Catcher in the Rye
Summary and Analysis
Chapter 1:
-Holden is talking to his psychoanalyst about his breakdown
-Shows his rebellious attitude towards society
-Retells events of the past four days “I’m not going to tell you my
whole goddam autobiography or anything. I’ll just tell you about
this madman stuff that happened to me around last Christmas
just before I got pretty run down...”
-Holden then begins to tell his story which starts on the Saturday
before Christmas break.
-We learn about his older brother DB
-Returning to Holden’s own story, he discusses his expulsion from
Pency Prep
-The chapter end with Holden on his way to see Mr Spencer, his old
teacher in attempt to make on finale connection with someone at
Pency Prep
Chapter 2:
-Begins with a description of the Spencer’s house
-Holden tries to have a positive conversation with Mr
Spencer, but Mr Spencer turns the conversation
into a discussion of Holden’s failure in school
-Holden leaves, feeling the desperate need to escape
yet again
Chapter 3:
-Holden begins with details about a former student of Pency
Prep, Mr Ossenburger, who became an undertaker.
-Holden’s dorm is named after this man
-Holden loves reading; he lists his favourite authors that include
his brother
-One of Holden’s most positive qualities is his ability to call
upon the literary imagination
-Robert Ackley, a dorm member that Holden calls revolting,
interrupts Holden while he is reading
-Ackley leaves when Holden’s roommate, Ward Stradlater,
comes into the room
Chapter 4:
-Holden follows Stradlater into the bathroom, where
they discuss Stradlater’s date, Jane Gallagher
-Holden is anxious because Jane is an old friend of
his, and he doesn’t want his roommate to take
advantage of her
Chapter 5:
-Holden comments on the fact that steak is always served
on Saturdays to impress the visiting parents. This
shows the hypocritical world Holden lives in because of
the false impression this gives the parents about the
school
-After dinner, Holden along two friends, Ackley and Mel
Brossard, eat burgers and play pinball in Agerstown
-When they return, Holden writes Stradlater’s descriptive
essay on Allie’s baseball glove
-Allie is Holden’s little brother who died of leukemia
Chapter 6 and 7:
-Stradlater returns in a bad mood after his date with Jane
-Holden rips up the essay after it is rejected by Stradlater
-The boys talk about Jane, which leads to a fight that
Stradlater wins
-Holden goes to Ackley’s room looking for a place to sleep
but Ackley refuses, leaving Holden with no place to
sleep
-Feeling isolated and alone, Holden decides to leave Pency
Prep and go to New York
Chapter 8:
-On the train to New York, Holden starts a
conversation with the mother of a former
classmate
-Holden doesn’t like this boy, but lies to the
mother, telling her that her son is awesome
-Holden shows his creativity when he tells the
lady that his name is Rudolph Schmidt and he
is on his way to get a brain tumour removed
Chapter 9:
-Once in New York, Holden considers calling
someone, but doesn’t know who to call
-Instead he hails a cab and checks in at the sleazy
Edmont Hotel
-Holden goes to the hotel, instead of his home, so
his parents won’t know he was kicked out of
school again
-Holden considers calling Jane, but instead calls
Faith Cavendish, a friend of a friend
-Faith rejects Holden
Chapter 10:
-Holden wants to call his little sister Phoebe, but
decides against it, knowing his parents would
most likely answer
-Desperate to talk to someone, Holden heads to the
lavender room
-Holden dances with three older women and
attempts to get them to stay, but is unsuccessful
-Holden leaves shortly after the women do and
continues to obsess over what happened on Jane
and Stradlater’s date
Chapter 11:
-Holden reflects on the relationship he once had
with Jane
-She was the only one that he showed Allie’s
baseball mitt to
-Holden remembers a touching moment he and
Jane shared, but then his thoughts turn to his
brother, DB
-This makes him decide to go to Ernie’s bar in
Greenwich Village
Chapter 12:
-Holden is feeling depressed and tries to have a
conversation with the taxi driver while riding to Ernie’s
-Holden is so desperate for human companionship that he
asks the cab driver to have a drink with him, but once
again, he is rejected
-While Holden is sitting at a table in Ernie’s, a girl who his
older brother once dated, Lillian Simmons, comes over
and asks if Holden would like to join her and her friend
-Holden refuses, saying he was just about to leave, even
though this was just another lie. This makes him feel
he was compelled to leave, rather than reveal his lie
Chapter 13:
-Holden walks back to his hotel in the cold
-On his way up to his room, the sleazy elevator operator
named Maurice offers to send him a prostitute
-Holden agrees to this because he is so depressed, but
regrets it immediately after
-When Sunny, the prostitute, arrives he tells yet another
lie, introducing himself as Jim Steele
-Holden tries to start a conversation, but Sunny not
understanding his delay, tries to seduce him
-This forces Holden to end the charade, and pays her five
dollars after an argument over the price. Sunny leaves
after receiving her money
Chapter 14:
-After Sunny leaves, Holden thinks about his little brother
and has the urge to pray
-There is a knock at the door and it is Sunny and Maurice,
demanding more money from Holden
-Maurice threatens him, while Sunny goes and takes
another five dollars from Holden’s wallet
-Maurice punches Holden in the stomach and then Sunny
and Maurice leave
-When Holden finally gets up, he imagines killing Maurice,
and then takes a bath, trying to calm himself
-Holden then admits that he considered committing
suicide
Chapter 15:
-Holden considers calling Jane Gallagher, but calls Sally
Hayes instead and makes a date for two o’clock
-After checking out of the hotel, Holden goes to Grand
Central Station to eat breakfast, where he starts a
conversation with two nuns
-He discusses literature with the nuns
-Seeing their cheap luggage, it brings back memories of an
old roommate who used Holden’s kindness to be
accepted into society
-Feeling generous, Holden gives the nuns ten dollars, even
though he is low on funds. He even wishes he would
have given them more
-He goes on a walk to kill time before his date with Sally
Chapter 16:
-While on his walk, Holden thinks about the nuns
and their collection basket
-He finds himself walking towards Broadway, and
thinks about buying a record
-Holden comes across a poor family and his mood
is elevated when the little boy sings “If a body
catch a body coming through the rye”
-Holden finds the record he was looking for called
Little Shirley Beans for his sister Phoebe
-Holden decides to call Jane, but hangs up when
her mother answers
-He then buys tickets to a play for his date with
Sally
-Holden goes to look for Phoebe in Central Park,
but she isn’t there, so he walks toward the
Museum of Natural History, that holds fond
childhood memories, but doesn’t enter the
museum
-Holden heads to the Biltmore to meet Sally for
their date
Chapter 17 and 18:
-When Sally arrives late, Holden isn’t angry because she looks
so good
-They go see a play and then go ice skating at Radio City
-Upon realizes that they are both miserable skaters, they go to
the bar for cokes
-Here Holden asks Sally to run away with him, showing that
Holden desires to escape from the world he is living in
-Sally refuses and leaves after Holden insults her
-Holden decides to call Jane again, but she isn’t home, so he
calls Carl Luce and arranges to meet him for a drink
-To pass the time Holden goes to the movies, which does not
enjoy
Chapter 19:
-Holden arrives at the Wicker bar, where he is
meeting Carl and finds a seat
-It bothers Holden to hear all the phones
applaud the performers that aren`t very good
-When Carl arrives, Holden tries to have a
meaningful conversation with him, but Carl
appears uninterested and anxious to leave
-Carl keeps telling Holden to grow up and after
he`s had enough, Carl leaves
Chapter 20:
-Holden remains at the Wicker bar and gets drunk
-Holden decides to call Jane, but again, calls Sally
instead
-Not pleased, Sally tells Holden to go home
-Holden walks to the park to see if the ducks are
taken care of
-Once he arrives at the pond, he finds it empty
-At the park Holden decides he wants to see Phoebe
and starts to walk home
Chapter 21:
-Holden goes to his apartment building, and into
Phoebe’s room
-She`s not there and then Holden remembers that
she sometimes sleeps in DB`s room
-He wakes her up and Phoebe is excited to see her
brother, until she realizes that he shouldn`t be
home this early
-Holden tries to lie his way out of him, but Phoebe
sees right through him
-Upset with Holden`s expulsion, Phoebe refuses to
talk to him
Chapter 22:
-Holden and Phoebe talk and she asks him what he
wants to do with his life
-Holden tells her he wants to be a catcher in the
rye. Holden says “Anyway, I keep picturing all
these little kids playing some game in this big
field of rye and all... And I’m standing on the
edge of some crazy cliff... I’d have to come out
from somewhere and catch them. That’s all I’d do
all day.”
-Holden calls his English teacher from Elkton Hills,
Mr Antolini
Chapter 23:
-Mr Antolini invites Holden over, despite the late hour
-Holden does not realize that this meeting could turn out
bad, considering what happened with Mr Spencer
-Though he is anxious to leave home, he doesn’t want to
leave Phoebe, so Holden stays and dances with her
-Holden almost gets caught by his parents, but Phoebe
covers for him
-Phoebe lends Holden money and he cries
-Holden then makes his way to Mr Antolini’s, who lives on
one of the most expensive streets in Manhattan
Chapter 24:
-Holden goes to the Antolini’s is feeling dizzy
-Holden talks with Mr Antolini and learns that he has
been concerned about Holden
-They discuss life and Mr Antolini stresses the importance
of education
-Antolini tries to comfort Holden with a hand on his
forehead
-Holden interprets this as a sexual advance, so he leaves
and takes a nap in Grand Central Station, where he
realizes he might have misinterpreted Antolini’s
intentions
Chapter 25:
-Holden remains alone and ill, his symptoms from the
night before have intensified
-The next morning, Holden decides to wander the streets
of Manhattan
-Holden sees that there is beauty and ugliness is the
landscape, from the man who swears while unloading a
Christmas tree and from the beauty of Fifth Avenue
-Golden walks towards Central Park, filled with cheerful
thoughts of his time with Phoebe
-These feelings do not last long; Holden soon becomes
dreary and anxious about his upcoming departure
-This causes Holden to call upon his dead brother,
Allie for help
-On a park bench, Holden comes up with a plan to
escape the world, by pretending to be a death
mute; cutting himself off from the world around
him
-Holden then goes to Phoebe’s school to deliver a
goodbye note
-In the school, Holden sees ugliness again when he
spots an obscenity written on the wall
-Holden rubs off the word, trying to keep the
children from being hurt by the vileness
-After delivering his note, Holden heads to The
Metropolitan Museum of Art to wait for Phoebe
-Here he talks with two boys who are skipping
school. Holden gives them directions to the
mummy exhibit, one of Holden’s favourites
-Alone in the mummy exhibit, Holden enjoys the
peace and quiet, but it is interrupted by another
obscenity written on the wall
-Holden makes a joke about it, instead of being
angry, a sign that Holden is starting to see the
world in a different way
-Holden changes his daydream of running away; he
decides he will return home for a visit when he’s
35 showing that he is less determined to cut
himself off completely from the world
- Phoebe shows up at the museum with a suitcase,
determined she is going with Holden
-This is when Holden realizes that innocence
is fragile and fleeting, and Phoebe’s
determination to go with him is part of the
cycle of growth and change
-Holden and Phoebe go to the zoo next, and
Holden buys Phoebe a ticket for the
carrousel
-While watching Phoebe on the ride, Holden
realizes it is impossible for her to remain a
child forever
-At the end of the chapter, Holden has
reached a newfound happiness
Chapter 26:
-Holden is speaking to the analyst at a mental
facility, and he states he won’t say anything
else because it is irrelevant
-Holden regrets telling so many people his story
because it makes him miss the people he
spoke of
-Holden concludes his story with this advice,
“Don’t ever tell anybody anything. If you do,
you start missing everybody.”