The Catcher In The Rye - Chapter 25-26

NB: I’ve chosen to write about the last two chapters of the novel, as the last chapter is only nearly a page long.

In chapter 25, Holden is on the very edge of breaking down. In the beginning of the chapter, Holden feels surrounded by ugliness and falsehood. Shallow people and profanity all over the walls, vulgar tree deliverymen, the empty feeling of Christmas, and the interactions with Phoebe and Mr. Antolini, combined, makes him feel very lonely. When walking the streets of New York, he feels like he’s disappearing. He looks at all the children and prays to his younger brother Allie every time he reaches a curb, begging to make it to the other side. Its now pretty clear that Holden doesn’t feel connected to his environment, so his former English teacher Mr. Antolini, was, to some degree, right. He imagines that his presence will just vanish. He feels that he cant relate to anybody in his environment, and doesn’t know what to with “adult problems”, as he has developed a narrow world perspective, where those doesn’t exactly fit in. As a result of his tightly constructed perspective, he’s left with one option, and that is to run away. He isn’t able to handle the world around him, and realises that the world is only harsh and cynical through his vision. So he decides to leave it all.
Before leaving, he goes to Phoebe’s school and writes a note, that he would meet her later, at the museum. They meet at the museum, and Phoebe demands to go with him, with the reason unclear. Does she want to go because she needs him, or because he needs her? Phoebe seems to have a clearer perspective, despite her age, so it seems like he needs her. However, it seems that Holden is breaking his nutshell, as he observes his beloved sister emotionally effected because of his plan. Phoebe returns hit hunting hat, which is a pretty rare thing for