I think Allies death is very well related to Holden’s current personality. He might not be the cynical character with only a few windows open for the world. Holden detests phony people, usually indicating adults and treasure the moments of childhood. Allie died as a child, therefore in Holden’s memory, Allie is preserved as the pure and innocent being that never has to grow up. Because of how much Holden values childhood and innocence, he probably sees that Allie has reached a point in life that Holden hasn’t. Allie’s death also angers him because he doesn’t see a reason to why the innocent have to die while the phony people live on. He sees the rest of the world has people who do not deserve the opportunity they have been given, caused Holden to have a negative approach towards them. Another reason to why Holden has his back turned to the world is because of his experiences in the past. He has seen and been in the negative extremes of life. Firstly, he has witnessed the death of his friend, and the reaction of the people around him. He said, “He was dead, and his teeth, and bold, were all over the place, and nobody would even go near him.”
He emphasizes how the people around him acted so coldly to the incident by not even showing a little bit of sympathy. He has seen how humans can be so selfish and cold-hearted, which made him grow a negative opinion about them.
Holden’s second unfortunate experience is indicated after he left Mr. Antolini’s house. After quickly leaving Mr. Antolini’s house from the panicking experience, Holden says, “When something perverty like that happens, I start sweating like a bastard. That kind of stuff’s happened to me about twenty times since I was a kid. I can’t stand it.”
Here, Holden tells the reader that he has been molested by an adult. Seeing a cruel side of adults made him lost faith and trust in them. He is traumatized by his past events and cannot lose the thought of including adults in a positive thought or experience. Holden might not just hate them, he might fear them too.
