Unseen characters and themes

Unseen characters

Holden Caulfield is influenced by a number of characters who do not appear directly in the text.' These characters serve generally as symbols of Holden's ideals or criticisms.' With many of the characters in this novel it is wise to be critical when thinking about Holden's descriptions.' We have only Holden's opinion to go by with these characters.' As such, when discussing these characters, be careful to make sure that they are discussed as symbols or representations of Holden's thoughts.

Jane

Jane occupies Holden's thoughts for much of the novel.' Although Holden does not talk to her or see her during the novel, she is the reason for Holden's fight with Stradlater and subsequently his leaving Pencey Prep.' Jane, however, represents much more than this.' She is the platonic love of Holden's life and his ideal of intimacy.' Throughout the novel, Holden repeatedly thinks about calling Jane but always decides against it, often claiming that he is 'not in the mood'.' He seems afraid to contact Jane.' From the very first mention of her name, he tells Stradlater that he is 'not in the mood right now' (p28).' This is most likely because he does not want his idea of her changed.' Holden's consistent reflection on how she played checkers is an indication of this.' It could also be an indication of his fear of intimacy or his fear of facing how much either of them have changed.

Allie

In many ways Allie and Jane are similar characters.' Most strikingly, they are both characters who exist in Holden's memory.' While Holden chooses to keep Jane as a memory, Allie died of leukaemia and will never grow up.' Holden's intense relationship with Allie is demonstrated through the fact that he smashed all the windows in the garage the night that Allie passed away.' The scars that mar Holden's hand can be seen to represent the emotional scars.' When Holden hits low points, such as when Maurice hits him and when he leaves Mr Antolini's flat, Holden has imaginary conversations with Allie.' This is a form of escapism.' Certainly Allie represents his pre-adolescent age.' Holden's obsession with Allie reflects his obsession with the past and his rejection of change.

D.B.

For Holden, D.B. is the opposite of both Allie and Jane: in Holden's mind D.B. has changed irrevocably.' The respect that Holden has for D.B. as a talented writer is tainted by his assertion that D.B. 'prostitutes' himself by writing film scripts in Hollywood.' Holden sees this as a typical example of how a person is changed for the worse through adulthood.' According to Holden, his brother is a 'phony'.' As ambiguous and weak in his convictions as ever, Holden still has admiration for D.B. and in the prologue writes with some admiration about his brother's 'Jaguar... that can do around two hundred miles an hour' (p1).' D.B. represents the difficulty that Holden has in rationalising the world.

Themes

Throughout the novel Holden's loneliness is caused by his displacement in society.' He does not understand the adult world but cannot retreat fully to the innocent world of childhood.' This is a typical teenage problem.' In an attempt to rationalise and to find his own place in society, Holden lashes out at those things that he does not understand and this serves to alienate him further.' We see Holden shy away from intimacy and detach himself from his emotions to avoid getting hurt.' These themes lend themselves to several of the symbols and motifs that run through the novel.

Adolescence

'Among other things, you'll find you're not the first person who was ever confused and frightened and even sickened by human behaviour.' (p170)

In many ways Holden is the archetypal adolescent.' He is unsure of himself and how he fits into the world.' He neither feels comfortable in the world of adolescents at Pencey Prep nor in the adult world in New York.' His eagerness to be part of the adult world is expressed through his constant affirmations, often to himself, that he looks older than he is.' Holden tells Mrs Morrow that 'I can usually get them [drinks] on account of my height...And I have quite a bit of gray hair.' (p51) Holden tells us later that 'I have a pretty deep voice anyway' (p57).' These assertions are proven to be fantasy as almost every character questions his age.'

Holden's quest for experience in the adult world is well demonstrated through his confusion and frustration about physical intimacy with women.' There is a contrast between what his feelings are and what he perceives them to be.' At the Edmont hotel, he is ashamed to admit that 'it is too bad that so much crumby stuff is a lot of fun sometimes' (p56) and his fear of perversion is emphasised later in his immature conversation with Carl Luce in which he constantly tries to bring the conversation around to sex and homosexuals.' Finally, his overreaction to Mr Antolini patting him on his head demonstrates his fear.

There are times. however, when Holden is very upfront about sex and he tells the reader that 'Sex is something I just don't understand' (p56) and later that 'I'm a virgin. I really am' (p83).' The qualification in this quote implies that the reader might not believe him, however, it is not uncommon for 16-year-olds to be virgins.' This frank talk by Holden is bolstered by his admirable assertions that 'You don't always have to get too sexy to get to know a girl' (p69) and that to 'get sexy' with a girl he really needs 'to like her a lot' (p133).' This admirable quality of not treating women as objects is confused by his role models Carl Luce and Stradlater to the point where he feels that he should not stop when a girl asks him to (p84).' This of course is silly and in either case he cannot deny his true feelings as demonstrated through the episode with Sunny, where Holden feels 'much more depressed than sexy' (p86) and spends the time feeling sad for the young prostitute.

Because Holden is unable to change into what he thinks he should be he tries to retreat into the childhood world.' His consistent failing to call Jane is an expression of his need to keep childhood memories as childhood memories. His obsession with Phoebe and Allie also represent this.' Holden eventually sees, however, that you cannot stop change and that at some stage you need to grow up.

Many analyses will focus on adolescence, alienation and intimacy.' Holden is alienated because he does not understand the adult world and his place in it.' Holden's quest for intimacy is affected disastrously by his alienation. His attempts to reach out are either inappropriate such as with the girls in the Lavender Room and the cab drivers, or thwarted by his cynicism or immaturity as demonstrated through his failed interactions with Carl Luce and Sally Hayes.

Phoniness/rebellion against society

Holden sees most of the adult world as being 'phony'.' He uses the word to describe the elements in adults that he sees as hypocritical or superficial.' Holden's constant criticism of everything adult seems to be an excuse for him to detach himself from the adult world which he does not understand and as such is a rebellion against the values of society.' He cannot stand the concept of celebrity or materialism.' The only characters Holden does not see as phony are the nuns with whom he is oversensitive (and is surprised that they even know about Romeo and Juliet as it 'gets pretty sexy in some parts' (p100), Allie, Phoebe and Jane, who he cannot accept will and has changed.

It is important to note that Holden is by far the most 'phony' character in the novel.' He admits to being 'the most terrific liar you ever saw in your life' (p14) and is constantly pretending to be older than he is or even somebody else.' What does this say about the strength of Holden's convictions or the validity of his opinions?' Perhaps Holden makes some decent points, however he does not know how to use his insight.' Carl Luce tells Holden that he needs to 'recognise the patterns of your mind' (p133) and Mr Antolini gives Holden a Wilhelm Stekel quote:

'The mark of the immature man is that he wants to die nobly for a cause, while the mark of the mature man is that he wants to live humbly for one.' (p169)