Holden Caulfield

From Bananafish

Holden Morrissey Caulfield Birth–Death 1923/1933–1943 Parents Mr. Caulfield Mary Moriarity Siblings Vincent Caulfield Allie Caulfield Phoebe Caulfield Viola Caulfield Appearances The Ocean Full of Bowling Balls The Catcher in the Rye I'm Crazy Last Day of the Last Furlough Slight Rebellion Off Madison This Sandwich Has No Mayonnaise

Original art of Holden from Collier's publication of I'm Crazy

Holden Caulfield is the main character in The Catcher in the Rye. Although he appears in many other short stories, the five Holden-centric stories are all "rough drafts" of Catcher.

Holden stories

Salinger wrote about Holden, using him as his main character after 1945. The Holden stories all relate to the eventual plot of The Catcher in the Rye, which would become the last of the series.

• Are You Banging Your Head Against the Wall? (1941, unpublished)

Reworked into Slight Rebellion Off Madison

• Holden On the Bus (1942, unpublished)
• I'm Crazy (1945)

An alternate take the first chapters of Catcher

• Slight Rebellion Off Madison (1946)

An alternate take on chapter 17 of Catcher

• The Boy in the People Shooting Hat (1948, unpublished)

This story of "Bobby" and Stradlater later became chapters 3-7 of Catcher

• The Catcher in the Rye (1951)

Holden's account of leaving school

Alternate Holden

Holden is ten years older in the Vincent Caulfield stories like Last Day of the Last Furlough. This story, which seems to take place in November 1943, states that Holden would turn 20 in the following month, placing his birth in December, 1923. The story also states that he died earlier in the year. These dates are, of course, incompatible with the later Holden.