This last trait is arguably the most important, at least where Salinger is concerned, for, when it appears in one of his characters, it can supersede any other trait, can coexist with any other trait, and, even when a situation does not directly call for it, it can guide the trait that is being called for, so that, if one of his characters is in possession of it, it seems to color everything that character does and says, like dye released into a bowl of water.