allie and jane
Brendan McKennedy (the.tourist@mailexcite.com)
Tue, 09 Dec 1997 07:18:44 -0700
Jim wrote:
>
>wait...wasn't Allie the girl that Holden was interested in, but never saw? I
>think she **could have been** Holden's catcher if he had the sense to go see
>her, make some real effort to drive over to where she was staying.
As someone already posted, Allie was Holden's younger brother who died of leukemia...
The girl you're thinking about is Jane Gallagher, who kept all her kings in the back
row. And while I love Jane with all my heart, I don't believe for a second there's
any way she could have saved Holden. Jane had some very serious issues, with her
step-father, the boozehound playwright--and the fact that she went out with Stradlater
(although it was a blind date) demonstrates that she has some serious problems.
I imagine Jane Gallagher as someone very much like Franny, and Franny was in no position
to catch anyone either--although she helped zooey immeasurably.
Anyway, I don't think Jane could have been the Catcher, even if Holden had gone to
see her. I think there's a reason he did NOT go to see her--and that's because if
he asked her in person if she still kept all her kings in the back row, she might
laugh at him, or have no idea what he was talking about...
She would be different, and that would have destroyed Holden from the outset. Not
having faced her, at least he could be angry at Stradlater and assume Jane was still
innocent...
Brendan
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