Catcher in the Rye, Post 6: A Reflection on Holden's Relationship with His Sister

As much as I disliked the majority of the book, (and trust me, I did) the last thirty or so pages redeemed much of the novel for me. I loved Holden's relationship with his sister, Phoebe. I made a few notes earlier on, about how sweet he was to think of his sister from time to time, notably when he went out of his way to find the record for her. But, the last thirty pages did me in. He was drunk, of course, when he went to see her at night and they squabbled in the ways siblings do, but he was excited for her play, and just to be there, talking to her. Then, he came up with the ridiculous plan to hitchhike out west, but he had to tell his sister first, which I find incredibly adorable. He was concerned when he saw a "Fuck you" sign at her elementary school But, these are minor things in comparison to his fight and makeup with his sister. This fight allowed me to connect Holden to my own older brother, Jeffrey, and Phoebe to myself. I connected with the fact that though, your sibling has hurt you, it's hard to stay mad at them, which was exactly what happened to Phoebe. As Phoebe got over the hurt he'd caused her, Holden was a good big brother and put his little sister over his own wants, the first sign of maturity I saw from him in the entire novel. But, the association I made between his and his sister's relationship with my brother's and mine really left an impact in the way I see this book. I'm choosing to leave the book on a good note with this: Salinger's choice to include his sister's relationship not only made me like Holden better as a character, but also improved the entire reading experience for me.