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Angry
- Instead of sympathizing with Holden’s refusal to grow up, she becomes angry with him. Despite being six years younger than her brother, Phoebe understands that growing up is a necessary process; she also understands that Holden’s refusal to mature reveals less about the outside world than it does about himself.
www.sparknotes.com/lit/catcher/character/phoebe-caulfield/
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Oct 4, 2024 · How does Holden's conflict about growing up in The Catcher in the Rye lead to his own maturity due to Phoebe's influence? Holden is, above all else, a very confused young man.
Despite being six years younger than her brother, Phoebe understands that growing up is a necessary process; she also understands that Holden’s refusal to mature reveals less about the outside world than it does about himself.
Holden’s affinity for children is made evident by the way he talks about his little sister, Phoebe. He sees Phoebe as the perfect person, someone uninfluenced by the adult world, which he thinks has a corrupting influence.
Faced with Holden’s stubborn refusal to let her leave town with him, Phoebe issues these words of defiance in Chapter 25, when he commands her to go back to school. The phrase “shut up” strikes Holden as profanity.
Holden grabs Phoebe ’s suitcase and leaves it at the coat-check in the museum. He then tries to walk her back to school, but she refuses to return, telling him to shut up when he tries to convince her. This shocks Holden, who hates hearing Phoebe use such harsh words.
It’s through Phoebe that we see Holden as a kid who never wants to grow up. Phoebe has a significant influence on the reader and Holden, as well as being one of the few people in the book who understands what’s going on with him.
After going into the living room to fetch a cigarette from a small box on the table, Holden reenters Phoebe ’s room. She is still “ostracizing” him, but she has at least started talking to him again, though only to repeat that their father is going to kill him.
