English 3201/2201
Chapter Summaries
And Notes
Chapter One
 As the novel opens, the narrator, Holden Caulfield, speaks directly to
the reader from a mental hospital or sanatorium in southern California.
He says that he will tell us (the readers) of events occurring around
Christmastime of the previous year. First, however, he mentions his
older brother, D.B., a writer who now works in nearby Hollywood and
visits Holden nearly every weekend.
 Holden's story, in the form of a long flashback, begins around 3 p.m. on
a Saturday in December, the day of the traditional season-ending
football match between his old school, Pencey Prep (in Agerstown,
Pennsylvania) and rival Saxon Hall. Holden, a junior at Pencey, can see
the field from where he stands, high atop Thomsen Hill. He has been
expelled and is on his way to say good-bye to Mr. Spencer, his history
instructor. At the end of the chapter, Holden arrives at Mr. Spencer's
house and is let in by his teacher's wife.
Notes
 Holden tells us he will tell us about some “madman” stuff that
happened to him last Christmas before he got hospitalized. This
indicates that he had a mental breakdown and something
traumatic has happened to him but he doesn’t go into any
details.
 It bothers him that D.B. sold himself out because originality is
important to Holden and he detests phonies.
 Holden tells the story in a bitterly cynical voice. Beneath the
surface of his tone runs an emotional, idealistic current.
 Holden thinks that ugliness and hypocrisy ruins the innocence
and beauty of the world. Holden connects with the world in an
idealistic level. He feels its flaws so deeply that he tries to protect
himself with cynicism.
Chapter Two
 Spencer's farewell turns into a lecture on discipline,
and Holden's mind drifts. He wonders about the ducks down at
the lagoon near Central Park South in New York City. Where do
they go when the lagoon freezes in the winter? Does someone
take them to a zoo? Do they fly away? He reflects on Mr. Haas,
the phony headmaster at Elkton Hills, one of Holden's previous
schools. Haas was very charming to successful-looking parents,
but if a boy's mother were fat or his father poorly dressed, the
headmaster snubbed them cruelly.
 Holden finally manages to escape from Mr. Spencer's lecture,
claiming he needs to get to the gym to retrieve his equipment.
He has second thoughts about leaving "old Spencer" but mainly
wants out. Politely turning down a cup of Mrs. Spencer's hot
chocolate and promising to write, he gladly leaves.
Notes
 Holden is innocent and desperately searching for a way
to connect with the world that does not cause him
pain.
 He is an unreliable narrator and the reality of the
situation is different than the way he describes it.
 Holden feels bad for Spencer even though he disgusts
him.
 He leaves Spencer’s abruptly because he doesn’t want
to be confronted by his actions.
Chapter Three
 Holden returns to Pencey where he lives in the Ossenburger Memorial Wing of
the new dorms, reserved for juniors and seniors. Ossenburger is an alumnus
who has made a fortune in the undertaking business. Pencey named a wing of
the new dormitories after him in thanks for a large donation. Ossenburger
attended the first home football game earlier in the fall and bored the students,
especially Holden, with a long-winded, corny, cliché-filled oration at chapel the
next morning. A student named Edgar Marsalla finally countered with his own
loud breaking of wind, much to Holden's delight.
 The dorm room is empty and cozy. Holden tries on a red hunting cap, with a
long bill, which he bought for a dollar in New York that morning. He relaxes
with a good book, Isak Denisen's Out of Africa, until he is interrupted by
Robert Ackley who rooms next door and enters through a shower that the two
rooms share. Ackley is a nuisance and ruins the mood.
 Ward Stradlater, Holden's roommate, comes in from the football game and
asks to borrow Holden's hound's-tooth jacket as he prepares to go out for the
evening.
 Holden admits that he’s a liar. He calls himself immature and it




is ironic that he has gray hair (possibly trauma or stress).
He says he feels like he is disappearing every time he crosses the
road (maybe because someone he loved disappeared?)
He rants about phonies at his schools (Elkton Hills).
He puts his red hunting hat on backwards (individual,
unconventional). It is protection for Holden. He uses it to hide
and also to stand out at same time.
Robert Ackley is a loner and outsider like Holden. They are use a
critical, bitter exterior to shield themselves from the world.
Intimacy and interaction are what both boys need and fear the
most.
Chapter Four
 Although the dorms have showers separating rooms, the
toilets and sinks are down the hall. Having nothing better
to do, Holden accompanies his roommate, Stradlater, as he
prepares for a Saturday night date. Holden is first shocked
and then concerned when he learns that his roommate's
date that night is Jane Gallagher, a friend of his from the
summer before his sophomore year. Holden repeatedly says
he should go downstairs to say hello to Jane, but he never
does.
 Stradlater talks Holden into writing an English theme
paper for him. Holden returns to his room and is joined by
Ackley, whose company Holden doesn't mind, because
listening to Ackley distracts him from thinking about Jane.
Notes
 Possible quote that Hinckley and Chapman may have picked up
on: “I shoot people in this hat”.
 Holden clearly has deep feelings for Jane and does not want to
see her used or abused by Stradlater. This is a theme in the bookthe pressure of adolescent sexuality.
 He sees Jane as pure and innocent and indicates that she had a
rough childhood (divorce, alcoholic stepfather and possible
sexual abuse). He never forgot that she always kept her kings in
the back row.
 He keeps saying that he should go say hi to Jane but he never
does. This is pattern we will see from Holden again and again. He
wants to connect but never follows through because he is
terrified and unable to deal with relationships.
Chapter Five
 After a lacklustre trip to town with Ackley and another
student, Holden settles in to compose the descriptive
theme paper for Stradlater. He decides to write about
his brother Allie's left-handed baseball glove. Allie
died of leukemia on July 18, 1946, while the family was
vacationing in Maine. Holden was 13 years old at the
time, Allie two years younger. Holden finishes the
essay around 10:30 p.m.
 Holden idealizes Allie, praising his intelligence and
sensitivity. The poem covered baseball glove is a
perfect symbol for both. Yet, he remains silent about
his emotional reaction to Allie’s death. He alludes to
his reaction almost in passing. Allie’s death plays a
major role in his psychological breakdown. The
cynicism that he uses to avoid expressing his feelings
may result from Allie’s death.
 Holden leaves Pencey abruptly, to escape the torment
of his environment. What he does not realize, is that
he carries the torment with him, inside himself.
Chapter Six and Seven
 The events of the rest of the evening are a little blurred in Holden's
memory. Stradlater returns around 11:00 or so and reads the theme
paper Holden has written, while unbuttoning his shirt and stroking his
chest. Stradlater is in love with himself. Of course, he doesn't
understand Holden's choice of a baseball glove for a descriptive essay
and condemns it. Holden grabs the paper and tears it up.
 Holden becomes increasingly agitated about Stradlater's date with
Jane. Although he can't know exactly what happened, his roommate's
glib comments enrage him. Stradlater taunts him, and Holden misses
with a wild punch. Stradlater holds him down but lets him up. Holden
calls Stradlater a moron and gets a bloody nose for his trouble.
Stradlater leaves. Holden decides to spend the night in Ackley's room,
can't sleep, thinks of visiting Mal Brossard but changes his mind, and
decides to "get the hell out of Pencey," instead of waiting until
Wednesday to leave. He plans to rent an inexpensive hotel room in
New York City and stay there until Wednesday, when he can go home.
 When Holden thinks about Jane and Stradlater
together, he feels like jumping out the window. He also
says “I felt so lonesome, all of a sudden. I almost
wished I were dead”.
 Holden remembers when he was on a double date with
Stradlater who tried to force himself on a girl.
 He cries as he leaves Pencey because once again he has
failed to connect with anyone.
 On page 51 he says “My nerves were shot”.
Chapter Eight and Nine
 It is too late to get a taxi in Agerstown so Holden walks to the train
station. He lowers the earflaps on his hunting cap to protect against the
cold. En route to New York City, he is joined at Trenton by an attractive
woman who turns out to be the mother of a classmate, Ernest Morrow.
Holden introduces himself as Rudolf Schmidt, actually the name of the
custodian at his dorm, and invents several flattering stories about the
woman's son, "Old Ernie." When Mrs. Morrow asks why he's leaving
school before the end of the semester, he tells her that he has to return
home because he has a brain tumour and that he must have surgery.
 When he arrives at New York's Penn Station, Holden considers
telephoning several people but ends up calling no one. He takes a cab
to the Edmont Hotel where he observes unusual happenings from the
window of his shabby room. His phone call to Miss Faith Cavendish, a
young lady whose sexual reputation precedes her, ends without any
plans to meet.
Notes
 We see Holden’s tendency to lie when he meets Mrs.
Morrow on the train. He lies to her to make her feel better
about her son, to make her like him, and to draw attention
from himself and his own story.
 Salinger cleverly manipulates the narrative to signal that
there is more to the story than what Holden admits or
describes.
 Holden’s constant lying in this section is a sign of
immaturity and imbalance.
 It bothers him that sexual attraction can be separate from
respect and intimacy and that sex can be casual or kinky.
Chapter Ten
 Holden claims that it is still early, but it is actually
quite late. However, the Lavender Room, a lounge off
the lobby of the Edmont Hotel, is still open. After
providing a detailed recollection of his younger sister,
Phoebe, Holden visits the Lavender Room and meets
three women, tourists from Seattle.
Notes
 Notice the color red: Allie, Phoebe and Holden’s red
hunting hat are red. Thus, he associates the color with
innocence, purity and childhood. Holden idealizes
children and thinks that all adults are corrupt and evil.
 He desperately tries to connect with the three tourists
in the Lavender room. At the same time, he is very
critical and judgemental towards them. He does this to
protect himself. Holden tries to show himself as a
smooth, cool man in this scene, but we can tell that he
reality of the situation is different than the way he
describes it.
Chapter Eleven
 This short chapter is devoted almost exclusively
to Holden's recollections of Jane Gallagher. Sitting in a
"vomity-looking" chair in the lobby of the Edmont
Hotel, he remembers how they met and what they did
the summer before his sophomore year. He thinks he
knows her "like a book." Despite the late hour, Holden
still is not tired. He decides to visit Ernie's Nightclub
in Greenwich Village.
Notes
 It is possible that Jane was sexually abused by her
stepfather (she refuses to talk to him and cries) but she
denies it. Jane cannot put her pain into words, and Holden
understands because he feels the same way. Holden’s
relationship with Jane is not sexual (he has never even
kissed her on the mouth). Yet, he idealizes the connection
they had. Their intimate moments were free of phoniness.
 Holden embarks on a manic quest for interaction.
 His thoughts are always on other people but he never
mentions himself. He avoids introspection and reflection
on his own shortcomings and problems by focusing on
others, usually through a critical and dismissive lens.
Chapter Twelve
 On the way to Ernie's, Holden discusses ducks, fish,
and winter with the cab driver. At the club, Holden
expresses his opinions concerning the aesthetics of
performance, Ernie, the crowd in general, and a nearby
couple in particular. Lillian Simmons, a former
girlfriend of D.B., pops by his table with her date, a
Navy officer. Holden declines her invitation to join
them, saying he was just leaving.
Notes
 Holden is so desperate for connection that he even tries to
connect with the cab driver and the piano player in the bar.
All his attempts to connect fail.
 Holden’s curiosity about the ducks and the fish is
mentioned again.
 Holden likes to imagine that he is a mature person who
perceptively sees all the hidden details around him, but in
actuality, he is just a kid. Once again, Holden’s inability to
understand the world around him-or perhaps his
unwillingness to acknowledge the world around himreveals his deep disconnection and isolation.
Chapter Thirteen
 Holden is tired of taxis and walks the forty-one blocks back
to the hotel, wearing his red hunting cap with the earflaps
down, missing his stolen gloves, and bemoaning his
cowardice. The elevator man, Maurice, doubles as a pimp
and offers to provide Holden with female companionship
for "five bucks a throw" or fifteen dollars for the night.
Holden agrees to go for "a throw" in his room, 1222, but
almost immediately regrets it. The hooker calls herself
Sunny; Holden tells her his name is Jim Steele. Although
they do little more than talk, because Holden is more
depressed than ready to have sex, Sunny says that her fee is
ten dollars. Holden pays her only five, and she leaves,
calling him a "crumb-bum."
Notes
 On page 90 Holden says : ”I almost wished I was dead”.
 Holden feels sorry for girls because he feels like they lose
their brains when affected by guys. Thus, he says he stops
when they tell him to (he also stops because he’s scared).
 Holden describes himself as yellow. If someone stole his
possessions he would confront them but not fight them.
He says the worst part about fighting is he can’t hit
someone in the face and look at their face. He doesn’t want
to deal with the pain of hurting someone.
 Holden is disturbed by Sunny’s youth and her green dress
hanging in the closet makes him sad. She also has a
childlike voice.
 Instead of dealing with real people and situations, Holden
daydreams about Phoebe’s innocence and Jane’s warmth.
 Holden wants to live in a beautiful world, but the pressure
of his emerging sexuality and the demands of his loneliness
compel him to enter into encounters with people like
Sunny and Maurice. Such encounters are so far removed
from the idealized encounters that he fantasizes about that
he leaves them much more wounded and hurt than before.
He takes refuge in isolation, but this isolation only deepens
the pain of alienation and loneliness.
Chapter Fourteen
 It is dawn on Sunday by the time that Sunny
exits. Holden smokes a couple of cigarettes and
reflects on his relationship with his deceased
brother, Allie, as well as his feelings about religion. He
is summoned by a knock on the door. Sunny has
returned with Maurice and demands the rest of the ten
dollars. Holden resists and is roughed up by the pimp.
Notes
 Holden shows signs of madness-starts talking aloud to




Allie. He is clearly not over it and feels haunted and
guilty (didn’t take him shooting bb guns once).
Holden says he’s an atheist and makes sacrilegious
comments (calls ministers phone).
Stubborn-refuses to give Maurice and Sunny money.
Child-like/fragile-cries when Sunny takes the money.
His mouth continues to get him in trouble-provokes
Maurice to hit him.
 Delusional and hypocritical-he pretends he has a
bullet in his stomach and imagines himself shooting
Maurice like a scene in a movie.
 Insomnia (often symptom of depression) and suicidalhe feels like jumping out the window but he doesn’t
want people to look at him all “gory”. He would be selfconscious and insecure even when dead.
 Compassionate/caring nature-the way he helps the
nuns.
 The encounter with the nuns also leaves him hurt and
wounded because he has constructed a simplistic divide
between childhood, which he sees as innocent and good,
and adulthood, which he finds superficial and evil. This
worldview allows him to maintain his cynical barrier of
defence; he is able to rationalize his loneliness by
pretending that every adult around him is phony and
annoying. The scene with Maurice and Sunny reaffirms his
notion that adults are corrupt but his interaction with the
nuns confuse him because they are adults but also good.
They also don’t conform to his religious stereotypes (the
nun likes Romeo and Juliet).
 Holden often retreats into childhood memories when
faced with a sexual encounter.
 Why does Holden pretend to be in the movies if he
hates them so much? He uses it to avoid the situation
and dealing with his feelings. It’s an escape and he can
be someone else.
Chapter Fifteen
 Holden awakes around 10:00 Sunday morning. He
phones an old girlfriend, Sally Hayes, and makes a date
to meet her at 2:00 p.m. to catch a theatre matinee.
Holden checks out of the hotel and leaves his bags at a
lock box in Grand Central Station. While eating a large
breakfast (orange juice, bacon and eggs, toast and
coffee) at a sandwich bar, he meets two nuns who are
schoolteachers from Chicago, newly assigned to a
convent "way the hell uptown," apparently near
Washington Heights. They discuss Romeo and Juliet,
and Holden gives them a donation of ten dollars.
Notes
 Why does Holden plan a date with Sally Hayes even
though he thinks she is a phony and not very
intelligent?
 His mother also has mental issues-possibly genetic.
She hasn’t been healthy since Allie died and is “very
nervous”. Implies the same has happened to Holden
even though he never tells us or explains his emotions.
 Why does he hate cheap suitcases? He is not a snob he
feels bad for other people.
Chapter Sixteen
 When Holden finishes his conversation with the two nuns, it is almost
noon. He has two hours until he is to meet Sally at the Biltmore Hotel
so he goes for a walk toward Broadway. He wants to buy a recording,
for Phoebe, of an old song called "Little Shirley Beans." Along the way,
Holden notices an apparently underprivileged family walking home
from church. The young son is walking in the street and singing
(Coming through the rye).
 Fortunately, the first music store that he visits has a copy of the record.
Holden tries to telephone Jane, but her mother answers so he hangs up.
Still burdened with the responsibility of procuring theatre tickets, he
chooses a play, I Know My Love, that he thinks Sally will like because it
stars the Lunts. He decides to visit Central Park in hopes of finding
Phoebe who often skates there on Sundays. He almost visits the
Museum of Natural History but decides not to go in. Although he
doesn't feel like going through with the date, he catches a cab to meet
Sally at the Biltmore Hotel as planned.
Notes
 There is a link to the title on pg. 115. “If a body catch a
body coming through the rye”. It is significant that
Holden hears a little boy singing this song.
 He tries to call Jane but hangs up when her mother
answers because once again he is not “in the mood”.
He makes excuses for the fact that he is terrified of
participating in an adult relationship. He cannot
handle it.
 We see the way he idealizes and loves kids when he
ties up a little girl’s skate, tries to find his little sister
Phoebe, and watches two kids on a see-saw.
Important Symbol-The Museum
 Why does he love the museum? He wants life to freeze like the
exhibits and never change. He also links it to happy childhood
memories (a time before he was broken?). He hates change
because he doesn’t want to grow up and also possibly because of
the intense changes that happened when Allie died. Also,
Holden can judge the exhibits but they can’t judge him. He
wishes to return to childhood.
 Why does he walk to the Museum of Natural history and not go
in? Maybe he is frustrated by it now because he knows his life is
changing and he can’t do anything about it. The museum
reminds him that real life is nothing like the exhibits and simple
and frozen the way he wants it to be. It represents his tragic ,
hopeless fantasizing and , his inability to deal with the real world
and his unwillingness to think about his own shortcomings.
Chapter Seventeen
 Sally is ten minutes late but looks terrific in her black
coat and matching beret. She is thrilled that they will
get to see the Lunts and is impressed by the
performance. Holden is less than thrilled, first by the
performance on stage and then by Sally's performance
in the lobby. He dislikes the way she talks with an
Andover student named George. After the show, they
go ice skating at Radio City. Holden tries to talk with
Sally about things of real importance to Holden. He
asks her to run off to Massachusetts and Vermont with
him. The date ends badly, and he walks out.
Notes
 In this chapter, Holden really starts to break down and
we see him act manic, unstable and irrationally.
 He doesn’t even like Sally yet falls in love with the
minute he sees her and tells her he loves her. He says
he meant it when he said it too.
 At the Lunt show, he is shown to be hypocritical again
when he criticizes people for smoking and being
phony.
 We see hints of his madness when Sally asks him to
stop screaming and he says he isn’t. He has no idea
how upset and delusional he is.
 He goes on a rant about everything he hates about society. Why
would he prefer horses over cars? (real/living not phony).
 He immaturely asks Sally to run away with him to Vermont and
live isolated from society and get married. He doesn’t want to go
to school or college, just live without associating with others
(very similar to how the author lived his life). His dream is
oversimplified, idealized and a fantasy. His solution to dealing
with complex modern life and relationships is to not deal with
them all and just run away.
 He calls Sally a pain in the ass and makes her cry and he laughs at
her like a madman. Holden is losing touch with reality and
unable to deal with life. His date with Sally shows how illequipped he is to deal with real people and situations. Sally is
not a complex character, yet Holden fails to connect with her and
offends her.
Chapter Eighteen and Nineteen
 It is late afternoon or very early evening on
Sunday. Holden telephones Carl Luce, whom he knew
during his days at the Whooton School. Carl is three years
older and was his student adviser. They agree to meet for a
drink at the Wicker Bar in the Seton Hotel at 10:00 p.m.
With time to kill, and since he is there already, he attends a
stage show and movie at Radio City Music Hall. He sees the
Rockettes, the Christmas pageant, and a war film. At the
bar, Holden manages to get served, this time, even though
he is underage. When Luce arrives, he reveals that he is
dating an older woman, a Chinese sculptress in her late
thirties who lives in Greenwich Village. He leaves for a date
after having drinks with Holden.
Notes
 Once again, Holden is shown to be a hypocrite when he goes to




see a movie at Radio City.
He calls the Christmas show phony and says Jesus would have
puked if he had seen it.
We see Holden’s attention to detail and compassion for the
underdog when he discusses his love for the kettle drum player.
He is annoyed by the lady in the movie who cries like a phony
over the movie but it not kind enough to let her child go the
bathroom.
He ends the chapter with a death wish. If there was another war,
he says he would sit on top of the atomic bomb. Sounds like
frightened bravado we have seen him display before (with
Maurice and Stradlater).
 Holden is uncomfortable with sexuality, especially
homosexuality. Holden shows hints of homophobic views. He
wonders if Carl Luce is a “flit”. He is terrified that he may
suddenly turn gay.
 He is supposed to be meeting Carl Luce for an “intellectual”
conversation, but all Holden talks about is sex in an immature
way. Carl a couple times that Holden hasn’t changed and is still
immature and should see a psychoanalyst.
 Holden gets upset that Carl called his former lover a whore and
defends her honour. Once again we see Holden’s compassion and
protection or women. He also says that sex should be
meaningful.
 He is desperate for Carl to stay. With each failure to connect, he
loses faith in himself and withdraws deeper into his cynicism.
 Holden wants Luce to give him some kind of guidance
and insight into adult sexuality, but his attempts are
clumsy and immature, and Luce refuses to interact
with him the same way they had in the past.
Chapter Twenty
 Holden stays at the bar and gets quite drunk. He decides to
telephone Jane Gallagher but calls Sally Hayes instead. She
tells him to go home and go to bed. Holden strikes up a
conversation with the piano player. He tells Holden to go
home and go to bed. Holden asks the hatcheck girl for a
date. She tells him to go home and go to bed. Ignoring the
unanimous advice, Holden heads for Central Park to look
for the ducks. The search is in vain, and he manages to
break Phoebe's record in the process. Holden reflects on
Allie's funeral, which he could not attend because he was in
the hospital with his broken hand (and possibly for
emotional evaluation). His memory of Allie's grave at the
cemetery depresses him. Finally, he decides to sneak home
and visit Phoebe in case he dies, too.
 Holden continues his desperate attempts to connect when
he tries to connect with the singer at the bar Valencia, the
piano player, the hat check girl and calls Sally.
 His actions get increasingly manic. He gets very drunk and
starts to pretend he has a bullet in his stomach again. He
starts crying in the bar without knowing why, goes to
Central park in the freezing cold with his head soaking wet
looking for ducks.
 On the way he drops and breaks the record of “Little
Shirley Beans” that he had bought for Phoebe. This
symbolically represents the broken state that Holden is in,
and his broken innocence/childhood. Notice that he
doesn’t throw the broken pieces of the record away though
(possible healing or redemption?).
 His morbid fascination with death is shown again
when he starts thinking he will die of pneumonia
(there are hunks of ice in his hair) and imagines his
funeral and how phony it would be. This leads him
into reflection on Allie’s death. He carries around guilt
that he didn’t attend Allie’s funeral (he was in the
hospital).
 Very cynical: “Who wants flowers when your dead?
Nobody”. Hurts him to visit Allie’s grave in the rain
because it reminds him that everyone else can get in
out of the rain and go home but Allie cannot.
 Though Holden does not mention his imbalances, we can see how little
control he has over his situation and himself and the danger he is in.
 His thoughts about Allie’s death may lie at the root of his manic
behaviour. Allie is gone forever and Holden does not believe in the
afterlife. He is troubled and threatened by unexplained disappearances
(the ducks).
 The pond itself is also a symbol for Holden and for the world as Holden
sees it: “partly frozen and partly not frozen”, in a transitional state
between childhood and adulthood. His curiosity about the ducks also
reveals a childlike quality; a willingness to pay attention to details that
are usually ignored (a quality he shares with his siblings). Holden
associates adulthood with an unwillingness to explore mysterious
questions, but there are many questions he is unwilling to explore
himself. He never questions what the duck pond means to him or why
memories of Allie’s death bothers him.
Chapter Twenty One
 Holden wants to visit Phoebe at the family apartment, in the
middle of the night, without his parents' knowledge.
Fortunately, there is a new elevator operator on duty who does
not recognize him. Holden pretends to be visiting the Dicksteins
who have an apartment on the same floor as his parents. Using
his key to enter, Holden sneaks to Phoebe's room only to realize
that she now is sleeping in D.B.'s room because he is away in
Hollywood; she likes the huge desk and bed. Holden peruses
items on her desk, by lamplight, until he wakens Phoebe. She
reveals that their parents are out for the evening and will return
very late. The maid is in the apartment to care for the girl. As
they talk, Phoebe guesses that Holden has been expelled and
concludes that their father will kill him. Upset, she hides her
head under a pillow. Holden goes to the living room for
cigarettes.
Notes
 Holden’s idealization of kids is shown: kids look
“alright” when they’re sleeping but adults look “lousy”.
He calls Phoebe intelligent, neat, and pretty. Her only
flaw is she is too affectionate sometimes. Just being
with Phoebe and looking at her things Holden starts
feeling better and no longer feels like he’s getting
pneumonia. He finally feels some safety from the
brutality of the outside world. He enjoys reading her
notebooks because they are not phony and are pure.
 The fact that Phoebe puts the pieces of the broken
record in her drawer is significant (if the broken record
represents a broken Holden maybe Phoebe will be a
part of his healing and recovery).
 Phoebe gets very upset with Holden for failing school
again and says “Daddy’ll kill you”. He says he is going
to run away to a ranch in Colorado.
Chapter Twenty Two
 Phoebe continues to be terribly upset over Holden's dismissal
from Pencey Prep. She is sure that their father will be very upset
with her brother. Holden says he'll merely be sent to a military
school, if he is still around; he plans to head for Colorado to work
on a ranch. Holden tries to explain to Phoebe what a terrible
place Pencey is. He doesn't like anything there. But she
concludes that he doesn't like anything anywhere and challenges
him to name one thing that he likes. Holden tries to focus on the
issue, but his mind drifts. Phoebe interrupts and repeats the
challenge to think of one thing that Holden likes. He says he
likes Allie, but Phoebe counters that Allie is dead and doesn't
count. He says he likes talking with her, but Phoebe answers,
"That isn't anything really." Phoebe changes the topic and asks
Holden to name something he would like to be. After some
consideration, he says he would like to be the catcher in the rye
and explains to her what that means to him.
Notes
 Holden rants about how much he hated Pencey and all the phonies there. The
old man giving Holden advice on Veterans day bothers him because he has no
goals for his future. He told Holden to get the most that he could out of Pencey
which depresses him because he got nothing out of it.
 Phoebe’s comment is significant “You don’t like anything that’s happening”.
When she asks him to name one thing that he likes all he can think of are the
nuns he met and a boy that committed suicide at Elkton Hills, James Castle.
James had said something about another boy and wouldn’t take it back. The
other boys attacked him (in a “repulsive” way) so he jumped out the window.
Holden hardly even knew James but he died wearing Holden’s turtleneck
sweater.
 He says he likes Allie and talking to her. Holden says just because someone’s
dead doesn’t mean you h, have to stop liking them. Clearly, he is not over Allie’s
death and he puts Allie on a pedestal and compares everyone else to him. He
also cannot relate to anyone alive (except Phoebe), which shows how hard it is
for him to deal with real life.
 When Phoebe challenges him and tries to make him face
the fact t see that he is failing in life and not enjoying
anything, his mind avoids the issue by thinking about
James. His mind is increasingly preoccupied with
childhood and childhood death.
 Holden wants to be a “catcher in the rye”. The rye field is a
symbol of childhood. The rye is so high that children are
unable to see beyond the borders of childhood. Standing
on the boundary of what separates childhood from
adulthood, Holden wants to protect kids from falling off
the cliff of adulthood and becoming corrupted. Trapped
between two states, Holden wants to be a saviour of the
innocence missing in the world, a world that let him fall
over the cliff into adulthood alone.
“Anyway, I keep picturing all these little kids playing some game in this big field of rye and all.
Thousands of little kids, and nobody’s around—nobody big, I mean—except me. And I’m
standing on the edge of some crazy cliff. What I have to do, I have to catch everybody if they
start to go over the cliff—I mean if they’re running and they don’t look where they’re going I
have to come out from somewhere and catch them. That’s all I do all day. I’d just be the catcher
in the rye and all. I know it’s crazy, but that’s the only thing I’d really like to be.”
“Comin’ Thro’ the Rye”
 Holden misreads the Robert Burns poem/song and
mistakes “meet a body” for “catch a body”. The song is
essentially asking if causal sex in a rye field is ok. Thus,
meet means encountering a sexual partner or even
having sex with them. Casual sex is precisely the type
of sex that Holden finds upsetting. By “catching” kids,
he wants to protect them from corruption and sex.
Thus, what the song means to Holden is the exact
opposite of what the song is truly about.
 With Holden and Phoebe, who is the adult and who is
the child? She is the one to lecture him and confront
him with his failure.
 Why does Holden relate to James (a boy who killed
himself rather than take back something he said)? His
is an example of innocence destroyed and he stuck to
his principles and beliefs (something Holden believes
in and tries to practice-ex-with Maurice). Note that
James fell to his death (nobody “caught” him).
Chapter Twenty Three
 On the telephone, Mr. Antolini tells Holden to come right
over if he wants. Holden returns to D.B.'s room, now
inhabited by Phoebe. She has the radio on, and they dance.
Holden lights a cigarette, and Phoebe explains how she can
fake a fever.
 Suddenly, they hear their parents entering the apartment.
Holden turns out the lamp, jams out the cigarette, and
hides in the closet. His mother checks on Phoebe and,
smelling the cigarette, scolds her for smoking. After the
mother leaves, Phoebe loans Holden her Christmas money,
which makes Holden cry. He gives her his treasured red
hunting cap and exits down the building's back stairs.
Notes
 Holden calls Mr. Antolini whom he considers the best teacher he
ever had. He was the only one who would touch James Castle
after he committed suicide and he picked up his body, covered
him with his coat and brought him to the infirmary.
 Holden is a lot like his mother; very nervous and we’re told she
never enjoys herself when she goes out. Phoebe tells her mother
she took a puff of a cigarette and threw the rest out the window
and all her mother does is say she doesn’t like that. Phoebe is
only ten! Possibly this type of ineffectual parenting (probably the
result of her mental breakdown) is why Holden is so out of
control. Phoebe is like Holden in some ways-people are always
ruining things for her (the movie and her supper).
 Holden starts to cry when Phoebe gives him her Christmas
money because it is the first time in the novel that someone has
given him something without wanting anything in return.
Chapter Twenty Four
 It is very late when Holden arrives at the Antolini’s "swanky" apartment on
Sutton Place. The couple hosted a party earlier in the evening, and Mr.
Antolini is still drinking heavily. Mrs. Antolini (Lillian) makes coffee and goes
to bed. Holden feels dizzy and has a headache. The coffee does not help
Holden. Mr. Antolini ignores his coffee and fixes himself another highball.
Holden discusses an Oral Expression course, taught by Mr. Vinson at Pencey,
which Holden failed. Antolini defends the instructor.
 Mr. Antolini is about the same age as Holden's brother, D.B., and usually seems
like a great guy. Tonight he wants to discuss pedagogy more than Holden cares
to. He also offers long-winded theories concerning Holden that the boy could
do without. Holden is very tired. He has slept only two or three hours since
Saturday morning, two days ago. It has been an exhausting weekend. He and
Antolini make up the couch, and Holden falls asleep.
 Suddenly, Holden is awakened. He is shocked to find Antolini sitting on the
floor by the couch, patting Holden's head. Holden becomes very upset and
insists on leaving. He decides that Mr. Antolini is a pervert.
Chapter Twenty Five and Twenty
Six
 It is dawn on Monday as Holden leaves the Antolini’s apartment. He
sleeps on a bench at the waiting room in Grand Central Station until
about 9 a.m. Having second thoughts about Mr. Antolini's intentions,
he wonders if he should have returned and stayed there. Walking up on
Fifth Avenue, searching for an inexpensive restaurant in which to eat
breakfast, he suddenly feels very anxious. Every time he steps down off
the curb to cross a street, he thinks he may just keep falling and
disappear. He asks his dead brother, Allie, to help him. Holden is
physically and emotionally exhausted, sweating profusely despite the
cold. He is near collapse.
 In a final, awkward attempt to save himself, Holden decides to go "way
out West" and live as a deaf-mute so he won't have to talk with people.
Before leaving, he arranges to say good-bye to Phoebe. While he is with
her, he decides to stop running and return home. In a brief final
chapter, Holden concludes the story, telling us that he doesn't know
what he thinks about everything that has happened, except that he
misses the people he has told us about.