The relationship that Phoebe and Holden Caulfield share is a different kind of sibling bond. Throughout the novel, Holden is always alone and never really makes an effort to be with any other person until he goes back to his apartment to visit his kid sister, Phoebe. You can tell by the way Holden describes her that he really does love her. She seems to be the only living person he really cares about. The only other person that he seems to really care about is his younger brother Allie, who died several years earlier. Holden's love for his sister is the only thing that really keeps him grounded. Every time Holden seems really lost he will always mention wanting to either talk to or visit Phoebe. After these thoughts Holden always seems a little happier.
Phoebe seems to have this great admiration to her older brother. She does not really even question him for visiting her in the middle of the night when Holden is supposed to be at his boarding school, Pencey. The only times she questions him being home, is when she realizes that he was not supposed to be home before Wednesday, so he must have been kicked out (Salinger 165). Holden bought her this record as a present, but unfortunately it breaks during his travels around the city. When he tells Phoebe of the broken record, she does not care. She wants to save the pieces anyway because they are a present from her big brother.
Near the end of the novel, Holden decides to run away. He tells Phoebe to meet him one last time before he goes away, and she surprises him by bringing along a bag of her own belongings to go with him. Holden tells her that she cannot go with him and she refuses to speak to him from there. Holden has to promise that he is not going anywhere, that he will stay at home, in order for Phoebe to talk to him again.
Salinger, J. D. The Catcher in the Rye. Boston: Little, Brown, 1951. Print.
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