s
relationship with Jane is rather curious.
Jane never actually appears in the story, but Holden
frequently thinks about
her. She seems to be the one girl - indeed, the one person - of his own
age
whom he genuinely likes. He remembers her as a quiet and caring kind of person, who has
also
suffered from a €˜lousy childhood(). This is one of the things that
probably makes him more
protective of her €“ he physically attacks Stradlater
after Stradlater has been on a date with
her. He is appalled at the very
thought of Stradlater being with her, but we cannot be entirely
sure if
Stradlater is really as unscrupulous as he fears or whether his overreaction is
more
indicative of his own desire for her, which he doesnt seem to want to
acknowledge too
much.
Holden, then, regards Jane as a
close friend and is probably deeply
attracted to her. However, he can never
bring himself to even phone her. This may be because she
functions as an
idealized female figure for him to some extent, and he cant cope with
actually
meeting her.
Jane is not infallible in Holdens
view, however; he recalls her
once dating Al Pike, €˜a terrible guy, €˜a
show-off bastard (), and afterwards resolutely
sticking up for him:
Jane said he wasnt a show-off. She
said he had an
inferiority complex. She acted like she felt sorry for him or something, and
she
wasnt just putting it on. She meant it. (chapter 18)
Holden appears amazed that €˜even smart girls
like Jane fail in judgement when it comes
to conceited guys like Al Pike
(chapter 18). Maybe this is his way of saying that Jane doesnt
appreciate
him, Holden, quite as much as she ought to, and that is why he puts off meeting
up
with her.
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