In Chapter 10, Holden shares his love for his kid sister Phoebe through the following description:
You should see her. You never saw a little kid so pretty and smart in your whole
life. She's really smart. I mean she's had all A's ever since she started school. As a matter
of fact, I'm the only dumb one in the family. My brother D.B.'s a writer and all, and my
brother Allie, the one that died, that I told you about, was a wizard. I'm the only really
dumb one. But you ought to see old Phoebe. She has this sort of red hair, a little bit like
Allie's was, that's very short in the summertime. In the summertime, she sticks it behind
her ears. She has nice, pretty little ears. In the wintertime, it's pretty long, though.
Sometimes my mother braids it and sometimes she doesn't. It's really nice, though. She's
only ten. She's quite skinny, like me, but nice skinny. Roller-skate skinny. I watched her
once from the window when she was crossing over Fifth Avenue to go to the park, and
that's what she is, roller-skate skinny. You'd like her. I mean if you tell old Phoebe
something, she knows exactly what the hell you're talking about. I mean you can even
take her anywhere with you. If you take her to a lousy movie, for instance, she knows it's
a lousy movie. If you take her to a pretty good movie, she knows it's a pretty good movie.
D.B. and I took her to see this French movie, The Baker's Wife, with Raimu in it. It killed
her. Her favorite is The 39 Steps, though, with Robert Donat. She knows the whole
goddam movie by heart, because I've taken her to see it about ten times. When old Donat
comes up to this Scotch farmhouse, for instance, when he's running away from the cops
and all, Phoebe'll say right out loud in the movie--right when the Scotch guy in the
picture says it--"Can you eat the herring?" She knows all the talk by heart. And when this
professor in the picture, that's really a German spy, sticks up his little finger with part of
the middle joint missing, to show Robert Donat, old Phoebe beats him to it--she holds up
her little finger at me in the dark, right in front of my face. She's all right. You'd like her.
The only trouble is, she's a little too affectionate sometimes. She's very emotional, for a
child. She really is. Something else she does, she writes books all the time. Only, she
doesn't finish them. They're all about some kid named Hazel Weatherfield--only old
Phoebe spells it "Hazle." Old Hazle Weatherfield is a girl detective. She's supposed to be
an orphan, but her old man keeps showing up. Her old man's always a "tall attractive
gentleman about 20 years of age." That kills me. Old Phoebe. I swear to God you'd like
her. She was smart even when she was a very tiny little kid. When she was a very tiny
little kid, I and Allie used to take her to the park with us, especially on Sundays. Allie had
this sailboat he used to like to fool around with on Sundays, and we used to take old
Phoebe with us. She'd wear white gloves and walk right between us, like a lady and all.
And when Allie and I were having some conversation about things in general, old
Phoebe'd be listening. Sometimes you'd forget she was around, because she was such a
little kid, but she'd let you know. She'd interrupt you all the time. She'd give Allie or I a
push or something, and say, "Who? Who said that? Bobby or the lady?" And we'd tell her
who said it, and she'd say, "Oh," and go right on listening and all. She killed Allie, too. I
mean he liked her, too. She's ten now, and not such a tiny little kid any more, but she still
kills everybody--everybody with any sense, anyway.
How do these allusions and references reinforce themes in Salinger's novel?
What is Holden's only real criticism about his little sister Pheobe?
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