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The Catcher in the Rye

by J. D. Salinger

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Student Question

Why does Phoebe in The Catcher in the Rye put a pillow over her head?

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After Holden gets kicked out of Pencey, the most recent boarding school he was attending, he goes home to see his younger sister Phoebe. He arrives late at night, and only wants to see Phoebe, not his parents. Holden is home earlier than he was supposed to be, and Phoebe knows this, so she figures out that he has been kicked out of yet another boarding school, which makes her very upset and that is why she puts the pillow over her head. 

"'You did get kicked out! You did!' old Phoebe said... 'Daddy'll kill you!' she said. Then she flopped on her stomach on the bed and put the goddam pillow over her head. She does that quite frequently. She's a true madman sometimes. 'Cut it out, now,' I said. 'Nobody's gonna kill me. Nobody's gonna even--C'mon, Phoeb, take that goddam thing off your head. Nobody's gonna kill me.' She wouldn't take it off, though. You can't make her do something if she doesn't want to. All she kept saying was, 'Daddy s gonna kill you.' You could hardly understand her with that goddam pillow over her head."

Phoebe is very upset because even though she is young, she understands that their father will be furious with Holden for getting kicked out of boarding school again, and so out of worry and frustration and anger, she puts the pillow over her head, as a child would do as a sort of protection. She also does it to hide from reality for a moment. Holden tries to get her to take it off, but she refuses, until after he leaves for a moment, but she is still very upset with him.

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