Alienation is isolation for your indifferences. The main character, Holden Caulfield, isolates himself from society and those in it, especially adults who he describes as all "fakes." Despite his isolation, Holden is constantly looking for company, but his indifference deprives him of it. Through his alienation, we are shown Holden's perception of the characters in the text, and this is how we perceive them. This ultimately helps the author, J.D. Salinger, shape the characters using Holden's social status. This illustrates the importance of Holden's alienation within the text. An iconic symbol from the text, which simply demonstrates Holden's unique personality and alienation, is his red hunting hat. The hat is isolated by its indifference in society, as is Holden, by its bright color and the fact that it is out of its usual environment, since a hunting hat is not worn in the city, but in the countryside. The hat symbolizes Holden's extraordinary and isolated personality, but also his immaturity as he is on the verge of adulthood, but wears a bright red hat used for hunting. When he wears the hat, Holden feels he can be as isolated and tough as he wants, just like his brother Allie and sister Phoebe, who have red hair and are both younger than him. He describes it as a hat that shoots people, it simply means that when he wears the hat, he feels superior to others, indifferent to others, symbolizing his alienation. The first character to be shaped by Salinger's use of Holden's alienation is Holden himself. Through his alienation, we can see that Holden is depressed and lonely looking for a mate. The constant linking of the words depressed and lonely in the text creates this aspect of Holden. “I was… halfway through the paper… ally Phoebe. The effect this has on the reader is lasting, the reader realizes the extent of Holden's adult alienation and how false they are and perceives Phoebe as one of Holden's only possible mates, which is recognized as a content feeling that Holden has someone to call a friend. Through Holden's alienation towards "fake" adults, he helps shape the characters Holden, Ackley, Sally, and Phoebe. This is done using Holden's perception of Ackley, Sally through his trying to develop a relationship with them but failing because they are not the nicest people, also his perception of Phoebe not being a "phony". Finally, Holden's alienation leads to a perspective in which he is obviously lonely and depressed. Through Holden's alienation of the adult world, the reader certainly perceives that adults are indeed fakes, and children are not..