Sally Hayes

Sally Hayes is an attractive and socially accomplished young woman from an upper-class background whom Holden Caulfield dates during his time in New York City. She is intelligent, well-educated, and fashionably dressed, representing the sophisticated, cultured world that Holden Caulfield both desires and despises. For Holden Caulfield, Sally epitomizes everything phony about the adult world—she is superficial, materialistic, concerned with social status and proper behavior, and utterly absorbed in the conventional pursuits of wealth and respectability. Holden Caulfield is sexually attracted to her and conflicted about his feelings, yet he simultaneously views her with contempt and disgust. Their date is characterized by tension and misunderstanding, as Holden Caulfield alternates between attraction and hostility, and Sally becomes increasingly aware that something is deeply wrong with his mental state.