Phoebe Caulfield is the younger sister of Holden Caulfield, the protagonist and narrator of The Catcher in the Rye. In the beginning of the novel, Holden implies that he is basically the only good, noble person in a world of superficial and phony adults. His opinion is the only one given, so there is nothing to compare this to. But then when Phoebe's character is introduced, the reader has a different opinion to take into account.
However, having Phoebe's narration in the novel starts to slightly complicates things, and it soon becomes obvious that she is angered and even confused by the ideas that Holden has come up with and supports. Despite the fact that Phoebe is about six years younger than her brother, she completely understands that growing up is inevitable, and that eventually everyone is going to have to mature and take on responsibility if they want to be adults who can function in society and have a real life. Phoebe is angry with Holden's outlook on life, and wants him to understand what she does. Because she loves her older brother, Phoebe does try to understand him and wants him to be happy.
Next to the delusions of Holden's minds, Phoebe seems incredibly mature, both emotionally and mentally. Holden starts to look more and more foolish, and the reader starts to trust Phoebe more than Holden, because she is so much more stable. It is easier to trust her judgement, especially when it comes to her brother. Because of this, Holden starts looking worse and becomes much harder to trust after hearing Phoebe's side of the story and view of things.
A big part of Phoebe's role in the novel is helping Holden to see how much he oversimplifies things. For instance, it is Phoebe that makes Holden's picture of childhood- his idea of being the catcher in the rye while children play in the field- an oversimplified, childish fantasy. And this is her role in the novel...to reveal her brother for the childish hypocrite that he really is.
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