The Catcher in the Rye: Phoebe and Allie

In the novel "The Catcher in the Rye" by J.D.Salinger, Holden's introduction of Phoebe have many similarities with his introduction of Allie. Primarily, he describes them as terrifically intelligent and smart when he starts his introduction. Holden describes Allie as "fifty time as intelligent" (Salinger 38) than him that his "teachers were always tell her mother what a pleasure it was having a boy like Allie in their class" (Salinger 38).

On the other hand, Phoebe is "really smart that she's had all A's ever since she started school" (Salinger 67). Then, he begins to describe their hair. Allie has "very red hair"(Salinger 38) that can get his attention when he's playing golf, while Phoebe "has this sort of red hair, a little bit like Allie's was" (Salinger 67). Moreover Holden uses "You'd like him/her" (Salinger 67) and "he/she's really nice" (Salinger 67) before he describes them. That shows both Allie and Phoebe are very nice and he likes both of them very much. Finally, Holden shows that he loves and cares about them so much. On the night that Allie died, Holden "broke all the goddam windows with his fist, just for the hell of it" (Salinger 39). On the other hand, when Holden is in New York, he often "near gave his kid sister Phoebe a buzz" (Salinger 66).

However, there are some differences between the introductions of Allie and Phoebe. First off, Allie and Phoebe have different personalities. Holden describes Allie as a very gentle child. Allie "never got mad at anybody" (Salinger 38), while Phoebe "is a little too affectionate and very emotional, for a child." (Salinger 68). Also, Phoebe is very curious and talks so much, "she'd give Allie or I a push or something, and say, 'Who? Who said that? Bobby or the lady?" (Salinger 68). Secondly, the main word Holden uses to describe Allie is "nice". Allie is the "nicest, in a lot of ways, he never got mad at anybody" (Salinger 38). Meanwhile, the main word Holden uses to describe Phoebe is "little". "Sometimes you'd forget she was around", because Phoebe "is such a little kid" (Salinger 68).

Lastly, Allie and Phoebe both love to write, but Allie "writes all his poems on his baseball mitt so that he'd have something to read when he was in the field and nobody was up at bat" (Salinger 38). On the other hand, Phoebe writes books "about some kid named Hazel Weatherfield" all the time but she "doesn't finish them" (Salinger 68). Summarily, Holden tells us more details and stories about Phoebe than Allie, maybe that's because Allie dies when he was only thirteen.

The Catcher in the Rye. Salinger, J.D. Publisher: Little, Brown & Company