Phoebe's Notebook, and Even More About Holden's Narrative Technique, Though We All Thought That Wasn't Possible

Before Holden wakes Phoebe up, he sits down and reads through her school notebook (check this out – it's not too far from the start of Chapter Twenty-One). Holden, much like the reader, finds it endearing, states that "kids notebooks kill [him]," and adds that he could "read that kind of stuff […] all day and all night long." But what does he like so much about it? Take a look at it.

Why has south eastern Alaska so many caning factories?
Because there's so much salmon
Why has it valuable forests?
because it has the right climate.
What has our government done to make
life easier for the Alaskan Eskimos?
look it up for tomorrow!!!
Phoebe Weatherfield Caulfield
Phoebe Weatherfield Caulfield
Phoebe Weatherfield Caulfield
Phoebe W. Caulfield
Phoebe Weatherfield Caulfield, Esq.
Please pass to Shirley!!!!
Shirley you said you were sagitarius
but your only Taurus bring your skates
when you come over to my house

Holden has a point – Phoebe's notebook is the least phony expression of thought we've seen so far in the novel. What makes her notes so appealing are their lack of pretension and falsity; Phoebe simply wrote exactly what she was thinking. (Anyone older might be embarrassed about the fact that they're making up a new middle name for themselves, or too reserved to use triple exclamation points.)

And now for the fireworks: for those who would argue that Holden himself is a "phony," think about the presentation of his narrative in The Catcher in the Rye: it's completely honest. While he lies to others about his age, he openly admits to us things like, "I have a lousy vocabulary" and "I act quite young for my age sometimes." (If he does lie to us, it doesn't feel manipulative or intentional, rather subconscious and accidental.) So, in a way, Holden's narrative is like Phoebe's notebook. It's just what some kid happens to be thinking.