194-214
Geschke/English IV
The Catcher in the Rye
194-214

• “I still had that headache. It was even worse. And I think I was more depressed than I ever was in my whole life.” (194)
• “What made it even worse, my eyes were sore and burny from not getting too much sleep. Besides that, I was getting sort of a cold.” (195)
Geschke/English IV
The Catcher in the Rye
194-214

• “I started to sort of laugh. It was about the
worst thing I could’ve done, because the minute I started to laugh I thought I was going to vomit.” (196)
• “Only, I didn’t eat the doughnuts. I couldn’t swallow them too well. The thing is, if you get very depressed about something, it’s hard as hell to swallow.”
(196)
Geschke/English IV
The Catcher in the Rye
194-214

• “I could hardly get my breath, and I was still sweating like a bastard.”
(198)
• “I sort of had diarrhea, if you want to know the truth.” (204)
Geschke/English IV
The Catcher in the Rye
194-214

• “I sort of passed out.” (204)
• “I got sort of dizzy and I thought I was going to pass out or something again.” (206)
Geschke/English IV
The Catcher in the Rye
194-214

• Pages 194-195
• What is Holden doing?
• Justifying the possibly inappropriate behavior of Mr. Antolini
• Common behavior of victims
Geschke/English IV
The Catcher in the Rye
194-214

• Societal Expectations
• What influence do societal expectations have on adolescents in our society?
Geschke/English IV
The Catcher in the Rye
194-214

• “Then all of a sudden, something very spooky started happening.
Every time I came to the end of a block and stepped off the …curb, I had this feeling that I’d never get to the other side of the street. I thought
I’d just go down, down, down, and nobody’d ever see me again.” (197)
Geschke/English IV
The Catcher in the Rye
194-214

• “Boy did it scare me. You can’t imagine. I started sweating like a bastard—my whole shirt and underwear and everything. Then I started doing something else. Every time I’d get to the end of a block I’d make believe I was talking to my brother Allie…
Geschke/English IV
The Catcher in the Rye
194-214

• …I’d say to him, ‘Allie, don’t let me disappear. Allie, don’t let me disappear. Allie, don’t let me disappear. Please, Allie.’ And then when I’d reach the other side of the street without disappearing, I’d thank him. Then it would start all over again as soon as I got to the next corner.”
(198)
Geschke/English IV
The Catcher in the Rye
194-214

• What type of fall is Holden talking about?
• Mr. Antolini believed Holden was heading for a fall.
• Falling off the cliff while running in the field of rye?
Geschke/English IV
The Catcher in the Rye
194-214

• Move out west where no one would know him
• Pretend he was a deaf-mute
– “That way I wouldn’t have to have any
… stupid useless conversations with anybody.” (198)
• Marry a beautiful deaf-mute woman.
Geschke/English IV
The Catcher in the Rye
194-214

• Live on the outer edge of the woods so it would be sunny all the time.
• “If we had any children, we’d hide them somewhere.” (199)
– Keep them in glass cases
– Protect their innocence
Geschke/English IV
The Catcher in the Rye
194-214

• Holden sees expletives written on the walls in the school and museum.
• Who does Holden blame for writing these?
• “I figured it was some perverty bum that’d sneaked in the school late at night to take a leak or something and then wrote it on the wall.” (201)
Geschke/English IV
The Catcher in the Rye
194-214

• Who is really responsible for writing these expletives?
• Kids
• Evidence?
• One was written in crayon
Geschke/English IV
The Catcher in the Rye
194-214

• Purpose of this Scene?
• Flaws of extremism
• Not all kids are “good”
• Because Holden believes the expletives on the wall are bad things, he immediately assumes an adult did it.
• Not always true.
Geschke/English IV
The Catcher in the Rye
194-214

• “It’s hopeless, anyway. If you had a million years to do it in, you couldn’t rub out even half the … signs in the world. It’s impossible.” (202)
• Similar to his dream job
• He cannot catch every kid in the field of rye.
• Eventually, people will lose their innocence.
Geschke/English IV
The Catcher in the Rye
194-214

• Phoebe packs a bag so that she can go out west with Holden.
• Holden’s reaction:
• “No. Shut up.” (206)
• “I was almost set to hit her. I thought I was going to smack her for a second. I really did.” (206)
• “That made her cry even harder. I was glad. All of a sudden I wanted her to cry till her eyes practically dropped out. I almost hated her.” (207)
Geschke/English IV
The Catcher in the Rye
194-214

• “I think I hated her most because she wouldn’t be in that play any more if she went away with me.”
(207)
Geschke/English IV
The Catcher in the Rye
194-214

• The Play
• Represents Phoebe’s childhood
• Holden’s actions are depriving
Phoebe of her childhood.
• Therefore, he is responsible for taking away her innocence.
Geschke/English IV
The Catcher in the Rye
194-214

• “It played that same song about fifty years ago when I was a little kid.
That’s one nice thing about carrousels, they always play the same songs.” (210)
• Similar to the museum
Geschke/English IV
The Catcher in the Rye
194-214

• “All the kids kept trying to grab for the gold ring, and so was old Phoebe, and I was sort of afraid she’d fall off the … horse, but I didn’t say anything or do anything. The thing with kids is, if they want to grab for the gold ring, you have to let them do it, and not say anything. If they fall off, they fall off, but it’s bad if you say anything to them.”(211)
Geschke/English IV
The Catcher in the Rye
194-214

• Represents change
• Risking falling off the horse to grab the ring = falling of the cliff
Geschke/English IV
The Catcher in the Rye
194-214

• Phoebe puts it on Holden’s head
• Phoebe protects Holden
• “People are always letting you down.”
– Finally, someone helps Holden
Geschke/English IV
The Catcher in the Rye
194-214

• Holden gets soaked
• Symbolism?
• Baptism or New Life?
• “I was damn near bawling, I felt so damn happy, if you want to know the truth. I don’t know why. It was just that she looked so damn nice, the way she going around and around, in her blue coat and all. God, I wish you could’ve been there.”
(213)
Geschke/English IV
The Catcher in the Rye
194-214

• Pages 213-214
• Setting of the final chapter:
• Holden is in a psychiatric facility in
California
• Holden has a nervous breakdown
Geschke/English IV
The Catcher in the Rye
194-214

• “Don’t ever tell anybody anything. If you do, you start missing everybody.” (214)
• Consequences of taking risks
– Especially in forming relationships
Geschke/English IV
The Catcher in the Rye
194-214