Supporting Characters in "The Catcher in the Rye": Phoebe

There are a great number of characters in The Catcher in the Rye, and they are all incredibly important. Perhaps one of the most important characters in the book is Phoebe Caulfield. Phoebe is Holden Caulfield's younger sister, and she is incredibly important to him. If he did care about anyone besides himself, it would be his sister Phoebe. Phoebe also cared a lot about Holden, and she proved it by how she acted. Phoebe showed how much she cared because she lied to cover the fact that he had snuck into her room even though he was still supposed to be at school, she always wanted to see him, and she wanted to go with him when he wanted to hitchhike away from home. Holden snuck in Phoebe's room one night before he was supposed to be home, because he really wanted to see her. She was overjoyed when he appeared, but still got upset when she found out that he had failed out of four of his five classes. They talked for quite a long time, and Phoebe was very excited to find out that Holden would be home soon and was staying close to her. When their parents got home, Holden hid in Phoebe's closet, and she covered for all the cigarettes he had smoked. He then left. Soon after, he decided that he could not stay in New York, and when he let Phoebe know what his plan was, she decided to go with him. She packed all of her belongings and met him where he had said, but he would not let her go with him. He was very upset with her, but when he realized that his yelling at her made her cry, he made it up to her by taking her to the zoo and letting her skip school. Phoebe Caulfield was a girl that cared very much about her family and always wanted the approval of her brothers, and she was a very important character in The Catcher in the Rye.