At the beginning of The Catcher in the Rye, we are introduced to Holden's relentless criticism of "phonies", and it progresses excessively. The first person that Holden speaks fondly of is his sister, Phoebe. But what makes her so special to him? Phoebe is a smart, stubborn, and brutally honest girl who always listens to Holden. While Holden's judgement of older characters prevents him from taking their advice, Phoebe has credibility to him. To the reader, she obviously seems more mature than Holden on many levels. She is more practical, and holds much better connections with others. This complicates our understandings of Holden, as he is drawn to the innocence and purity of childhood. And when he reunites with his sister, she is not impressed by his behavior.
In Holden's life, Phoebe is one of his only constants. He feels wildly out of place and longs to run away from the complexity of the world. So when she refuses to let Holden "fall" by himself, he is forced to reconsider his emotions. In class we discussed the image of Phoebe running after Holden wearing his red hunting hat. It is almost like a mirror image of Holden, and it seems to impact him enough to snap out of his bout. I was struck by the scene of Phoebe on the carousel in particular. Holden has realized that his little sister is growing up, but has remained her authentic self. Watching her ride the carousel, Holden feels happy for the first time in a while. This could be interpreted as him recognizing that growing older doesn't mean losing yourself. He will always be able to return to his memories and find joy. Although the last chapter doesn't reveal much of his current thoughts, I like to imagine that he finds hope for his future and the future of those around him.
