Chapter 23 in Catcher truly shows what kind of relationship Holden and Phoebe have. They are really close siblings and obviously care about each other. In these chapters, D.B.'s room is a safe haven from the harsh outside world, where they can dance and Holden can actually be happy for once in the book. Phoebe is the personification of innocence in Catcher, and her innocence makes Holden happy. When she thinks that she can raise her temperature and makes him touch her forehead, he laughs and plays along because he likes youth, and making up absurd things like being able to control your own body heat is associated with youth and innocence. When their mom comes in and he hides, the mother's phony response is that she had a "marvelous" time at her party, when she actually did not (fun fact: The character who appears throughout the Family Guy episode calling Peter a phony is credited as Holden Caulfield). It shows that Phoebe cares about her big brother when she lies by saying that she lit a cigarette and threw it out the window when asked about the smoke in the room. She also gives Holden the rest of her money that she was planning to spend on Christmas presents. This causes him to burst into tears, so she comforts him. As a parting gift, Holden gives Phoebe his famous red hunting hat and he goes on his way. Does Holden think his mom is a phony? Also, is the cigarette being thrown out the window a reference to the boy at Elkton Hills who committed suicide by jumping out of a window, James Castle?
I definitely agree with you and think that your analysis was very insightful. I do think that Holden thinks his mom is phony. I think Holden does not want to talk to her because she will probably give him a phony speech. I definitely think you hit the nail on head when you talked about how Phoebe is the personification of innocence. I think that is why he is able to open up with Phoebe because use is young and innocence and she says what she feels instead of being phony and coating what she says or sating something just to make Holden feel better. I think Holden is able to take the money from Phoebe because she is innocent and would not give it to him if she did not want to give it to him. I think if his mother tried to give him money he probably would of rejected the money because he would probably see it as a phony gesture. I never really saw the reference to the cigarette and James Castle, but I think it is a very interesting idea.
ReplyDeleteI agree with a lot of your analysis and I especially thought that it was very smart of you to realize that Phoebe personified innocence. You asked if I thought Holden believed his mom to be phony. I do think that he believes anyone who has gone through the process of becoming an adult and has had to adapt to society is phony. Therefore, I think that Holden loves his mom, but thinks she is phony. By the way he describes her conversation with Phoebe it almost seems as if she is this two-dimensional, very passive character. This attribute is probably amplified by Holden's constant hyperbole, but it still spawns from some truth and I believe he thinks that his mom has been glazed over by the adult world and is now "phony." I had never thought of the metaphor linking James Castle and the cigarette. I'm not sure that it is something the Salinger intended but it is still a very good analysis between the two.
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