The Catcher in the Rye: Jane Gallagher

Jane Gallagher never actually appears in the novel The Catcher in the Rye, but she still plays a large role in Holden’s life. She spent a lot of with Holden one summer when their families were living as neighbors in Maine. I think Holden had and still has a large crush on her. Throughout the whole book, it is apparent that he not only respects her, but he says that he finds her very attractive. I think Holden wants loves her like no other. When Stradlater tells Holden that he is going out with her one night, Holden is excited to hear of her again, but he is also mad that she is going out with a punk like Stradlater. Holden tells Stradlater a long story about how Jane and he used to play checker all the time and how Jane used to keep all of her kings in the corner. Stradlater obviously did not care, but Holden was so happy remembering her. He is so angry whenever he thinks about his beloved Jane with Stradlater. I assume she is very attractive for Holden to like her so much. In addition, I would say that she is the girl of Holden’s dreams. I think that she is probably very similar in personality to Holden. She might think a lot of people are phony and fake just like Holden does. When they played checkers all the time, they bonded as two people in love would bond. When he is telling Stradlater about their previous escapades, he talks as if they were an old married couple and Holden knew all her silly little tricks. I think she Salinger should have at least put in a conversation between Holden and Jane. It would have made that side of Holden’s life deeper, more detailed, and therefore, more important. I would have liked to learn a bit more about their relationship, but on the other hand, I think the conversation would have been weird between them because Stradlater would have been brought up.