<Allie *is* the emotional core of the story...> You're right that Allie is the emotional core of the story and that Holden equates innocence with him, but you're also overlooking and underestimating the importance of Jane. Jane is, in addition to Allie, an essential part of the emotional core of the novel. To me, at least, Holden is in love with Jane and cares for her so deeply that he doesn't want to bother her with his life and troubbles, if that makes any sense. He does so by attempting to call her several times through the course of the novel, and every time makes an excuse why he shouldn't talk to her. He even at the beginning goes ballistic upon discovering Jane and Stradlater's date. All of the "calling" attempts and the ferocity of his anger upon hearing "the news" all add up to the discovery of a very sensative side of Holden, drawn out by the love one character whom is never phisically introduced in the novel.