garage, as he wanted to be in the funeral. Since
his memories regarding the death of Allie was never sublimed or saturated, they keep
on returning to him with an increased frequency. Holden used to look upon his
brother belonging to the ones who are innocent and pure (Challener).
4. Out of all the characters – living or dead – introduced in the novel, some directly
and some indirectly, which one had the greatest impact on Holden? In other words,
who has played the biggest role in his development as a human being?
After indulging in the thorough analysis of the character of the novel, The Catcher in
the Rye, it seems that the character of Phoebe is of supreme importance in assisting
Holden to become a better human being in the later part of his live. The apparent stark
contrast between the characters of Holden and Phoebe acted as the point from where
the changes in his attributes were brought about. Despite of the lesser age of Phoebe,
she appeared to be much matured than Holden and played a Pivotal role in shaping
the character of Holden and making it explicit to the reader. Phoebe was not
supportive of the fancy with childhood and the romantic ideal of innocence that is
attached with it.

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(Sasani, Samira, and Javidnejat)The character of Phoebe is in opposition to the
character of Allie. Whereas the character of Allie with his absence instilled in Holden
the attributes of depression that in turn formed the idealized romance associated with
childhood in his character, on the other hand Phoebe breaks the idealized romantic
ideal. Phoebe was capable of formulating the idea that growing up is a form of
maturity and inevitable in the life of human being. As such, the constant denial of
Holden to the inevitable truth made him appear more disgusting in her eyes. As such
Phoebe assisted, Holden to break the myth of innocent childhood, dismantling the
cocoon of innocence that he had created around him (Hongjun and Dan).

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Works Cited
Aubry, Timothy. "The Catcher in the Rye: The voice of alienation." New York. NY: The
Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History. Print (2015).
Challener, Daniel D. Stories of Resilience in Childhood: Narratives of Maya Angelou,
Maxine Hong Kingston, Richard Rodriguez, John Edgar Wideman and Tobias Wolff.
Routledge, 2019.
Dashti, Sorour Karampour, and Ida Baizura Binti Bahar. "Resistance as madness in The
catcher in the rye." Theory and Practice in Language Studies 5.3 (2015): 457-462.
Hongjun, Z. E. N. G., and L. I. Dan. "On the Education in The Catcher in the Rye From
Perspectives of Family, School and Society." Studies in Literature and Language 12.4
(2016): 28-30.
Khisamova, V., Z. Motygoullina, and N. Moullagaliev. "Expression of the fiction in the
material of" The Catcher in the Rye" by David Salinger and its translation into the
Tatar language." (2015).
Sasani, Samira, and Parvaneh Javidnejat. "A Discourse of the Alienated Youth in the
American Culture: Holden Caulfield in JD Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye." Asian
Social Science 11.15 (2015): 204.