The Significance of Allie

In The Catcher in the
Rye by J.D. Salinger, one of the most important characters is not actually in
the story, but is merely mentioned. This character is Holden's younger brother
named Allie. Allie is described in The Catcher in the Rye as having bright red
hair, and is only a few years younger than Holden (Salinger 50). Allie is first
mentioned in the book when Holden is writing a descriptive paper for his roommate
Stradlater (Salinger 49). Holden writes about his brother's baseball glove that
had poems written on it (Salinger 49). While describing the glove, Holden
mentions to the reader that his brother had died of leukemia a few years before
the events in the story take place (Salinger 49). The reader also finds out
that when Allie died Holden punched out all of the windows in his garage
(Salinger 50). He had to be hospitalized to have his hand fixed and ended up
missing Allie’s funeral (Salinger 201). The death of Allie and Holden's
reaction to it is important because it gives the reader more insight into
Holden. Allie's death was obviously a traumatic event for Holden and missing
the funeral might have been as well. Holden may have not been able to get
closure for Allie's death, and I believe that Holden's persistence to remain a
child has something to do with Allie's death. I think that Holden believes that
he will leave Allie behind if he gives up his childhood and becomes an adult.
Since Allie died, he never got the chance to become an adult, and maybe Holden
thinks that he will be able to stay closer to his dead brother if he does not grow
up as well. This fear can be seen when Holden talks about how he went to ride
his bike with a friend and told Allie that he had to stay behind (Salinger 129).
Holden still wishes that he told Allie that he could come along (Salinger 129).
He also mentions that when he was a kid he didn’t want Allie with him, but now
that Allie is gone he does (Salinger 130).

Bibliography:Salinger, J. D. The Catcher in the Rye. Boston: Little, Brown and, 1991. Print.