Jane Gallagher

Jane Gallagher is a young girl from Holden Caulfield's past whom he remembers and cares about with a tenderness that suggests both affection and protective concern. Holden Caulfield remembers specific details about Jane—the way she kept her kings in the back row when playing checkers—that reflect his capacity for genuine, uncynical attention to people he cares about. When Holden Caulfield learns that Stradlater has a date with Jane, he becomes deeply upset and jealous, not out of romantic desire but out of a protective concern for her innocence and fear that Stradlater will seduce her. His inability to call Jane himself despite his concern for her reflects his paralysis and emotional dysfunction.