Character+Analysis

Welcome to Character Analysis. This page is devoted to giving explanations and descriptions of each of (or the most important) characters of the novel, The Catcher in the Rye. We at **__Awesomes Incorporated__** hope that you, the reader, will find all information on your favorite character(s). Enjoy!

Characters:

__ Stradlater: __ He is the main roommate of Holden at Pencey Prep. Stradlater is usually found around the room, admiring himself and showing off his good looks. Stradlater is a star basketball player, and thinks of himself as the greatest. He is always going out with different girls, even though he doesn't care much about them, he just wants to try and get some action. Around chapter 4, Stradlater goes on a date with Jane Gallagher (even though he mispronounces her name as Jean) who is Holden's old neighbour and childhood friend. Holden is very furious about this, since he knows what Stradlater is trying to do with her. Holden finds Stradlater a very phony person. Stradlater is always getting dressed up for his dates, but at home he is a very big slob and doesn't have very good hygiene. We only see Stradlater in the first few chapters of the book, but he is one of the first characters introduced. Citations For Stradlater: []

__ Ackley﻿: __ His full name is Robert Ackley, but everybody calls him Ackley. He is a very dirty guy who rooms next to Holden. He has a bunch of pimples all over his face and has greasy hair since he rarely takes a shower. He is 18 and a senior at Pency Prep. He tends to barge into peoples dorms without knocking. Ackley has a habit of picking up peoples personal stuff and putting it somewhere else. Ackley does not listen very well and needs to be told many times before he will do something. He does not get hints good, like when Holden hints that he wants Ackley to leave, Ackley is oblivious to it. Ackley cuts his toenails over the floor instead of on the table. Like Holden, Ackley hates Stradlater too. Ackley bashes Stradlater often, calling him a sonuvabitch when Stradlater is not around. Ackley is only seen for the first few chapters of the book but is introduced very early on in the story. Citations: [] []

= Holden Caulfield: = ==== Holden is the main character of The Catcher in the Rye. In the novel Holden is a troubled sixteen year old boy who attends Pencey Prep in Agerstown, Pennsylvania as a junior. Prior to failing out of Pencey Holden had failed out of four other schools. He is very judgmental. He feels as though all adults are phonies. Fearing growing up and becoming phony, he wants to stop other kids from going into adulthood, and potentially becoming a “phony”. ==== ==== Holden dreams of becoming The Catcher in the Rye. Holden see’s all children as innocent and overall non-phony. In his vision he see’s himself in a large rye field full of laughing kids playing games. His duty is to catch the distracted children as they run off of the cliff of childhood, directly into the grip of adulthood. ==== ==== Before the book ends however, Holden realizes that the point of childhood is to prepare the kids for the treacherous leap into adulthood. As Holden watches his little sister Phoebe reach for the golden ring on the carrousel at the zoo, he realizes that “If they fall off, they fall off, but it’s bad if you say anything to them” (Salinger 211). Although Holden is afraid to let his baby sister grow up, he realizes there is nothing he can do to prevent her from becoming an adult. ====

[]
=__ Mr. Antolini: __=

==== Mr. Antolini is the only adult in The Catcher in the Rye that Holden does not label as a “phony”. Mr. Antolini talks to Holden differently then all of his other teachers. He does not treat Holden as though he is a kid, he does not objectify him for his smoking or drinking. Although Holden takes him touching his forehead as a sexual advancement, Mr. Antolini only touched him out of admiration, because even after everything he has been for he is still going strong. ====

[]
**__Phoebe Caulfield__** - Holden’s nine year old sister. She likes to dance, gets good grades in school, and is very intelligent and mature for her age. Holden treats her with great respect. She would do anything for Holden which she demonstrates by trying to run away with him. She understands that there is something wrong with Holden and their relationship seems to struggle a bit at one point because of whatever is wrong with him. Phoebe understands the concept of growing up and realizes that it is just part of life. She is one of the main reasons Holden decides he must mature and enter adulthood.

Citations for Phoebe [] [] [] []

__Maurice﻿:__ Holden first meets Maurice in the hotel elevator. Maurice asks Holden if he would like a "throw" or a "night" with one of his girls. Holden clearly sees Maurice as a pimp but he decides to accept the proposal. Maurice tells Holden that it will cost 5$ for a throw, and 15$ for a night. Even though Holden accepts, he backs out when he sees that the prostitute (Sunny) reminds him of a small girl. Holden attempts to pay Sunny just for her time, but she demands 10$ instead of the original 5$. Holden demands that she leaves. After some time, Maurice and Sunny both return to Holden's room to try and get the supposed 5$ that Holden owes. Holden continues to refuse to pay and Maurice ends up beating the crap out of him. A crying and deafeated Holden tells Maurice off, and him and Sunny depart. At the end of the novel, Holden says that he misses everyone he used to know, even Maurice. This could be because before Holden is about to do business with Sunny, he was feeling very depressed, he wanted to feel something other than being depressed. Holden sort of wanted Maurice to hit him, so it could take away his depressed feeling. Citations For Maurice: [] []

__Sunny__ – The prostitute Holden hires through Maurice. She is supposed to be the first girl Holden has sex with, but they don’t end up going through with it. Holden see’s her as very young. She says “like fun you are”, which to Holden makes her seem like a little girl. Holden looks at Sunny as a person, rather than a prostitute, which makes it hard for him to treat her like one. Sunny doesn’t take the smoke that Holden offers her, nor does she make any effort to have a conversation with him. When he says he will pay her even though they didn’t do anything, she demands ten dollars. Holden only gives her five so she comes back with Maurice later to get the other five.

Citations for Sunny

[] []

__D.B. Caulfield:__ D.B. is Holdens older brother. He is a screenwriter in Hollywood. Before he went to Hollywood, D.B. used to write great stories that Holden really liked. D.B. is at the top of the "phony scale" in Holden's mind. This is because D.B. ditched writing stories to write screenplays instead. This annoys Holden since D.B. sacrificed his special talent (writing stories) for money (writing screenplays). D.B. used to be in the army during WWll. D.B. says to Holden that the army is as full of "bastards" as the Nazis, and claims that if he had to shoot, he wouldn't even know where to point. Whenever D.B. came home, he would lie on his bed and stare at the ceiling. This is because the war probably had a traumatizing effect on D.B. He says to Allie that being in the war "doesn't do a damn thing to help his writing", pointing out that you don't need to be in the war to be a good war writer. Citations: [] []

__ Allie Caulfield : __ Allie is Holden's younger brother and arguably the most important character. Allie is only spoken about by Holden since he dies of leukemia when he was 11. Holden describes Allie as basically a great kid. He had a great sense of humour, he was very kind towards people, he never lost his temper and was very nice. In chapter 5, Holden is to write a composition for Stradlater, and he chooses Allie's old baseball mitt. Holden can describe it so well because Allie wrote a bunch of poems in green ink on it. Allie loved to play baseball, he didn't like the competitive part of it all, he just wanted to play. The poems on the mitt symbolize Allie's innocence and his lack of being phony. Holden often uses Allie and memories of him to calm himself down when he's feeling sad. It's obvious that Allie plays a big part in Holden's story. It Makes you think that if Allie were still alive, would Holden be the way that he is? [] []