Supporting Characters in "The Catcher in the Rye": D. B.

D. B. was an important character in The Catcher in the Rye. Even though he never actually showed up in person throughout the course of the book, he was still very influential. D. B. was an author who had turned into a playwright. He had moved out to Hollywood before The Catcher in the Rye began, but Holden still kept D. B. very close to his heart. D. B. was an incredible author, and had written a book of short stories entitled The Secret Goldfish. It had become popular, and Holden loved it. D. B. never appeared physically in The Catcher in the Rye, but he still was constantly on Holden's mind. Holden had always wanted his brother's approval, and even though he had failed out of Pencey Prep, none of that had stopped. Holden often thought about how D. B. would think this was cool or think that was amazing. Holden really looked up to his older brother, and he wanted to please D. B. the most. He would rather have pleased D. B. out of his whole family than anyone else. He even would rather have pleased D. B. over Phoebe, who was also constantly on his mind, but since D. B. was his older brother, Holden looked up to D. B. more. Holden always wanted to see D. B., and he wondered what Hollywood was like. He enjoyed the jaguar that D. B. had bought for quite a bit of money. He found it fascinating how fast the car could go. D. B. had sort of become Holden's idol, and Holden often though about how famous and known and awesome D. B. had become. Holden basically thought that D. B. was as incredible as the stars in the sky, and nothing could change his mind. Many people can be idols in someone's life, but it goes to a whole new level when that person talks to one as if they were equals. While D. B. was never physically apparent in The Catcher in the Rye, he was as important, if not more important, than some characters that are more evident in the book.

Supporting Characters in "The Catcher in the Rye": Mr. Antolini

Mr. Antolini was very important to The Catcher in the Rye. He added a lot to the story, and taught another lesson that would be good to take away from the book. Mr. Antolini had been one of Holden Caulfield's professors at a different school that he had gone to previously. Mr. Antolini taught English, and since Holden was good at English, Mr. Antolini knew how much potential Holden had. He was very welcoming when Holden called him in the middle of the night, and he had no problems letting Holden spend the night after Holden had told Mr. Antolini his predicament. When Holden arrived at his house, Mr. Antolini began to discuss with him school and his potential and what would happen to him now. He was glad to find out that Holden had not failed out of English, but he was still upset with Holden for not applying himself to school. He lectured Holden on the importance of school and how hard it would be for Holden to make something of himself if he did not apply himself to his schoolwork. Mr. Antolini was not afraid to be frank with Holden, but he often used words that Holden did not understand, so some of his speech was lost on Holden. Soon, they both went to bed, Mr. Antolini in his room and Holden on the couch in the living room. When Holden woke up in the middle of the night, Mr. Antolini was laying next to him, stroking his face. Mr. Antolini jumped up, obviously embarrassed, and tried to erase the tension from the situation. Holden quickly left and never went back. Mr. Antolini may have been a good teacher, but it seemed like he had ulterior motives for being around all of the young boys. This is a good way to quickly learn the lesson that one should not stay with anyone that they do not know very well, no matter how kind the other person seems. While Mr. Antolini was not in the story for very long, he still added greatly to Holden Caulfield's experiences in The Catcher in the Rye.

Supporting Characters in "The Catcher in the Rye": Sally Hayes

Another very important character in The Catcher in the Rye is Sally Hayes. Sally was important to the story because she had dated Holden Caulfield off and on for quite some time. When Holden came back to New York, he called her up one morning because he was bored and wanted some company. He ended up meeting her for a show, which he paid for. He had never liked shows or movies, but he knew that she would really enjoy seeing the show, so he went ahead and bought tickets for it anyway. He was right, she did really enjoy the show, and he suggested that they go ice skating. She agreed, for ice skating was something else that Sally really enjoyed. They went ice skating for a while and had a very good time. Soon they went inside and started talking. Holden became extremely animated, and Sally did not like that very much. Holden then started talking ridiculously, and he asked her to leave New York with him and eventually marry him. Sally did not take to that idea very well, and Holden and Sally started arguing. He called her a pain in his rear end, and she started crying. She wanted nothing to do with him after that, and after apologizing for a long time, Holden finally left. Sally Hayes was the kind of girl that is used to getting what she wants. She is overly dramatic, and will cry at the smallest things. She is also pretty simple-minded and does not always think very hard, but since she is pretty, she gets away with quite a bit. She would be more of a trophy than a girl to have an intelligent, stimulating conversation with. She seems more like a stereotypical blond that likes to keep up with the latest fashions but is not always worried about everything else. While Sally Hayes was not the smartest girl in the book, she was still a very important character in The Catcher in the Rye.

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.

Timelessness of "The Catcher in the Rye"

The Catcher in the Rye is a timeless book with a timeless message. There are many reasons people still read this book today. A few of these reasons are the lessons they can learn from it and the excitement they can feel while they read it. Many people can feel excitement while they read The Catcher in the Rye, because it is easy to get caught up in Holden Caulfield's adventures. Holden travels all over the city doing whatever he wants to do. He pays attention to no one except himself. He also constantly comes close to being caught, so there is consistent fear of being found out. The Catcher in the Rye, since the lessons that can be learned from it are so important. It shows that while bullying has been going on for a long time, it really needs to be stopped. Bullying took a young boy's life in the book, so it proves to the world that bullying is incredibly harmful. Bullying can become all that the bullied person thinks about, and it become so intense that the bullied person wants to take their own life. Bullying only hurts people, and The Catcher in the Rye shows how bad it can really become. Being out of school really hurts people in the long run, because it prevents them from learning the things that their future employers would be looking for. It also gets more children on the street with nothing to do, so there is a greater chance of vandalism happening. Children not being in school makes them ignorant, which causes bad things to happen, because those children do not know anything different. Children being out of school will just hurt them in the end, because they will be behind everyone else that stayed in school and will just have a harder time finding a good job. The Catcher in the Rye is a timeless book that has a message that should be read by everyone.

Human Nature in "The Catcher in the Rye"

J. D. Salinger understood quite a bit about human nature, and he proved that in writing The Catcher in the Rye. Salinger shows that he knows how teenage boys act and think and how they are wired. He shows how selfish people are and how desperate they are to not get caught. Holden Caulfield is extremely selfish in The Catcher in the Rye because he only thinks about himself. He thinks about how his actions will affect him and how much he wants to see his siblings. He also thinks about how nice it would be to leave everyone and everything that he knows without warning. He does not think about how it will affect his family and friends. He is too worried about his feelings and his reactions. Holden Caulfield is also incredibly desperate to not get caught. He will do almost anything so his parents will not find out. He spends quite a bit of money on a hotel room, which he does not even stay in for the full time that he paid for. At one point, he stays at the house of an old professor of his. The professor and his wife were very generous in letting him stay, but he becomes nervous so he quickly leaves their house also. He stays one night on a bench because he can not stay in the hotel and was kind of creeped out by his former professor. He still refuses to go home, though, because he does not want to be caught. He keeps all of his things in suitcases and checks them into a luggage check. He does eventually go back to see his sister, but he sneaks in so no one can hear him. When his parents do come home, he hides in her closet and she makes excuses for him, because she wants to protect him too. J. D. Salinger understood human nature very well, and he showed that to the world in the way that he crafted his characters in The Catcher in the Rye.

Hero in "The Catcher in the Rye"

Holden Caulfield was the hero in The Catcher in the Rye, and he stood for many things. He stood for perseverance and hope, but most of all, he stood for love. Holden showed that he stood for perseverance in how he never gave up on anything that he truly, deeply believed in. He followed through on his plan to escape from Pencey early. He also persevered through all the hardships that hit him while he was in New York but unable to go home. Holden also stood for hope. He showed how hopeful he was in many different ways. Holden never gave up the hope that he would not get caught in New York before he was supposed to be there, and he also continued to hope that he would see his sister. He always hoped that he would see and get to talk to his sister, and after he had, he still hoped that he would be able to see her very soon. He hoped that his parents would not be too upset with him and that they would accept him back into their home. Holden Caulfield stood for love more than anything else. He stood for love the most because, while he did not care deeply for a great number of people, those he cared about he cared very, very deeply for. He cared a lot about his sister, which is shown in the way that he constantly thought about her. He always wanted to see her and protect and make sure that she was okay. He cared about his parents, even if he did not always show it, but he never wanted to hurt then. When he did hurt them, he was upset with himself and really wanted to fix it all, even when he was not sure how to. He cared a lot for his older brother, and he showed it through how often he talked about his brother. He constantly wondered what his brother was doing and he always wanted to make his brother extremely proud of him. Holden was very heroic in The Catcher in the Rye, and he stood for many good things.