The Catcher in the Rye
(J.D. Salinger)

Holden Caulfield

The narrator and protagonist of the story, Holden tells the story from, presumably, an institution where he is receiving mental help. Holden is a sixteen-year-old boy who is stuck between childhood and adulthood, with disgust for conformity in all areas of life. He dislikes nearly everyone he meets yet feels extremely lonely.

He makes an attempt to get close to people but does not seem to go about it, other than letting people walk all over him. He is disgusted with the world he is living in and the hypocrisy of it all. Holden often displays some of the characteristics that he hates in others, while on his road to discovery but never seems to realize it for himself. The only people he respects in life are those who are children, whom he finds much wiser than adults.

Phoebe Caulfield

Holden’s younger sister and the most important female in his life, Phoebe represents everything that Holden values in life: youth, innocence, freedom, and wisdom. Holden considers Phoebe to be one of the wisest people he knows, despite her lesser years on Earth and he turns to her when he needs advice.

Phoebe is the reason Holden does not run away, because he cannot risk losing one of the few people whom he holds so close. Phoebe is one of the few people who actually understand Holden and the fact that the only person he is harming in his disdain is himself.

Allie Caulfield

Allie was Holden’s younger brother who died of Leukemia a few years prior to the start of Holden’s story. Allie is a sterling example of exactly what Holden fears: the loss of innocence. Allie’s innocence was stolen from him tragically, and Holden feels that conformity is just another way of blatantly stealing one’s youth and freewill.

Allie was very important to Holden and his death hit Holden hard. Holden carries around with him Allie’s old baseball glove, which is covered with poems that Allie used to write. The baseball glove is the single most important possession to Holden.

D.B. Caulfield

D.B. is Holden’s other brother, whom he does not have as much respect for as he does for Allie and Phoebe. D.B. had once written a volume of short stories, which Holden loves and carries around with him always, but Holden feels as though D.B. sold out in his career as a Hollywood writer.

Holden often credits D.B. as being his very favorite writer, though he does not respect his career choice. D.B. has done what Holden hates the most; he has conformed to the social norms and expectations that Holden avoids at all costs. Holden does not find D.B.to be as wise as his other, younger, siblings and does not seem to hold him in as high regard as he does Phoebe and Allie.

Ackley

Ackley is a classmate of Holden’s at Pencey Prep. He lives down the hall from Holden and Holden is disgusted by Ackley’s obvious lack of personal hygiene. Ackley is a nerdy guy with a bad acne problem and terrible dental habits.

Ackley constantly tries to be friends with Holden, though it is obvious that Holden has no desire to be friends with him, or even to be around him most of the time. Holden hates people who lie for the sake of lying and believes that Ackley makes up stories about his life to make him appear cooler to his classmates.

Stradlater

Stradlater is Holden’s roommate at Pencey Prep and has a similar disdain for Ackley and his hygiene problems. Holden does not appear to hate Stradlater the same way he hates others, though he does find his appearance, and general personality, to be rather annoying. Stradlater takes Jane Gallagher on a date, which bothers Holden slightly.

When Holden asks Stradlater if he tried to make Jane Gallagher have sex with him, Stradlater messes with Holden to get a rise out of him and Holden attacks him. Stradlater is good looking, popular, and sexually active, though Holden points out that he is quite the slob and rather disgusting.

Jane Gallagher

Jane is the only female that is not related to Holden whom he actually has feelings for. He finds Jane attractive, and also respects her, which is a combination that happens rarely for Holden. Holden and Jane were very close one summer when their families vacationed next to one another and this summer is one of the best memories Holden has in his life, thus he reflects on his time with Jane often. Jane does not actually appear in the story, but is mentioned quite a few times and obviously means a lot to Holden.

Sally Hayes

Sally has been Holden’s on/off girlfriend for quite some time. While Holden does seem to like Sally more than he likes most people, he is still annoyed by her a lot of the time. Holden believes that Sally is “dumb” and he dislikes how responsible she is when he wishes to be spontaneous.

He feels that Sally is extremely shallow but puts up with her so he has someone to make out with and spend a day with. Sally bores Holden at times but he is so lonely that he feels he needs to spend time with her.

Mr. Antolini

Mr. Antolini was Holden’s English teacher at Elkton Hills School and is good friends with Holden’s parents. He is married to a much older and very unattractive woman who is very wealthy. Mr. Antolini is almost definitely gay, with his wife acting as a cover-up, and Holden believes that Mr. Antolini comes on to him one night when he stays at his house out of despair.

He calls Holden “handsome” and watches him sleep while brushing his hair off his forehead. Holden is very uncomfortable with this and leaves the house immediately. Holden hints at the fact that he has been molested in the past that makes this situation especially uncomfortable.

Mr. Spencer

Holden’s history teacher at Pencey, Mr. Spencer epitomizes everything Holden finds boring about becoming an adult. He is old, unremarkable, goes to the same boring job every single day, plays tennis, and has martinis with the same boring group of friends.

Mr. Spencer understands Holden to a point and is determined to fix Holden’s academic problems and help him to make something of his life. Holden, of course, is not on the same page as Mr. Spencer and has no desire to conform to that life.

Carl Luce

A student at Columbia whom Holden knows from his time as the Whooten School where Carl acted as Holden’s student advisor. Holden does not particularly like Carl but invites him out for drinks regardless. Holden knows that Carl has quite a bit of sexual experience so he interrogates him about his sexual escapades in an attempt to understand adult sexual relationships. Holden has a hard time finding purpose to sex and hopes that Carl can explain it to him.

The Two Nuns

The nuns are not actually characters, as much as a means for Holden to go off on a very informative tangent. Holden observes the nuns and rather than making the normal observations on appearance or superficial assumptions, Holden sees them as people and reads into their actions.

Holden digresses to a discussion about money and religion and the barriers that exist between people who come from different walks of life not being able to easily merge with one another. Holden makes it known that he understands people on a level that many others never even try to reach.

Maurice

Maurice is the elevator operator at the Edmont Hotel where Holden is staying when he first gets back to the city. Maurice offers to get Holden a prostitute, an offer that Holden takes him up on. While Holden pays the $5 even though he does not have sex with her, Maurice demands an extra $5 for not following through. When Holden refuses Maurice punches him in the stomach and steals the $5 from him.

Sunny

The prostitute that Maurice sends up to Holden’s room. Sunny is a young girl, about Holden’s age and when Holden sees her and her innocent appearance he cannot fathom having sex with her. He does not understand how people can be so excited about sex when he just finds it dirty and disturbing.

Holden’s compassion forces him to see Sunny as a real person, rather than a hooker. He pays her anyway but she is not satisfied and tries to get him to change his mind. When Holden still refuses she gets Maurice to come and demand more money for her troubles.

Mrs. Morrow

The mother of one of Holden’s classmates at Pencey, Ernest Morrow, whom Holden runs into on the train from Pencey back to Manhattan. Holden tells Mrs. Morrow that his name is Rudolph Schmidt, who is actually a janitor at the school, and makes up ridiculous stories about himself for no reason at all.

Holden does not particularly like Ernest yet tells his mother that he is a real popular kid and has a ton of friends and is a great student. Holden feels that since Mrs. Morrow thinks so highly of her son, he will not give her reason to feel any differently.