Holden Caufield Response to His Siblings in Cather in the Rye

Holden has ambivalent feelings about all of his siblings. Although he recognizes that they are all very intelligent, he still considers some of their life choices and styles idiotic. His relationship with each sibling is unique. Holden misses Allie very much and uses him memory as guide throughout the novel. Holden thinks that D.B. is very intelligent, but can't understand how he lives and works on Hollywood, a place that Holden deems phony. However, Holden's most important relationship is with Phoebe; Holden truly cares about Phoebe and does everything he can to make her happy.

Holden relationship with Allie is strained because Allie is "dead now. He got leukemia and died" (49). However, when Allie was alive they had a blooming relationship. Holden thought that Allie "was the most intelligent member of the family" (50). This is very important because Holden thinks that Phoebe and D.B. are both geniuses and are smarter than he is. This brilliance did spawn some resentment and jealousy as Allie's "teachers were always writing letters to my mother, telling her what a pleasure it was having a boy like Allie in their class" (50). This jealousy does not lead to any conflicts, but it contrast with the complete lack of jealousy that Holden has for Phoebe or D.B. Although Holden sometimes criticizes Phoebe's childish behavior, he never expressed any signs of jealousy. Holden's criticisms of D.B. Hollywood life style are genuine and do not express any covert forms of jealousy. However, Holden's jealousy of Allie does not spill over to his loving memories of his deceased brother. Holden recalls, "he never got mad at anybody. People with red hair are supposed to get mad very easily, but Allie never did, and he had very read hair" (50). It is clear that Holden valued Allie's personality and enjoyed spending time with him. Holden later regrets excluding Allie from some of his childhood activities like shooting a bee-bee gun, and misses his him through out the novel. Holden keeps "Old Allie's baseball mitt" (50), which Allie inscribed poems, through out the novel. Holden keeps Allie's memory alive by taking it out once in a while, and even writing an English composition about it. At the end of the novel, when Holden is slightly delusional, he prays to Allie when crossing the streets for safety. Holden uses his memory of his brother in order to guide his actions. However, the most interesting event in the novel involving Allie is Holden's reaction to his death. Holden recounts, "I slept in the garage the night he died, and I broke all the goddam windows with my fist, just for the hell of it" (50). The death of his brother clearly had a traumatic affect Holden. Holden disguises the pain he feels through the novel with a shield of cynicism and harsh judgment of others, but this break down indicates that Allie's death might be a contributing factor to why Holden became a mad man.

Holden is overly cynical and judgmental of D.B.. Holden believes that D.B. is very smart, and that he is wasting his talents and time in Hollywood. Holden is overly frustrated with "that goddam Hollywood. That stuff dries [him] crazy" (21). Holden believes that people on Hollywood are phony, that their lives are mere shams because actors don't express or live in reality. He also detest Hollywood because he thinks the people there are overly confident, cocky, and arrogant. This is demonstrated by Holden's conservation with his respected teacher Mr. Atolini, "...when D.B. went to Hollywood, Mr. Atolini phoned him up and told him not to go. He said that anybody who could write like D.B. had no business going