Holden has an older brother called D.B. who lives in Hollywood and a younger sister, Phoebe, who lives with his parents in New York. He had another younger brother named Allie who died. Allie died of leukemia in 1946 and the whole way through the story Holden talks about how Allie's death troubles him with the utmost frankness. This is when Holden began his depression. " I was only thirteen [when Allie died], and they were going to have me psychoanalyzed and all, because I broke all the windows in the garage" (p.34). Even though Holden understands his parents' concern, Holden believes his parent's were overreacting and should of just left him instead of treating him like he was crazy.

The story starts after he gets expelled from boarding school for the fourth time. His parents are unaware of his expulsion from school so he decides to spend the time alone in New York City until the Christmas holidays. Everything that he encounters in the city seems to pull him down and make him depressed, and increases his ever-growing loneliness. He has a problem with people who are 'phony' and encounters many 'phonies' in New York. "Anyway, when he was finished, and everybody was clapping their heads off, old Ernie turned around on his stool and gave this very phony, humble bow. Like as if he was a helluva humble guy, besides being a terrific piano player. It was very phony-I mean him being such a big snob and all"(p.77). Even though this may seem like an overreaction, it is completely true. Holden cannot stand people doing things just to benefit themselves. Ernie is acting humble just to please the audience and to promote his own image. This is why Holden seems to pick people to like very randomly. He finds faults in almost everyone unless they are his friends who, to Holden, are faultless. When you read this book, you feel as if you are Holden's friend because he lets you in on his story from his own honest point of view.

In the sleazy hotel where he stays, he tells you of many tricky situations that he gets into. One of these is an encounter with a prostitute and a pimp where he is beaten and robbed by them. He leaves nothing out of his story and talks to you like you are in a conversation with him. I believe that one of the main things that kept me going to get to the end of the book was the feeling that you are conversing with Holden rather than just reading his words. This feeling of a personal relationship with the character is what made me want to read through the parts of the book that didn't have a very interesting story line as well as the bits packed with adventure.

When he goes to see his sister for comfort, she becomes very sad when she realizes that he got expelled again, and refuses to talk to him. He spends that night at his old English teacher's house but that ends badly as well. He is woken up in the middle of the night by his teachers hand on his head. Scared that the teacher is trying to make a gay pass on him, he leaves the house in a rush. The next day he is scared that he overreacted and feels sorry . This makes him seem very human. Even though he seems so independent, he still needs to count on other people for comfort and strength. This seems very real because often people find comfort in very different places. However, when even this, his last resort, ends badly he regrets his rash behavior the night before.

Later that day he experiences something like a nervous breakdown, "Every time I came to the end of a block and stepped off the goddamn curb, I had this feeling that I'd never get to the other side of the street. I thought I'd just go down, down, down and nobody'd ever see me again"(p.178). The honesty with which he tells us of his strange experience adds a whole new dimension to the way you perceive the book. He feels like there is nowhere where he is safe and decides to leave completely and go out west. He goes to his sister's school to tell her that he is leaving New York and heading West, but gets very depressed and angry there because someone has written 'fuck you' on a wall. "Somebody'd written 'Fuck you' on the wall. It drove me damn near crazy. I thought how Phoebe and all the other little kids would see it, and how they'd wonder what the hell it meant, and then finally some dirty kid would tell them-all cockeyed, naturally-what it meant, and how they'd all think about it and maybe even worry about for a couple of days' (p.181). It is amazing how he tells us with such truthfulness and frankness of how he is seriously troubled by a simple 'fuck you' written on the wall. He waits for her in the museum where he sees more 'fuck you' signs and sums up what really bothers him about them. "You can't ever find a place that's nice and peaceful, because there isn't any. You may think there is, but once you get there, when you're not looking somebody'll sneak up and write 'Fuck you' right under you're nose"(p.183). If you think about it you often feel that way about something and overreact to it when it really is just a little thing. The reason that it sounds so crazy is that you would never be truthful enough to tell anyone about your eccentric feelings, but here is someone talking to you completely frankly about something you'd never admit.

When Phoebe comes to meet him she has packed her bags and tells him that she's coming with him. He decides not to go at all and spends a really nice afternoon with his sister realizing how much he enjoys being with her. When the story ends Holden is in a mental hospital and is coming home soon, supposedly cured.