How Allie Helps Holden be the Catcher
             The book Catcher in the Rye, written by J.D. Salinger, was a novel filled with many symbols and motifs. The many images that were put into the plot helped the reader understand the book in its entirety and helped convey the numerous views in the world of that time. Two of the most important motifs that were included in the book were:
             "the fall ", and Holden's brother Allie. I believed that the motif of Allie played a large part in the idea of "the fall", but it didn't receive as much attention as it deserved.
             Allie was Holden's little brother who was two years younger than Holden. On July 18, 1946, he died in Maine of leukemia. The thing that made him an interesting character was his left handed baseball mitt. He had taken the time to write poems over every inch of the glove in green ink. He decided to do this so that he always had something to read when he was playing in the field.
             When Allie died, Holden went into the garage and shattered all the windows in the building with his right hand. He then proceeded to hit the car windows but they would not break. He tried numerous times until he could not take the pain any longer.
             He still hasn't been able to make a fist or have any grip strength in his injured hand. One of the interesting things that came up is that he injured his right hand, and Allie's glove was a lefty, meaning that it would fit onto Holden's injured right hand. This shows that in a sense, Allie may be gone from this earth, but he his still there to help Holden in ways that Holden may not see at the time.
             Allie has played a large part in Holden's life. He was one of Holden's first experiences with death. He may have never had to deal with the loss of a loved one before. Holden had to miss the funeral for Allie due to the injuries in his hand; he was in the hospital having his wounds attended to.
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