The Catcher in the Rye
The Catcher in the Rye
by J. D. Salinger

The Catcher in the Rye Characters

Meet the Cast

Holden Caulfield

Holden and the Rest of the WorldHolden is everybody's favorite judgmental cynic. He also has a bit of a problem: he's completely alone and he knows it – we stopped count at about 22 when we t...

Phoebe Caulfield

Holden talks his sister up to no end. She's the smartest kid ever, he assures us, as well as a great dancer, emotional, and funny. She always knows what you're talking about. She can tell the diffe...

Allie Caulfield

Holden's digression into Allie's baseball mitt is a fantastic example of how narration works in The Catcher in the Rye. It all starts when Holden agrees to write an English composition for his room...

D.B. Caulfield

D.B. is Holden's older brother is a screenwriter in Hollywood. He used to write great stories – so great, in fact, that Holden credits him (twice) with being his favorite writer. D.B. is the...

Jane Gallagher

Sex is complicated. But for Holden, and specifically for Holden's relationship with Jane, it's really complicated. We talk in Holden's "Character Analysis" about how he can't imagine getting too se...

Sally Hayes

Sally is like a lot of girls for Holden. Sure, she's attractive, but ultimately she's kind of shallow. Holden is lonely and want physical affection, and this means he puts up with matinees and ice...

Mr. Antolini

Let's just cut right to the chase. Does Mr. Antolini come on to Holden? The answer is…it's not clear. But you can argue either way.There are definitely some hints that something is up here. W...

Mr. Spencer

Mr. Spencer is old. And aesthetically displeasing. Holden doesn't really get past that, which means that we don't really get to, either. We're bombarded with images of white, hairless legs, a ratty...

Stradlater

Believe it or not, Holden devotes significant text time to telling us about Stradlater. He's an athlete, he's handsome, girls really go for him, he's got a nice body, he's always walking around in...

Ackley

Ackley is dirty, pimply, and all-around unhygienic. Holden really doesn't like this guy. He's annoying. He'll come into your room and pick up your personal stuff and put it back in the wrong place....

The Two Nuns

The nuns are yet another example of a minor character (or in this case, a set of minor characters) that exist only to tell us about Holden. We don't know enough about the nuns to analyze them as ch...

Carl Luce

In Chapter Nineteen, Holden admits that the main reason he called his childhood friend Carl Luce, besides wanting some company, is that old Luce was always good for a sex talk. Apparently, that's a...

Maurice

Holden misses Maurice. Let's just start with that. Maurice is an angry pimp who prostitutes out a young girl, steals five dollars, and punches Holden in the stomach. And then Holden misses him. Wha...

Sunny

Sunny is supposed to be the first girl Holden ever has sex with. At least, he thinks so at first. It's not that he needs sex, he says, but he should really get some practice in case he's ever marri...

Dr. Thurmer

The headmaster of Pencey Prep. Clearly a phony.

Selma Thurmer

The headmaster's daughter. Clearly knows her father is a phony jerk. Wears "falsies."

Ossenburger

The rich alumnus that made all his money from inexpensive funeral parlors. Gives boring speeches about applying oneself and praying. (Check out "Symbols, Imagery, Allegory" for more on Ossenburger.)

Herb Gale, a.k.a. Ely

Robert Ackley's roommate, who never makes an appearance.

Edgar Marsalla

The Pencey boy that "laid [a] terrific fart" during Ossenburger's big speech, making the event worth attending.

Ed Banky

The basketball coach. He lends Stradlater his car for dates.

Mal Brossard

A "friend" of Holden's at Pencey. On the wrestling team. He goes to the movies with Holden and (begrudgingly) Ackley.

Mrs. Schmidt

The janitor's wife.

Ernest Morrow

A guy at Pencey. Holden meets his mother on the train.

Mrs. Morrow

An attractive woman and a classmate's mother that Holden meets on the train. He spins some entertaining lies for her benefit, including a fake name of "Rudolf" and having a brain tumor. Holden also...

Rudolf Schmidt

The janitor at Ossenburger Hall that lends his name to Holden's fictional persona on the train away from Pencey.

Mrs. Hayes

Sally Hayes's mother. She thinks Holden is "wild" and not a big fan of him going out with her daughter. In Holden's opinion, she would use collection money to go out for a swanky lunch.

Faith Cavendish

A "friend" of Eddie Birdsell. Not exactly loose, but she doesn't mind doing it once in a while.

Eddie Birdsell

A Princeton guy Holden met at party.

Bernice

The attractive blonde that Holden dances with in the Lavender Room. She's a lousy conversationalist, but a terrific dancer.

Mrs. Spencer

Mr. Spencer's wife.

Marty

One of Bernice's unattractive friends.

Laverne

Bernice's unattractive friend.

Mr. Cudahy

Jane's alcoholic stepfather. He may or may not have "tried something" with Jane, but regardless, he's not a nice guy. He also walks around the house naked.

Horwitz

Cab driver #2 for Holden. He's not as concerned with the ducks as he is with the fishes, which he knows open their pores while frozen in place in the lake to get nutrients. Quite a character.

Ernie

The amazing piano player at Ernie's. He takes himself really seriously and bows after he plays, which Holden finds disgusting.

Joe Yale-Looking Guy

Guy that Holden sees at Ernie's. This guy gives his date a feel under the table while telling her about a guy that committed suicide.

The Navy Guy

Lillian's date. This guy doesn't really like Lillian, but is probably with her for her "big knockers."

Raymond Goldfarb

A guy at the Whooton School that Holden got drunk with in the chapel.

Bobby Fallon

A childhood friend of Holden and participant in the famous "Allie, go get your bike and meet me in front of Bobby's house" scenario.

Arthur Childs

A Quaker whom Holden knew at the Whooton School, who, unlike Holden, was a fan of the disciples.

Dick Slagle

Holden's very short-term roommate at Elkton Hills. Dick was the owner of some very inexpensive suitcases.

Miss Aigletinger

One of Holden's elementary school teachers. She "never got sore," which is a nice quality for teachers to have.

Gertrude Levine

Holden's side-by-side partner for the walk through the museum. Gertrude always wanted to hold (sticky) hands.

Harris Macklin

A big bore from Elkton Hills, but the greatest whistler ever.

George Something

The phony guy that Sally talks to at the matinee. George is a big social climber who went to Andover.

Al Pike

A guy that Jane Gallagher dated once. She said he had an inferiority complex.

Bob Robinson

Bob Robinson has an inferiority complex, according to Holden, but girls think he's simply arrogant.

Roberta Walsh's Roommate

The girl who thinks Bob Robinson is arrogant.

Tina and Janine

Two French entertainers at the Wicker Bar at the swanky Seton Hotel.

Valencia

The sexy woman who performs after Tina and Janine at the Wicker Bar.

Pete

The regular elevator boy. Thankfully AWOL when Holden goes home.

The Dicksteins

Holden's neighbors.

James Castle

A boy at Elkton Hills that killed himself while wearing Holden's turtleneck sweater. See "Symbols, Imagery, Allegory" for more.

Alice Holmborg

A friend of Phoebe's at school who showed her how to belch.

Mrs. Antolini, a.k.a. Lillian

Mr. Antolini's wife. Mrs. Antolini is old, not too attractive, wealthy. (For more, check out Mr. Antolini's "Character Analysis").

Richard Kinsella

One of Holden's classmates in Oral Expression class. He's a spinner of fantastic digressions that entertained Holden but didn't go over so well with the instructor.

Mr. Vinson

Mr. Vinson is Holden's Oral Expression teacher. According to Holden, he's "very intelligent and all, but you could tell he didn't have too much brains."