Catcher in the Rye 4

Question four for the novel Catcher in the Rye asks who the hero in the book is and what some of their traits and accomplishments are.

Usually the hero in the book is the protagonist. However, this is not the case in the Catcher in the Rye. I think the hero in this book is Holden’s smart and loving little sister, Phoebe.
Holden loves his little sister Phoebe and is constantly saying how smart she is. It takes a while in the book for Holden to see Phoebe. He does talks about her a lot before.

Phoebe is a little hard on Holden and becomes mad at him for a little bit, but I think this is just because she cares about him. She notices that he is going in a very bad direction, so she becomes upset obviously like anyone else would if they cared about someone who is failing school and considering running away.

Phoebe gave Holden the silent treatment after he told her that he was probably going to leave and go west. She didn't like this. She loves her big brother a lot, and she wants him to continue school. It is very upsetting to her that he could just leave. She has no idea what would happen to him and he has no education to fall back on. Holden tries to do everything to get her to talk and be happy again. He saw a carrousel and gave her money to go on it. This helped her become less depressed, but she told him that if he didn't leave she would be happy, and Holden said he wouldn't. He really didn't want to either. This is a main reason on why I think Phoebe is the hero of this story, because she talks him out of leaving. If he left, maybe great things could have happened, but she knew they probably would not. She knew it would be better for him to stay. Maybe this time when he starts his new school he'll actually try and do well and have a great life.

I think Phoebe is a great little sister and by helping Holden stay she is the hero of the story.

Salinger, J. D. The Catcher in the Rye. Boston: Little, Brown, 2001. Print.