Holden's Character

In The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, we get to discover some things about Holden Caulfield's character through his reactions to and thoughts about Jane Gallagher. We learn that he does not like the idea of sex because he and Jane never did any more than hold hands for the most part (103). However, there was "that afternoon Jane and [Holden] came close to necking" when Holden comforts her after the "booze hound" her mother was dating came outside and asked her where the cigarettes were (101-102). Holden is scared about what she and Stradlater did on their date because Holden does not want his fiew of her as an innocent virgin to be tarnished. We discover that, like a child, Holden finds mild sexual acts amusing. An example of this is when he thought it was hysterical that Jane put her hand on the back of his neck (103). Through Holden's thoughts about Jane Gallagher we can learn more about his character.