Phoebe Caulfield is Cool

As a kid I loved museums because I really loved learning about the past but I never thought of museums in the way Holden Caulfield does. Viewing exhibits as frozen in time and idealizing the past are a significant force in this story and is why I loved the character of Phoebe.

Phoebe isn’t like Holden at all; she doesn’t idealize childhood and wants Holden to grow up. Rather than sympathizing with Holden, she sympathizes with us as readers and gives us an outside perspective of Holden. She breaks away from Holden’s talk about the phoniness of the adult world and lets us know that growing up is okay and necessary.

Additionally as readers, we start to understand that Holden’s feelings towards the outside world may not be entirely directed at the outside world, but rather himself. I know we mentioned it alot through class discussions but Holden has trouble dealing with his feelings and coping with the loss of Allie. He’s most likely depressed and longs for human connection, but also pushes it away. Phoebe understands this, since she’s his sister, and at the museum scene towards the end of the story I think she purposefully spends time with him because that’s what he needs. That’s what I really enjoyed about Phoebe’s character; even if she’s brief and not thoroughly fleshed out as a character, she lets us as readers know that the childhood Holden dreams of doesn’t exist but is also comforting towards him. Pretty decent younger sister tbh.