THE CATCHER IN THE RYE
by
JEROME DAVID SALINGER
CHAPTERS I. – IV.
VOCABULARY:
David Copperfield = a novel by Charles Dickens, the story of D. Copperfield’s life
dough = money
it killed me = it impressed/ amused me
being a prostitute (Holden’s brother) = used ironically here to mean that he is prostituting his
talent of writing for money
strictly for the birds = only fools would believe it
falsies = padded bra
grippe = flu (influenza)
Navajo = an American Indian tribe
Atlantic Monthly = a popular magazine of the time
shot the bull = pretended to be sincere
Central park = a large park in New York City
stiffs = corpses
foils = fencing swords
The Return of the Native = a novel by Thomas Hardy
a goner = someone who is doomed
gives me a bang = gives me enjoyment
hound’s tooth jacket = woolen, patterned jacket
Brown Betty = pudding like apple crumble
can = toilet/ bathroom
Ziegfried Follies = a popular musical show from the twenties
Vitalis = an old-fashioned type of hair gel
checkers = game of draughts
booze hound = alcoholic
halitosis = a condition which causes a bad smelling mouth
hemorrhage = massive bleeding
sadist = torturer
falsetto = high voice
qualms = misgivings
pacifist = peace lover
compulsory = necessary
gore = blood
innumerable = countless
exhibitionist = show-off
unscrupulous = unprincipled
crude = lacking taste or tact
rostrum = platform or podium
ANSWER THESE QUESTIONS:
CHAPTER I:
1. What does Holden mean when he says that his brother D.B. is out in Hollywood
“being a prostitute”?
2. Where is Holden at the beginning of the story?
3. What is Pencey Prep and why does Holden dislike it?
4. How did Holden let the fencing team down?
5. Why was Holden kicked out of Pencey Prep?
6. What kind of health does he appear to be in?
CHAPTER II:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Who is Mr Spencer and why does Holden visit him?
What does Mr Spencer do that particularly annoys Holden?
What can you infer about Holden’s character from his note to Mr Spencer?
What does Holden give us as the reason for “leaving” Elkton Hills?
What is he wondering about in terms of the ducks?
CHAPTER III:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
What does Holden mean when he says, “I’m quite illiterate but I read a lot”?
What does he read?
Who is Ackley?
What is Ackley like?
What does Ackley do that annoys Holden?
CHAPTER IV:
1.
2.
3.
4.
What is Stradlater like?
What does he want Holden to do and why?
What do we learn about Holden in this chapter?
Why does Holden get excited?
CHAPTERS I. – IV.
1. Holden is critical of many things and often uses the word “phony” to express his
criticism. What is he critical of? Give at least 4 examples/ quotes from the text in your
answer.
2. Why do you think Holden is worried about the ducks during the winter? Is their
situation similar to that of Holden’s?
CHAPTERS V. – VIII.
VOCABULARY:
Cary Grant = a popular film star of the 1940s and 50s
Buick = American make of large car
baseball mitt = a special glove used by fielders in baseball
hydrant = a water-point for firefighters
socks = here means punches
faculty guys = teachers’ assistants
give her the time = have sex with her
killed me = in ch. 6 means annoyed me, in ch. 7 amused me
Gladstones = a make of travelling bags
lousy with rocks = wearing a lot of jewellery
unanimous = all in agreement
snotty = snobbish, conceited
lavish = extravagant
putrid = rotten and disgusting
snub = behave coldly towards
ANSWER THESE QUESTIONS:
CHAPTER V:
1. Who is Allie?
2. Why is the mitt so special to Holden?
3. Why did Holden’s parents want to have him psychoanalyzed?
CHAPTER VI:
1. What does Stradlater criticize Holden for?
2. Why is Holden so concerned about Jane Gallagher?
3. What does it possibly reveal about Holden?
4. What do Holden and Stradlater fight over?
5. What does Holden put on after the fight? Is this the first time he does that?
CHAPTER VII:
1. Holden decides to visit Ackley. How is he received?
2. What is he thinking about while lying on the bed?
3. Why doesn’t Holden want to stay at Pencey any more?
4. Where does he decide to go?
5. What is his final good-bye to Pencey Prep?
6. Why is he crying when leaving the school?
CHAPTER VIII:
1. What does Holden think of Mrs Morrow?
2. What are some of the lies he tells her?
3. Why does he tell her these things?
4. “But I wouldn’t visit that … Morrow for all the dough in the world, even if I was
desperate.” Desperate for what? Is Holden desperate?
CHAPTERS IX – XIII:
VOCABULARY:
screwball = a weirdo
highballs = cocktails, e.g. whiskey and soda
Princeton = a very prestigious American college
grools = stupid, ugly people
no can = no bottom
jitterbug = popular dance in the 1840s and 50s
toleja = told you
ice-cold hot licks = poor trumpet solos
Radio City Music Hall = a popular venue for live performances
the check = the bill
gave me the big freeze = ignored me
glider = swinging couch suspended from a vertical frame
Greenwich Village = a “trendy” district of New York
tossed his cookies = was sick, vomited
Tattertall vests = smart-looking waistcoats
Ivy League = collective name for students of the five most prestigious American colleges
based near New York
crocked = drunk
bourgeois = middle-class
nonchalant = indifferent, seeming to be coolly unconcerned
conscientious = taking great care, diligent
yellow = a coward
a little tail = sex with a woman
a throw = one act of sexual intercourse
ANSWER THESE QUESTIONS:
CHAPTER IX:
1. What does Holden want to do when he arrives to New York? Does he?
2. Where does he go and how?
3. What does he ask the taxi driver?
4. How does he feel in the hotel room? Why?
5. Who does he finally call?
CHAPTER X:
1. How does Holden feel about his sister Phoebe?
2. Why doesn’t he call her?
3. What happens in the hotel night-club, the Lavender Room?
4. What is his opinion of the three girls he meets there?
CHAPTER XI:
1. What does Holden tell us about Jane Gallagher?
2. How does he feel about her?
3. What do these memories cause?
4. Where does he decide to go?
CHAPTER XII:
1. What happens once again in the taxi?
2. Where does he go and how does he feel there?
3. Who does he meet in the club?
4. Does he accept the invitation? Why (not)?
5. What does it tell us about his character?
CHAPTER XIII:
1. What happens when he returns to the hotel?
2. Why does he agree to see a prostitute?
3. How does Holden feel about having sex with her?
4. What would he rather do? Is he successful?
CHAPTERS XIV – IXX
VOCABULARY:
88 guns = ball-bearing guns
chisel me = con me, (swindle or dupe)
plugged = shot
rubbernecks = people with an unhealthy interest in other people’s affairs
freshman = a first year university student
Grand Central Station = main railway station in New York
blue as hell = really miserable
Broadway = main street in New York, famous as the centre of music
Dixieland = traditional jazz style
Flys Up = a ball game
corny = unfashionable
rubbering = looking around at people
vests = jackets
homey = ordinary
on furlough = for a short break
A Farewell to Arms = a famous book by Ernest Hemingway set in the WW1 (Italy)
The Great Gatsby = a well-known novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald
snowing hell = flattering excessively
flits = homosexuals
Columbia = large NY university
ANSWER THESE QUESTIONS:
CHAPTER XIV:
1. Does Holden feel any guilt about Allie?
2. Do you think it is normal or abnormal? Why?
3. What makes Holden cry?
4. What evidence shows us that Holden might be a good actor?
CHAPTER XV:
1. What point does Holden try to make when talking about the suitcases (of the nuns and
his roommate)?
2. How does Holden treat the nuns?
3. Why does he think it spoils the conversation if someone asks what religion you are?
CHAPTER XVI:
1. Who does Holden make a date with?
2. Why does he call her if he thinks she is phony?
3. How does Holden treat little kids? Give an example.
4. Does Holden know his way around the city?
5. What does it tell us about him?
CHAPTER XVII:
1. How do Holden’s feeling for women compare to his feeling for men?
2. How does he feel about the actors?
3. What is Holden’s point about the difference between a man owning a car and owning
a horse?
4. How does he describe a boys’ school to Sally?
5. Why doesn’t she want to run away with him?
CHAPTER XVIII:
1. What is Holden’s opinion of the Christmas show at radio City?
2. Why does he think the woman who cried through the movie is a phony?
CHAPTER XIX:
1. Why does he get mad at Luce for calling his (Luce’s) girlfriend a “whore from
Hampshire”?
2. What is the relation between the two of them?
CHAPTERS XX – XXVI
VOCABULARY:
boisterous = loud and noisy
pedagogical = relating to teaching
foyer = entrance hall
provocative = causing an angry reaction intentionally
cockeyed = foolish, ridiculous, absurd
harrowing = extremely distressing
swanky = fancy, high class
reciprocal = mutual, experienced, performed, or felt by both sides
digress = start talking about something not related to the topic
plastered = drunk
ostracizing = ignoring
closet = wardrobe
garbage pails = dustbins
Veterans’ Day = a school reunion
carrousel = a merry-go-round (fairground ride)
ANSWER THESE QUESTIONS:
CHAPTER XX:
1. What does Holden pretend to have happened to him in the Wicker Bar?
2.
3.
4.
5.
Where does he go after he leaves the bar? Why?
What happens to Phoebe’s record? How does he feel at that point?
What do we learn about Allie’s funeral?
What does Holden tell us about Allie that contradicts his statement about being an
atheist?
6. Where does he go after leaving the park?
CHAPTER XXI:
1. How does Holden get into his parents’ apartment?
2. What does he find interesting about Phoebe’s notebooks?
3. Why does Phoebe become upset?
CHAPTER XXII:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Which Phoebe’s question upsets Holden most?
What are the two things Holden can remember in connection with her question?
What would Holden really like to do in life? Why?
What does it tell us about Holden when he says, “Just because somebody’s dead, you
don’t stop liking them, for God’s sake – especially if they were a thousand times nicer
than the people you know that’re alive and all”?
CHAPTER XXIII:
1. Who does Holden call from the apartment? Why?
2. What do Holden and Phoebe do next?
3. What does Holden do when his parents return home?
CHAPTER XXIV:
1. What happens in this chapter?
2. What was Holden’s opinion of Mr Antolini before this meeting?
3. How did the opinion change and why?
CHAPTER XXV:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Where does Holden go after that incident?
What happens to him?
Who does he arrange to meet and where?
What upsets Holden in the museum?
Where does he take Phoebe? How does he feel there?
CHAPTER XXVI:
1. Where is Holden? How do you know? (c.f. Ch.1 as well)
2. What does he say about remembering people?
3. Why, in your opinion, does the writer end the story at the same place he has started it?
MAIN THEMES:
 relationships
 the individual and society
 the effects of the environment
 innocence and childhood
RELATIONSHIPS
HOLDEN AS AN OUTSIDER:
One of the main themes is the problem of forming relationships. Holden often tells us how
lonely he feels and desperately wants to befriend people. From the beginning of his story he
has problems with getting on with others.
SCHOOL:
We first meet him when he is “ostracized” (ignored) by the school fencing team. He is on his
own when everyone else is enjoying themselves at a football match. His relationships are
insecure: he talks to Ackley but tells us he doesn’t like him; he admires Stradlater in some
ways but ends up fighting with him and leaving Pencey.
ADULTS AND PARENTS:
The first adult we meet, Mr Spencer, cannot understand Holden even though he seems to like
him. The other important adult figure, Mr Antolini, also cannot understand him. He wants to
give him some advice about life but Holden just feels tired and cannot understand what is
being said to him. His relationship with his parents seems distant, as if he thinks they do not
really care about him. His problems are mainly caused by their mutual inability to form a
family relationship of trust and understanding.
MEANINGFUL CONVERSATIONS:
All through the novel Holden attempts to talk to people of all sorts, but his only meaningful
ones are with the two nuns and his younger sister Phoebe. Here he shows his true self. In all
other conversations he lies or pretends to be someone else. He lies to Mrs Morrow on the train
and tries to be sophisticated with the three girls in the Edmont hotel.
RELATIONSHIPS IN THE PAST:
He remembers his conversations with people in the past more favourably. He tells us how he
and his brothers were happy together as children. When he talks about Allie, we sense a
closeness which is not there in present time.
His other really significant relationship was with Jane Gallagher when they spent a summer
together. In a way this is the closest Holden has come to being in love. His failure to contact
Jane while he is in New York shows his inability to relate to anyone. He is frightened of
spoiling the memory of a good relationship and substitutes her to Sally, and their brief day out
ends in another failed relationship for Holden. He often talks about sex and mistakenly
believes this aspect of a relationship is the most important or “adult”. This is a typical
response for a boy of his age. Holden’s inability to understand sexuality shows his
immaturity.
THE INDIVIDUAL AND SOCIETY
SOCIETY AND MATERIALISM:
Much of Holden’s story concerns his reactions to the values of the society in which he lives.
He is disillusioned with his world and rebels against it. The society he lives in seems to him to
be shallow (phony) and only concerned about material things; money is the most important
thing and Holden feels that this is wrong. This can be seen by the fact that the only two adults
Holden feels empathy with are the nuns. Nuns have to give up material things and money;
they take vows of poverty. Holden thinks they are the only people who really care about other
people.
THE VALUES OF SCHOOL:
At the beginning we find ourselves in the enclosed little world of a boarding school with its
rules. Holden’s dislike of the society values can be clearly seen at Pencey, where he is very
sarcastic about the school and its claims to “mould” (oblikovati) students into valuable
members of society. He mocks Mr Ossenburger, who became rich after leaving Pencey, and
says that he is only regarded important because he is rich. All of the schools Holden has
attended are for the rich and privileged. Many students would consider themselves lucky to
have these opportunities, but Holden seems to feel guilt and anger at his situation and rebels
against it.
NEW YORK PEOPLE:
Holden escapes to the world of NY which he often finds frightening. He immediately starts
talking about perverts in the hotel where he stays. He has an encounter with a prostitute and
gets beaten up. All the worst moment take place in the city.
The social and moral values of the people he meets in NY are portrayed as either corrupt or
petty and snobbish. The places where he goes in search of company are full of people who are
only interested in themselves and in how others see them. As Holden sees it, they all let him
down when he needs them:
 Sally Hayes won’t run away with him
 Carl Luce is not interested in Holden’s problems
 Mr Antolini makes advances on him (in Holden’s perception)
The prostitute and the elevator-boy exemplify how corrupt the society is. In one of his “weak”
moments Holden thinks he can buy company but when he behaves as he thinks an adult
would, the result is embarrassment and humiliation (the incident with the prostitute).
PRESSURE TO CONFORM:
Throughout the novel, Holden is critical of the society in which he lives. The pressure on
people to conform and be like others, puts enormous strain on him. He is portrayed as an
outsider who tries to fit in but cannot. This is the dilemma that leads to his breakdown.
THE EFFECTS OF THE ENVIRONMENT
THE IDEA OF THE ENVIRONMENT:
Holden moves through three main environments: SCHOOL (Pencey Prep and others before
that), NEW YORK (clubs, bars and streets) and CENTRAL PARK. They all have an impact
on him and he tries to escape from all these places.
PENCEY PREP:
At Pencey Prep he is a part of the community but is on the verge of leaving. He deals with the
people he comes in contact with on an equal basis. He is secure and confident at the school
even though he tells us that he does not like it, and the environment there seems to stifle him.
Holden views the school as boring, trivial and phony. Although it is his fight with Stradlater
which finally makes him leave, we often feel Holden wants to escape from the confines of
school. Holden cannot obey the rules and regulations which govern the boarding school
environment.
NEW YORK:
J. D. Salinger often makes the streets of NY a frightening place. One example of this is his
description at the beginning of Ch. 12, another, in Ch. 25 is when Holden feels he is
disappearing and that the city is going to “swallow” him up. He will become one of the
casualties of his environment, like many other city dwellers.
CENTRAL PARK:
The only place where Holden finds some moments of happiness is when he is in the Central
Park or the museums nearby. The park is a green space, a small piece of nature in a vast, manmade environment. The museums represent the past, a time when things were easier and not
subject to the stresses and strains of a city life. In these places Holden remembers his
childhood before his brother’s death and his own problems; he wishes things could stay the
same as they were then. It is in the central park that he finally has a moment of true happiness,
when he sees his sister riding the carrousel. It seems these places are innocent and untainted
by man. In a way the park is a metaphor for the wide open spaces to which Holden dreams of
running away. It is also the place where the ducks live and Holden wonders where they go in
winter when the lakes freeze. It could be a metaphor of his own situation: where can you go
when everything freezes around you?
EFFECTS ON EMOTIONS:
The different environments all have effects on his inner emotions:
 the museums and the park make him nostalgic and he wishes that time could stand still
or even go backward
 the clubs and bars bring out Holden’s cynicism but also his insecurities and naivety
 the city as a whole leads him into depression
 the pace and confusion of the city reflects his own confusion and fear
INNOCENCE AND CHILDHOOD
TRANSITION:
In the novel, Holden is at the age between childhood and adulthood. The difficulties which he
has making this transition are the principal part of the story. It is a type of story that shows a
person developing from childhood to maturity, but not a conventional one. His development is
twisted and he doesn’t reach maturity at the end of the story.
In some ways Holden is afraid of growing up. He seems unable to face the responsibilities
which come as he gets older. This is shown by his continual “flunking” of his exams, even
though he is obviously intelligent. His answer to his problems is a typically childlike dream,
to run away and have an adventure: he runs away from Pencey Prep (+ 2 other schools before
that) and he talks to Sally Hayes and his sister about escaping somewhere to the west.
ALLIE AND JANE:
Holden’s happiest memory concern his own childhood before the death of his brother Allie.
The only other time he has seemed genuinely happy since then is the time spent with Jane
Gallagher. These relationships were innocent ones, they happened before Holden saw how
cruel the world could be. When his brother died, Holden’s own childhood was lost and he had
to confront something he did not understand; his reaction is extreme (parents want to have
him psychoanalyzed) and this is the beginning of his problems.
His relationship with Jane was innocent. Although they kissed, Holden stresses it wasn’t a
kiss on the mouth! They played games together (draughts, golf). Holden does not want to let
this happy memories go and he idealizes his time with Jane. His reluctance to phone her
reinforces the sense that he does not want to see her grown-up because it would shatter his
childhood memories. This is also clear from the fight with Stradlater: he become obsessed
with the idea of what Stradlater may have done with Jane. He is afraid that, because of
Stradlater, Jane may have lost a part of her innocence and moved into the adult world.
HOLDEN’S CHILDLIKE QUALITIES:
Holden’s innocence and childlike qualities are exposed when he tries to act out his
perceptions of adult behaviour. They all end up in disaster or depression. His initial attempts
to get alcohol are prevented and when he does get served he gets drunk and breaks his sister’s
present. His experience with the prostitute shows his innocence regarding sex, while she
provides a contrast to his innocence. She is roughly the same age as Holden and her life is
already corrupted by the world in which she lives. His rounds of the clubs and bars all leave
him depressed.
FANTASY AND REALITY:
Holden’s tendency to fantasize also stresses his childlike behaviour. He often retreats to the
world of the imagination when things in the real world become too much for him. Examples
of these are when he pretends to be shot and his great love for books and stories. His fantasies
of life in the Far West, or in the mountains with Sally Hayes, show he is unable to face reality
and that he still has the unrealistic dreams of a young adolescent. His admission that he
doesn’t understand women and adults in general contribute to our view that he is immature.
HOLDEN’S QUEST COMPLETED:
Holden cares about the innocent aspects of the world which have not change since his
childhood: the park with the ducks, the children’s zoo and the museums he visited. His sister
Phoebe, who is still uncorrupted by the adult world, is the only person to whom he can really
relate. It is the innocent image of his sister riding a carrousel that finally makes him happy for
a moment. Holden’s quest is complete; he seeks refuge in the innocent pleasure of a
fairground ride (a carrousel), rather in the adult world he has lived in the previous two days.
GENERAL QUESTIONS:
1. What kind of a game is life? (consider Mr Spencer, Holden and give your own
opinion)
2. What does it mean to be true to yourself?
3. What does it mean to be a good person?
4. Is it inevitable that we conform to the world and society we live in?
5. How should a person adjust to the world s/he did not create?
6. What happens when a person does not accept the rules of the dominant culture?
7. Is it possible to grow up and not become phony?
8. Is it possible to protect everything that is precious to you?
9. What does it mean to be mature/ immature?
10. Why are people cruel to each other?
11. How do people respond to cruelty around them?
CHARACTERS
THE CAULFIELD FAMILY
HOLDEN:
Holden is the main character in the novel and we see the world through his eyes (1st person
narrative). He is a young man (16) at the time when the events he describes happen. He is on
the verge of adulthood. His language is meant to be typical of a teenager of that time and this
defines his character. (cf. Language and Style). He appears to be a witty individual who can
also be irritating to those around him. He comes from a stable background and his parents are
quite wealthy (father is a lawyer, mother a housewife). They live in an expensive part of NY.
He has a younger sister, Phoebe, and two brothers, D. B. who lives in Hollywood, and Allie, 2
years younger, who died when Holden was 13.
During the course of the novel we discover more and more about Holden’s past and realize
that he is a troubled young man. He is confused about much of the world around him and is
disillusioned with life. His sense of unhappiness and depression increases as the novel
progresses, until he has a nervous breakdown. It is left to the reader to decide whether it is
because he has a “weak” character or because he has experienced intolerable pressures and
no-one has helped him to deal with them.
We are shown that Holden has a strong sense of moral values which often clashes with those
of people around him. When he does things that he knows are wrong he feels guilty; all
through the novel there is a sense of Holden’s guilt about his behaviour and this is one of the
reasons he is afraid to go home.
Holden has a vivid imagination and a love of books and stories in general. Although he claims
he hates movies, he spends quite a lot of time pretending to be in them! This frequent
contradiction of himself is another trait of his character. He tries to behave like an adult by
smoking and drinking, going out with girls and hanging in bars, but he is highly critical of
others who are doing the same, and still yearns for his innocent childhood.
PHOEBE:
Holden’s 10-year-old sister is described by Holden as pretty, skinny and having red hair.
Phoebe likes going to the movies and can tell a good film from a bad one. She is an intelligent
girl with an inquisitive nature and has a love fro writing stories. She seems to enjoy school
and has lots of notebooks. Holden says she is a neat and tidy person and she seems very
organized and grown-up for her age.
She becomes a very important character towards the end of the novel. For Holden she
represents innocence and is a reminder of when life was happy at home. She is the main
reason for Holden to eventually go home. Phoebe becomes very upset when she finds that
Holden has been expelled from school again. This shows that she deeply cares about him.
When he decides to run away, Phoebe insists on going with him. This also demonstrates the
stubborn side of her nature. She is portrayed as a wise child, but one who still behaves in the
manner which we would expect of a 10-year-old.
ALLIE:
Allie was Holden’s younger brother by 2 years who died when Holden was 13. Holden
describes him as a popular and sensitive boy. Although he is not often mentioned, he is an
important character as his death may have caused Holden’s mental problems.
D. B.
Holden’s older brother is a writer. He moved to Hollywood to write for film industry, which
Holden thinks is a waste of his talent (similar to prostitution). He visits Holden in hospital in
California where Holden is recovering from his nervous breakdown and from where he is
telling his story.
MOTHER AND FATHER:
Holden’s mother is mentioned only briefly and is described as being very nervous since the
death of Allie. His father is also mentioned in passing; he is a corporate lawyer who earns a
high salary but alienated from the family. They are important because it is Holden’s guilt and
fear of their reaction (he has been expelled from school for 3rd time) that prevents Holden
from going home.
SCHOOLFRIENDS
ROBERT ACKLEY:
“Ackley boy” as Holden calls him, is an important character at the beginning of the novel. He
has the room next to Holden at Pencey Prep. He is not popular at school. He is a senior pupil
but no-one seems close to him. He has acne and bad teeth and is a “slob” (a lazy and dirty
person). Holden tells us he is not liked by anyone, including himself, and he has been
prevented from joining different societies set up by the other boys. He is an outsider in many
ways, just like Holden, but for different reasons.
Although Holden spend a great deal of time telling us about Ackley’s bad qualities, he is the
last person Holden goes to before leaving Pencey Prep. Holden seems to realize that Ackley,
like himself, has no-one to identify with. Ackley often tries to start a conversation or make
friends with people but is ignored, just like Holden in NY.
WARD STRADLATER:
Stradlater is another character who is important at the beginning of the novel. He is Holden’s
roommate and his senior. He is described as handsome and popular with girls, someone who
knows about the world and is sexually active. He has seduced girls in the past and Holden
thinks he is one of the few students who has actually had sex. He is portrayed as the “model”
for society’s idea of what a young man of his age should be. He has his faults but his
behaviour is that of a “normal”, well-balanced American male of that era. He is represented as
a contrast to Holden, who is an outsider, unable to behave in the way society dictates.
Stradlater is important because he is the person who causes Holden to leave Pencey Prep
early. He seems to be able to do things that Holden wants to do but cannot. There is a feeling
throughout the novel that Stradlater makes Holden jealous, particularly because of his
relationship with Jane Gallagher.
JANE GALLAGHER:
Although we never meet her, she is one of the major characters in the novel, as she occupies
so much of Holden’s thoughts. She is a sensitive girl with whom Holden spent a summer
holiday 2 years before the action of the novel starts. She is portrayed by Holden as his perfect
companion and one of the few people he has ever felt comfortable with.
Jane is, indirectly, another reason Holden leaves Pencey. He fights with Stradlater because he
believes he has behaved badly with Jane. Throughout the novel, Holden thinks of phoning her
but never gets to speak to her. It seems she represents a beautiful memory for Holden which
he is afraid of spoiling, so he is unable to talk to her.
CHARACTERS OF AUTHORITY
MR SPENCER
Holden’s History teacher at Pencey Prep is an old man who is friendly to his students, often
inviting them into his home for hot drinks. When we meet him he is suffering from flu and
Holden wishes he hasn’t come to visit him. He shows concern for Holden and cannot
understand why Holden is failing so badly at school.
The main scene involving Mr Spencer is when he reads Holden’s History exam paper to him,
showing up its inadequacies. Holden feels that Spencer is being sarcastic, but tells us that Mr
Spencer felt badly about failing him in the exam.
Mr Spencer is important to the novel as he is the first “adult” we meet. He typifies the
“generation gap” and is one of the many grown-ups in the novel whom Holden wishes he
hadn’t started talking to. Although he is warm and kind, he cannot relate to Holden’s feelings.
MR ANTOLINI:
He is Holden’s ex-English teacher from Elkton Hills school, described as the best teacher he
has ever had. A youngish man (not much older than Holden’s brother D. B.), he is married to
an older woman. They live in an expensive apartment in NY and are friendly with Holden’s
parents. Mr Antolini makes an impression by being the person who goes pick up the body of
the boy, James Castle, who killed himself in Elkton Hills.
He is the last person Holden goes to in his quest to find someone to understand and help him,
and who can relate to him. They have a long conversation during which Mr Antolini is
described as drinking heavily. Mr Antolini tries to get through to Holden that he may fail in
life if he does not pull himself together and decide what he wants. He shows genuine concern
for Holden and we feel he really cares.
When Holden falls asleep in his apartment, he is woken up by Mr Antolini stroking his hair.
Holden interprets it as a sexual advance and runs out. The last character that Holden looks up
comes under suspicion for having false motives.
MINOR CHARACTERS
EDGAR MARSALLA:
A boy who causes disturbances at Pencey Prep by farting during a speech.
CARL LUCE:
Holden’s old student adviser at Whooton school. He meets Holden for drinks and we realize
Luce has become an adult who does not want to respond to Holden’s immature questions.
JAMES CASTLE:
The boy who died at Elkton Hills school. He jumped out of a window rather than take back
something he believed to be true. He is an important link between Holden and Mr Antolini.
SALLY HAYES:
One of Holden’s old girlfriends whom he takes out one afternoon in NY. She is described as
very attractive but shallow. She comes from a wealthy background and is happy with her life.
Holden upsets her by calling her “a pain in the ass” when she refuses to run away with him.
SAMMY:
The prostitute who comes to Holden’s room at the Edmont Hotel. She is about the same age
as Holden.
THE NUNS:
He meets them in the cafeteria. They are also teachers, one of them an English teacher.
Holden has one of his successful conversations with them and thinks about them often after
their meeting.
MISS AIGLETINGER:
One of Holden’s old junior school teachers who used to take them to the museums around
Central Park.
MR THURMER:
The headmaster of Pencey Prep.
MRS MURROW:
The mother of one of the boys Holden knew at Pencey Prep. Holden has a conversation with
her on the train to NY, telling her outrageous lies about what his school-friends think about
her son Ernest.
MAURICE:
The elevator-man with whom Holden makes the arrangement to see a prostitute. He beats up
Holden after a row about the money owed to the prostitute.
LANGUAGE & STYLE
NARRATIVE STYLE:
The novel is written entirely from Holden’s point of view. We are asked to believe his story to
a doctor or a counselor of some kind and therefore it is important that the language sounds
like spoken English. J. D. Salinger uses language to bring Holden’s character alive. Holden
has many “stock phrases”, which are repeated throughout the novel to give an impression of a
particular individual’s speech style. He frequently digresses from the subject, as a person
would when telling an oral narrative. This sometimes creates the impression that the novel has
not been carefully structured, but this is probably intentional and adds to the sense of realism.
The narrative style consciously avoids many of the devices we associate with literature: little
use of metaphor, not much elegant writing or detailed description of places and emotions or
feelings. This style persuades us we are really seeing the world through the eyes of a 16-yearold.
HOLDEN’S USE OF LANGUAGE:
One of the first things we notice about his use of language is his use of swearwords; although
today they seem mild, at the time they would have been quite shocking (the novel was
censured in the States when first published in 1951!). He uses the word “crap” quite
frequently and expressions like “my ass”. He has a limited set of insults such as “you
sonowabitch” and “you moron”. Holden does not like certain swearwords and spends time at
the end of the story rubbing off graffiti, saying “fuck you”, from the walls of his sister’s
school.
Holden has many other habitual phrases. He often uses the expression “it really was” or “I
really was”, as if he wants us to believe him but is afraid that we will not. His other ma in
phrase is “that kills me”, usually used to indicate that something amuses him. These and other
expressions like “phony” make Holden an individual with his own way of speaking, but they
also echo the slang of the time.
Another characteristic feature of Holden’s language is his tendency to exaggerate. There are
many instances of this in the novel and this is the main way in which J. D. Salinger portrays
the humorous side of Holden’s character.
The way in which Holden expresses his feelings and emotions is made deliberately vague by
the author. Holden often says he doesn’t know why he likes things or that he doesn’t know
why he said a particular thing to someone. He frequently tells us what he is thinking, but he
does not seem able to draw any conclusions from his thoughts. On a number of occasions, his
description of what is happening to him emotionally are summed up in one word, “stuff”, and
he tells us that things make him sad or “blue as hell” but he cannot say why. His inability to
express his emotions clearly is very noticeable at the climax of his story when he is watching
Phoebe on the carrousel. Holden tells us he so happy but cannot explain why.
AUTHORIAL INTENTION:
The way in which J. D. Salinger reveals the world through Holden’s individual voice is very
clever. By giving Holden a limited ability to describe his world in a sophisticated way, he has
made Holden seem even more like a real person. Holden is fixed in our minds as a mixed-up
teenager who lacks the sophistication of an adult to describe what is happening to him. If we
feel sympathy for Holden – and it would be cruel not to – it is the way in which he has told
his story which makes us do so.
(source: York Notes)