He got leukemia and died … He was terrifically intelligent. … He was also the nicest [family member]. … God, he was a nice kid, though. … I was only thirteen, and they were going to have me psychoanalyzed and all, because I broke all the windows in the garage. (38-39)
From this quote, a lot of insight is gained about Holden’s childhood. Allie seemed to be someone Holden greatly admired and like, as he spends nearly a page praising him in the text. Holden’s love for Allie becomes incredibly detrimental when Allie died. Being only thirteen, the death had an especially large impact on Holden which results in him doing something shockingly violent. The extent which Holden goes through to show his emotions, like breaking all the windows until his hand is permanently injured, indicates the severity of the effect which the death had on Holden’s