Holden only talks positively about three people in the book (mainly): Jane Gallagher, Allie, and Phoebe. He does say nice thing about people, like the nuns, but the aforementioned three characters are the only ones he could never think bad of. Any negative qualities they might have are completely ignored by Holden and just become endearing to him. I would like to note that all of these people are from his past. Everything about his past is just peachy-keen to Holden.  Allie was alive, Phoebe was killer company, and Jane still kept her kings in a row.  Only the present and the future are unsavory to Holden. In the present he has to deal with so-called phonies, bars not selling him drinks, and being sent to school after depressing school. The future isn't much better to him, but really the only glimpse we get of it is his idealistic idea of the cabin in the woods or the horrible career options he feels he has. So, he isn't very accepting of his present circumstances and refuses to acknowledge what he's going to have to do in the future. When Phoebe asks Holden why he keeps flunking out of school, he doesn't have an answer--I do though, I think. Holden, like so many other teenagers, is afraid of the future. He doesn't want to become a phony or possess any of the qualities he detests. Holden's a smart kid though; he's great with composition, and his analyses of literature and performances (like his critique of Hamlet) are all evidence of his intelligence  If he's so smart, why is he failing? It's obvious Holden isn't trying, to me. I think he isn't trying because he doesn't want to grow up; he doesn't want to reach the future. If he keeps moving from school to school, it's like he never actually has to graduate.

It's kind of obvious his logic is faulty--I mean, he's still aging. You can't be a 20-year old in highschool. That's wear the cabin fantasy comes in. Holden knows he's reaching a point where he can't stay in school avoiding the future, so he concocts this plan to run away. It's just another way to run away from the future.

Holden and Ackley

In class early in the book we started talking about Holden's relationship with Ackley. Some think he's really mean to Ackley because he's always thinking about how annoying and disgusting Ackley is. Other people have commented on how Holden is good to Ackley because he keeps him around even though he doesn't like him. All of this behavior, to me, is utterly selfish on Holden's part. It appears to me that Holden is keeping Ackley around purely as a safety net. We know from various conversations Holden has had with other boys that Ackley isn't well liked in general. Indeed, Holden himself doesn't like Ackley. So, is there any logical reason to keep spending time with Ackley? Not that I can see. I feel like Holden keeps Ackley around just so he doesn't have to be alone, which is ridiculously selfish. He's leading the poor guy on, being nice to him only to insult him and be disgusted later on. It may just be me, but I would prefer to be alone rather than have a friend who is thoroughly and constantly annoyed by me.

Rambling Psuedo Support of Stephen Not Helping

I think it is important to remember that Stephen is an angsty young person, just like everyone else. Even though he is a university student, he hasn't fully grown out of his immaturity. As the first born son he could plausibly be held accountable for taking care of his family. I think he should help provide for his family, but not because he's the oldest, just because it's a respectable thing to do to help compensate for the resources you took up. That being said, Stephen never asked to be the first son. He never wanted the responsibility of making it up to his family. It is true that his education made him into the man and artist he became, but him having a public school education all along wouldn't have kept him from his calling. We observe his use of language in the book, how he relates to words and sees their beauty; the way Stephen relates to words wasn't made by his education. The amount of respect he has for language is something he had to be born with. So, personally, I don't think Stephen strictly owes his family any certain amount. Would it be kind, respectable, and probably very well looked upon if he did help? Yes--there's a reason it's expected of him.

Many readers may think he owes his family something--some specific monetary amount or something to otherwise compensate. The only thing I think he owes his family is to not be a burden. He didn't ask for a Jesuit education; it was a perk, but he didn't have to have it.