Holden and Phoebe
In a frenzy of sadness and frustration on the night that Allele died, Holder smashed all the windows in his garage with his bare fists. I was only thirteen, and they were going to have me psychoanalysis and all, because I broke all the windows in the garage. I don’t blame them. I really don’t. I slept in the garage the night he died, and I broke all the goddamn windows with my first Just for the hell of it. My hand still hurts me once in a while, when it rains and all, and I can’t make a real fist any more… Although Holder is innocent, he is not naive. Society has affected him to the extent that he is aware of the cost of things, but wastes his money on taxis, as he wants to avoid the phones on buses. He refers to the value of his coat, his cases, his typewriter and even his pens, but he does not cherish his possessions as he gives his typewriter away and lends his coat to Seedeater. When his gloves were stolen, the only thing he cared about was that he became cold.
When he was a child he lost his belongings – so now as a teenager he fails to take his change and hates people ho spend time at posh restaurants and popular bars; yet there is a hypocritical side to him which makes him take taxis, go to bars, cinemas and theatres, and stay in hotels. Society has taken everything from Holder, both of his brother’s presence and his parents Seedeater borrows all he owns, his clothes and even the girl he loves.
His possessions are stolen at school. Because of all of this, he feels he must reject society. It is not surprising that he feels he must turn to children; after all, they are a symbol of innocence, and they have not rejected him. He says that he would like to e ‘The Catcher in the Rye’, who is a fictional character in a Burns poem, who stops children running off the edge off cliff whilst playing in rye fields.
This analogy epitomizes the only future Holder can see for himself. Phoebe is the only person Holder trusts. Her sanity and naturalness restores confidence of society in Holder. Due to his love from Phoebe a complete breakdown by the pond, and from a pointless escape later. Holder hates hypocrites and phones, but meets few people who are honest, so he generalizes and says there are phones all around him, another thing that makes IM an outcast of society.
Even his teachers are phones; Mr. Spencer acts in front of the headmaster, and the headmaster performs in front of the rich parents and Mr. Anatolian appears to have crooked morals. Holder’s parents are absent in his life, his dad is a lawyer who is very strict as seen in “Daddy will kill you” he also doesn’t show affection towards Holder. Holder’s mother isn’t very interested in neither his nor Phoebe’s lives as when she catches Phoebe smoking, as all she says is “l don’t like that, Phoebe. I don’t like that at all. ” (159)
