Perhaps each sixteen-year-old lad needs a astute sister similar Phoebe Caulfield. Discerning movie critic, reader, writer of detective stories, skater and mean dancer, she is simply a precise accomplished ten-year-old and the lone quality successful The Catcher successful the Rye who seems capable to formed a benign power connected her troubled brother.
In his distinctive, confiding voice, Holden mentions her aboriginal connected successful the novel—”She’s each right. You’d similar her”—and his thoughts tally backmost to her similar a refrain, punctuating the directionless 2 days successful Manhattan which travel his expulsion from Pencey School. He wants to telephone her but helium can’t successful lawsuit his parent answers the phone. He wishes helium could bent retired with her alternatively of jock schoolmates, incomprehensible girlfriends, phony adults oregon reprimanding teachers. To cheer himself up helium buys her a grounds helium knows she volition like, and tries to find her astatine the Mall and astatine Central Park wherever helium remembers she likes to rollerskate. Finally, it is the thought of however bittersweet she would beryllium if helium died from pneumonia connected a freezing December nighttime that propels him location to spot her, adjacent though helium runs the hazard of being intercepted by his parents, who don’t yet cognize that helium has been expelled from his 4th school. Phoebe—or alternatively the thought of Phoebe—draws him dilatory backmost to the household helium is avoiding.
There is thing phony astir Phoebe. She is 10 years old, skinny and has reddish hairsbreadth which reminds Holden of their member Allie, who died from crab 3 years earlier. She dresses neatly but has a penchant for distinctive items—Holden knows that she volition emotion the eccentric reddish hunting chapeau that helium bought connected impulse portion connected a schoolhouse trip, and helium notices that she has elephants embroidered connected her pijamas. She hugs him unselfconsciously erstwhile she is pleased to spot him, and she hits him erstwhile she is annoyed with him: everything she does is nonstop and sincere, dissimilar Holden’s day Sally Hayes, who is obsessed with appearances, oregon his predatory teacher Mr. Antolini.
Phoebe—or alternatively the thought of Phoebe—draws him dilatory backmost to the household helium is avoiding.
But Phoebe besides shares with Holden a beardown property and a absorption to normal oregon behaviour she doesn’t like. Earlier, she has thrown ink implicit Curtis Weintraub’s windcheater due to the fact that she doesn’t similar the mode helium follows her around. She has fixed herself a caller mediate sanction due to the fact that she thinks Josephine is awful. She complains to her parent that their location assistance breathes implicit her food. Amusingly, with a joyous deficiency of embarrassment, she is taking belching lessons from Phyllis Margulies and she is besides processing a method for consenting her forehead to get blistery truthful it seems arsenic though she has a fever (an excuse for skipping school). She and Holden person successful the past entertained themselves by deliberately annoying a store adjunct successful the Bloomingdale’s footwear department. When Holden sneaks into the household flat to chat to her successful her room, portion avoiding their parents, she covers for him and lends him her Christmas wealth truthful that helium tin fell retired successful New York for a small longer earlier having to officially travel location for the holidays and confess that helium volition not beryllium returning to Pencey. Despite the property difference, determination is simply a batch that the 2 siblings person successful common, and Phoebe’s rebellious streak disrupts immoderate thought that she indispensable beryllium bully simply due to the fact that she is simply a girl.
For Holden, Phoebe encapsulates memories of blessed times spent with her and Allie oregon their oldest brother, D.B., who is present successful Hollywood, moving arsenic a publication writer. They would instrumentality her to Central Park and ticker her thrust connected the carousel; they would spell to the cinema together; they would instrumentality her to spot a show. She ever had an sentiment astir what they saw and she ever listened cautiously to their conversations: “if you archer aged Phoebe something, she knows precisely what the hellhole you’re talking about.” He affectionately calls her “old Phoebe,” an amusing epithet considering she is the youngest sibling, but an due 1 arsenic she is omniscient beyond her years. Nostalgia for the innocence of prepubescence is mixed successful with his respect for his kid sister, underlined by the information that she is going to the aforesaid superior schoolhouse that helium went to, with schoolhouse visits to the aforesaid depository and she is rehearsing, similar helium did, for the schoolhouse play. A bully writer and a person of lit himself (English is the lone taxable helium passed), helium delights successful the information that his sister writes detective stories successful her notebooks. These activities are a acquainted comfortableness to Holden: “Certain things they should enactment the mode they are. You ought to beryllium capable to instrumentality them successful 1 of those large solid cases and conscionable permission them alone.”
But underlying this is Holden’s ain fearfulness of reaching adulthood. He drinks and smokes and tries to suffer his virginity but yet retreats from the exemplary of masculinity and ambition that helium is expected to want. School is nary bully due to the fact that helium cannot spot the constituent of pursuing the rules for an result that has nary entreaty to him: “all you bash is survey truthful that you tin larn capable to beryllium astute capable to beryllium capable to bargain a goddam Cadillac immoderate day.” At archetypal Holden asks his day Sally if she’ll spell with him to Vermont, to unrecorded simply determination successful a compartment by a brook. She thinks helium is mad. Then helium modifies his plan, deciding alternatively to determination to Colorado to unrecorded and enactment connected a ranch. It is Phoebe who wisely points retired that Holden mightiness privation to larn however to thrust a equine first.
Anchored astatine past by the affirmative effect of his content successful a younger, wiser sister, Holden volition yet instrumentality location and judge the assistance that helium needs.
The prime of empathy betwixt member and sister allows Holden to speech freely astir his acquisition of Pencey and cognize that (unlike Sally, who told him helium was crazy), Phoebe volition listen, and if she hasn’t got thing utile to say, volition accidental nothing. It is someway Phoebe’s disappointment successful him that has a galvanizing effect—”She sounds similar a goddam schoolteacher sometimes, and she’s lone a small child.” He doesn’t caput erstwhile she corrects his misquotation of the Robert Burns poem from which the rubric comes—not a “catcher” but a “body,” from the line, “Gin a assemblage conscionable a body, comin thro’ the rye”—and confides successful her that his ambition is to prevention each the younger children from falling implicit the borderline of a cliff. She inspires his empathy and consciousness of work for those younger than himself—from helping a miss with her skate cardinal successful Central Park to allowing children their state to person fun: “The happening with kids is, if they privation to drawback for the golden ring, you person to fto them bash it, and not accidental anything. If they autumn off, they autumn off, but it’s atrocious if you accidental thing to them.”
What takes Holden by astonishment is that Phoebe is determined to travel with him to Colorado. He is dismayed erstwhile she shows up with a suitcase astatine their rendezvous (arranged truthful that Holden tin instrumentality the wealth helium borrowed). He had imagined going distant until helium reached astatine slightest the property of thirty-five, and arranging for Phoebe to sojourn him present and again. His knowing of his sister—and the mode a ten-year-old child’s caput works—is retired of measurement with reality. This shocks him into a consciousness of responsibility. He is acrophobic that she hasn’t eaten her luncheon and helium hates the thought that she is readying to skip schoolhouse and miss her show arsenic Benedict Arnold successful A Christmas Pageant because of him. Finally, a consciousness of work draws him a small mode retired of his existential crisis.
Though Phoebe, present transverse with her brother, refuses to instrumentality to school, oregon talk to him, she tin beryllium enticed to travel him, truthful Holden heads implicit to the zoo, knowing that she volition go much tenable erstwhile they are there. He promises that helium volition instrumentality work and spell location if she goes backmost to school. He buys her a summons to thrust a equine connected the carousel and they scope a infinitesimal of communal contentment, a overmuch safer, puerility mentation of riding horses successful a ringing connected a ranch—”I felt truthful damn blessed each of a sudden, the mode aged Phoebe kept going astir and around.” Anchored astatine past by the affirmative effect of his content successful a younger, wiser sister, Holden volition yet instrumentality location and judge the assistance that helium needs.
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Adapted from Great Literary Sisters by Janet Phillips. Copyright © 2026. Available from Bodleian Library Publishing.
English (US) ·