How does Holden feel about Pheobe?

Phoebe is Holden Caulfield's ten-year-old sister, who is one of the few people Holden relates to and enjoys being around. Phoebe is portrayed as an enthusiastic, imaginative child, who understands her brother in a way that no one else can. Holden values Phoebe's intelligence and company in the novel and goes out of his way to inform her that he will be moving away. Despite Phoebe's age, there are times when she displays maturity and criticizes Holden for his negative outlook on life. One of the main reasons Holden is drawn to Phoebe is her childhood innocence, which is something that Holden desperately attempts to hold onto by refusing to accept the fact that he must enter the competitive world of adults. Phoebe reminds Holden of his childhood and he initially wishes to protect Phoebe from losing her innocence. However, Holden decides that is it best to let Phoebe figure adolescence out for herself, which is symbolically represented by Holden passively watching his little sister grab for the gold ring on the carrousel without interfering. Holden reveals his developing emotions by saying,

I didn’t say anything or do anything. The thing with kids is, if they want to grab the gold ring, you have to let them do it, and not say anything. If they fall off they fall off, but it’s bad if you say anything to them (Salinger, 125).

Overall, Holden loves his younger sister and feels like Phoebe is one of the only people that he can genuinely relate to.