Holden Caulfield is a quintessential INFP, with dominant Introverted Feeling (Fi). His entire worldview is filtered through a deeply personal, internal value system. He is intensely idealistic, holding an uncompromising standard for authenticity and kindness, which he feels the adult world constantly violates. This Fi-driven moral outrage manifests as his famous critique of ‘phoniness,’ a catch-all term for hypocrisy, pretense, and social artifice. His decisions are almost exclusively based on his emotional and ethical reactions, not logic or external rules, leading to his expulsion and aimless wanderings.
His auxiliary function is Extraverted Intuition (Ne), which allows him to see possibilities and patterns in the world around him, but it is often negatively oriented. He fantasizes about running away to a cabin out west or being the ‘catcher in the rye,’ saving children from falling off a cliff into adulthood. However, Ne also fuels his anxiety, as he constantly perceives potential threats and disappointments in people and situations. His storytelling is rich with tangential thoughts and imagined scenarios, a hallmark of Ne. The tertiary function, Introverted Sensing (Si), is seen in his nostalgic fixation on his childhood, particularly his memories of his deceased brother Allie and visits to the Museum of Natural History, places he sees as pure and unchanging.
Holden’s inferior function is Extraverted Thinking (Te), representing his area of greatest stress and growth. Under the pressure of his breakdown, he exhibits unhealthy Te: chaotic, impulsive actions without a plan (spending money recklessly, getting into fights), and a scattered, ineffective approach to solving his problems. He criticizes structures (like school) but cannot implement any functional structure of his own. His growth, hinted at in the conclusion, involves beginning to integrate a healthier Te—perhaps by attending school again and processing his trauma with a therapist—moving from pure, chaotic judgment toward some form of constructive action in the real world.
