Catcher in the Rye
Chapters 19 - 21
Wicker Bar
 Holden
is to meet Carl Luce at the Wicker
Bar, which is in a very nice hotel.
 “In case you don't live in New York, the
Wicker Bar is in this sort of swanky hotel,
the Seton Hotel.
 The
bar often features Tina and Janine, who
sing silly songs in French and English.
 Holden recalls that they are not very talented,
but that everyone in the bar gets all excited
about the duo.
 The thought of their phoniness, naturally,
bothers Holden.
 Holden
arrives at the Wicker Bar early and
manages to find a seat even though it is
crowded.
 It was pretty early when I got there.
 I sat down at the bar--it was pretty
crowded--and had a couple of Scotch and
sodas before old Luce even showed up.
Carl Luce
 Carl
 Old
arrives and begins to drink.
Luce. What a guy.
 He was supposed to be my Student
Adviser when I was at Whooton.
 The
only thing he ever did, though, was
give these sex talks and all, late at night
when there was a bunch of guys in his
room.
 He knew quite a bit about sex, especially
perverts and all.
 He was always telling us about a lot of
creepy guys that go around having affairs
with sheep, and guys that go around with
girls' pants sewed in the lining of their hats
and all.
 Luce
seems bored and anxious to leave. At
several points in the conversation, he tells
Holden to grow up and quit being so childish.
 Holden persists in talking about sex even
though Carl seems uninterested.
 Once again, as with Sally, Holden grows
excited while talking and has to be told to
lower his volume.
 When
Carl is ready to leave, Holden
pleads with him to stay a little longer.
 Carl, however, has had enough of Holden.
 As he departs he suggests that Holden
should be psychoanalyzed.
 Holden
remains at the Wicker Bar, getting
drunk. A singer named Valencia is
performing.
 Holden
prefers Valencia to Tina and
Janine and asks the headwaiter to invite
her to join him for a drink.
 Either the waiter does not give her the
message or she is not interested, because
she exits quickly when her act is finished.
 In
his drunken stupor, Holden begins once
again to pretend he is wounded in the
stomach; he keeps putting his hand under
his jacket to prevent the bleeding.
 “Boy, I sat at that goddam bar till around
one o'clock or so, getting drunk as a
bastard.”
 “I could hardly see straight.”
 Finally
what I felt like, I felt like giving old
Jane a buzz and see if she was home yet.
 So I paid my check and all.
 Then I left the bar and went out where the
telephones were.
 I kept keeping my hand under my jacket to
keep the blood from dripping.
 Boy, was I drunk.
 But
when I got inside this phone booth, I
wasn't much in the mood any more to give
old Jane a buzz.
 I was too drunk, I guess.
 So what I did, I gave old Sally Hayes a
buzz.
 I had to dial about twenty numbers before I
got the right one.
 Boy, was I blind.
 Sally
is not pleased with his phone call in
the middle of the night and, realizing he is
drunk, tells him to go home and go to bed.
 Before
leaving the bar, Holden soaks his
head in a basin full of cold water to sober
up..
 Once
outside, Holden starts walking
toward Central Park to see for himself
whether the ducks are safely taken care
of.
 “So what I did, I started walking over to the
park.
 I figured I'd go by that little lake and see
what the hell the ducks were doing, see if
they were around or not, I still didn't know
if they were around or not.”
 “It
wasn't far over to the park, and I didn't
have anyplace else special to go to--I
didn't even know where I was going to
sleep yet--so I went. I wasn't tired or
anything.”
 “I
just felt blue as hell.”
 He
has some trouble finding the duck
pond, even though he knows this part of
the park very well.
 When he finally reaches the lagoon, the
ducks are gone, which makes Holden
think about death.
 He decides he wants to see Phoebe and
makes his way towards home.
I
started thinking how old Phoebe would
feel if I got pneumonia and died.
 It was a childish way to think, but I couldn't
stop myself.
 She'd feel pretty bad if something like that
happened.
 She likes me a lot. I mean she's quite fond
of me.
 She really is.
 Anyway,
I couldn't get that off my mind, so
finally what I figured I'd do, I figured I'd
better sneak home and see her, in case I
died and all.
 I had my door key with me and all, and I
figured what I'd do, I'd sneak in the
apartment, very quiet and all, and just sort
of chew the fat with her for a while.
 The
only thing that worried me was our
front door.
 It creaks like a bastard.
 It's a pretty old apartment house, and the
superintendent's a lazy bastard, and
everything creaks and squeaks.
 I was afraid my parents might hear me
sneaking in.
 But I decided I'd try it anyhow.
 So
I got the hell out of the park, and went
home.
 I walked all the way.
 It wasn't too far, and I wasn't tired or even
drunk any more.
 It was just very cold and nobody around
anywhere.
 Holden
arrives at the apartment building
and believes he has had "the best break in
years" because the elevator boy is a
substitute who does not recognize him.
 Holden
makes up a silly lie, which ends up
confusing the elevator boy enough that he
lets Holden up without asking too many
questions.
I
told him, in this very casual
voice, to take me up to the
Dicksteins'.
 The Dicksteins were these
people that had the other
apartment on our floor.
 He had the elevator doors all
shut and all, and was all set to
take me up, and then he turned
around and said, "They ain't in.
They're at a party on the
fourteenth floor."
 "That's
all right," I said. "I'm supposed to wait
for them. I'm their nephew."
 He gave me this sort of stupid, suspicious
look. "You better wait in the lobby, fella," he
said.
 "I'd like to--I really would," I said. "But I have a
bad leg. I have to hold it in a certain position. I
think I'd better sit down in the chair outside
their door."
I
got off at our floor--limping like a bastard-and started walking over toward the
Dicksteins' side.
 Then, when I heard the elevator doors
shut, I turned around and went over to our
side.
 I was doing all right. I didn't even feel
drunk anymore.
 Then
I took out my door key and opened
our door, quiet as hell.
 Then, very, very carefully and all, I went
inside and closed the door.
 I really should've been a crook.
 Holden
makes a tiptoed journey through
the apartment to Phoebe’s room.
 When she is not in her bed, Holden
remembers that she sometimes sleeps in
D.B.’s room.
 She doesn't like her own room because it's
too little, she says.
 She says she likes to spread out. That kills
me.
 He
finds her sleeping soundly and
watches for awhile.
 Before he wakes her, Holden sits down at
the desk and reads one of her school
notebooks.
 Then,
finally, I woke her up.
 I mean I couldn't sit there on that desk for
the rest of my life, and besides, I was
afraid my parents might barge in on me all
of a sudden and I wanted to at least say
hello to her before they did.
 So I woke her up.
 As
expected, Phoebe is thrilled to see him.
 She tells him about all the recent
happenings in her life.
 Holden listens with a great deal of care
and affection and is happy just to be with
her.
 She
tells Holden their parents are at a
party in Connecticut and will not be home
until late.
 Suddenly
she realizes Holden is home
from Pencey earlier than he should be and
asks if he has been kicked out again.
 Holden tries to lie his way out of the
situation, but Phoebe sees through him
and gets upset. She covers her head with
a pillow and refuses to talk to him.