The Catcher in the Rye

In my opinion, there is only one true hero in the story The Catcher in the Rye by J.D Salinger, and it is not the main character. Usually, the main character is or has something to do with the hero, but not in this case. The main character, sixteen year old Holden Caulfield, whose point of view the story is told, is pretty much the opposite of the hero. He is not really an antagonist because he is not conflicting with the hero, but Holden creates his own problems and does not really do much to help himself. I would definitely say that his little sister Phoebe is the hero of the story. Holden brings her up a lot in the beginning because he thinks about her all of the time, but she is not significant to the plot until later on. Holden is always thinking about he only wants to see her and no one else from his family. Holden admires her for her listening skills because even if she does not know what is being talked about, she is always listening. She is also very smart. Phoebe is Holden’s inspiration to come home and make peace with his parents after being kicked out of his school. At first, he plans on running away and going out west. This would allow him to avoid ever seeing his parents again if he did not want to. Before he leaves, Holden decided he wanted to see Phoebe one last time. He leaves her a note at school to meet somewhere, and she showed up with her own suitcase. I think that this small thing shows what kind of bond Holden and Phoebe have. Phoebe was ready to move out west with her brother immediately so he would not be alone. This is a wake up call for Holden. I think he may have thought, “I have something that I love more than anything right here. Am I really going to be selfish and throw it all away?” Holden considered the advice Phoebe had given him about coming home and facing his parents. Without Phoebe, Holden would have escaped out west and ran away from his problems instead of doing what was right and fixing them head on.