The Catcher in the Rye

My favorite character in the story The Catcher in the Rye by J.D Salinger was definitely Phoebe Caulfield, Holden Caulfield’s little sister. Although Holden is the main character and is telling the story to the reader, Phoebe won me over. If anyone thinks Holden was the best character then they are one of two things; they either have no heart or any sense of loving emotion, or something is seriously wrong with them…Maybe an extremely harsh and unnecessary opinion, but I am just trying to throw everything out there that I can think of to back up what I am saying. It takes up more words, too. Anyway, Phoebe was my favorite character for many reasons. First of all, she sounds darling. In my opinion, if she could get her sixteen year old big brother to like her (which is almost impossible for anyone else), then she must be the most likable little girl on the planet. I like how Holden describes her as being a good listener. Even though she is a lot younger than most of the people in the book, she listens to them talk and sometimes understands adult conversations. Phoebe is the only person Holden wants to talk to when he is at his lowest point. I got the impression that Phoebe does not like to mess around with the truth, and is always as honest as she can possibly be. This is a trait that I greatly admire and think that a good seventy-five percent of the people I know could use. I always appreciate a character who is genuine in wanting the best for people. Phoebe is pretty much the only thing that convinced Holden to stay home and tell his family that he was kicked out of school, instead of his plan of running west and never coming back. Phoebe was one of those characters who had a small part in the book, but had a huge impact on the plot and major characters. Small but mighty.