Allie Caulfield Character Analysis

Allie Caulfield, although not physically present, has a large impact on Holden’s life. Allie is two years younger than Holden and died from leukemia when Holden was thirteen. Holden is clearly attached to and cares deeply for Allie, as he carries around and writes a detailed composition about Allie’s “left-handed fielder's mitt” with “poems written all over the fingers”(Salinger 38). Holden remembers Allie fondly and remarks how “terrifically intelligent” he was and how he was “nicest” Caulfield family member. After Allie died, Holden “broke all the goddam windows” in the garage with his fist (Salinger 39) the night of Allie’s death, this is one of the rare cases that Holden gives insight on how Allie’s death affected him. Holden often reaches out to Allie when he is feeling alone and depressed.
In this time of need, Holden reaches out and “start[s] talking … to Allie”, something he states he does “sometimes” when he “get[s] very depressed” (Salinger 98). Moreover, when Phoebe confronts Holden’s misanthropic attitude for not “lik[ing] anything that’s happening ” (Salinger 169), Holden defends himself and by revealing that he does like one thing; he “likes Allie” (Salinger 171). Again, when Phoebe expostulates that “Allie’s dead” (Salinger 171), Holden argues that he was “a thousand times nicer” than the people Holden knows who are alive. Therefore, Holden again refers back to Allie in a tense atmosphere where he feels cornered by Phoebe; Allie makes him feel grounded when Phoebe is confronting Holden’s problems. Furthermore, Allie assuages Holden’s mental exhaustion as he stumbles through the streets of New York after leaving Mr. Antolini's apartment at his worst mental state yet throughout his three day