The Catcher in the Rye Characters: Full List & Analysis

Who drives the story

Main characters

Holden Caulfield

A sixteen-year-old expelled from Pencey Prep who can't stand phoniness and can't stop grieving his brother Allie. He wants to protect children from falling into adulthood; what he gets is a beating, a breakdown, and the sight of his sister on a carousel.

Appears in:: Part 1: Expelled, and Out the Door; Part 2: Three Days Alone in New York; Part 3: Phoebe, and the Catcher in the Rye; Part 4: The Fall, and the Carousel
Themes:: The loss of innocence; Phoniness and the fear of growing up; Grief for Allie; Connection and loneliness

Phoebe Caulfield

Holden's ten-year-old sister, smart and skinny and the only one in the family he really likes. She calls out his emptiness, demands he name one thing he likes, and refuses to let him run away without her.

Appears in:: Part 3: Phoebe, and the Catcher in the Rye; Part 4: The Fall, and the Carousel
Themes:: The loss of innocence; Grief for Allie; Connection and loneliness

Allie Caulfield

Holden's younger brother, dead of leukemia at eleven, whose baseball mitt covered in green-ink poems Holden carries in his memory. Holden talks to him when he's afraid of disappearing.

Appears in:: Part 1: Expelled, and Out the Door; Part 2: Three Days Alone in New York; Part 3: Phoebe, and the Catcher in the Rye; Part 4: The Fall, and the Carousel
Themes:: Grief for Allie

Jane Gallagher

Holden's childhood friend and crush, who kept her kings in the back row at checkers. He never calls her, and Stradlater's date with her sets the whole weekend in motion.

Appears in:: Part 1: Expelled, and Out the Door; Part 2: Three Days Alone in New York
Themes:: Connection and loneliness

Mr. Antolini

Holden's former English teacher, the first to retrieve James Castle's body, who warns Holden about the terrible fall. Waking to find the man stroking his head, Holden flees, disillusioned.

Appears in:: Part 3: Phoebe, and the Catcher in the Rye; Part 4: The Fall, and the Carousel

Also in the story

Supporting characters

Ward Stradlater

Holden's handsome, secretly slovenly roommate who dates Jane Gallagher and won't say what happened. Their fight sends Holden out of Pencey a night early.

Appears in:: Part 1: Expelled, and Out the Door
Themes:: Phoniness and the fear of growing up; Grief for Allie

How they are connected

Key relationships

Holden Caulfield Allie Caulfield
A sixteen-year-old expelled from Pencey Prep who can't stand phoniness and can't stop grieving his brother Allie.
Phoebe Caulfield Holden Caulfield
Holden's ten-year-old sister, smart and skinny and the only one in the family he really likes.
Jane Gallagher Holden Caulfield
Holden's childhood friend and crush, who kept her kings in the back row at checkers.
Jane Gallagher Ward Stradlater
He never calls her, and Stradlater's date with her sets the whole weekend in motion.
Mr. Antolini Holden Caulfield
Holden's former English teacher, the first to retrieve James Castle's body, who warns Holden about the terrible fall.
Ward Stradlater Holden Caulfield
Holden's handsome, secretly slovenly roommate who dates Jane Gallagher and won't say what happened.

Go deeper

The Catcher in the Rye themes & symbols

The loss of innocence · Phoniness and the fear of growing up · Grief for Allie · Connection and loneliness

Themes explained

Read the full The Catcher in the Rye summary

The full story act by act, the ending explained and a quick quiz.

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