hat James was wearing Holden’s sweater when he fell out of the window. As he saw James lying on the ground, Holden sees a part of himself die with him. The part that dies is the part that believes in the goodness of people and the world. Holden’s tendency to get kicked out of schools is both a reason and effect of his gradual fall. He does not apply himself in school because he is depressed, and is depressed because he is being kicked out of schools. This most recent expulsion has a larger effect than usual on Holden. He cares about Pency more than he did about the other schools. And for once, he knew that he was not coming back. When Holden leaves Pency, he states that, “I was sort of crying. I don’t know why”. “Sleep tight, ya morons!” Holden becomes more desperate when he realizes that his old friend Jane Gallagher was going on a date with his roommate Stradlater. He realizes that Stradlater was going to take away Jane’s innocence by treating her like he treats other girls. That is why Holden tries to remind Jane of her childhood when he asks Stradlater to ask her about keeping her kings in the back row. He wants to save Jane from falling off the rye field like he did. Ironically, Phoebe, who is one of the innocent children he is trying to protect, is the one who brings him to reality and to his final breakdown. Phoebe is the one who challenges his plan to escape out west. As he tells Phoebe that she cannot run away, he discovers that he too cannot run away. “You can’t ever find a place that is nice and peaceful, because there isn’t any”. “All the kids were trying to grab for the gold ring, and so was old Phoebe, and I was sort of afraid she’d fall off the goddamn horse, but I didn’t say anything or do anything. The thing with kids is, that if they want to grab the gold ring, you have to let them do it, and not say anything. ...
