Catcher in the RyeJoin now to read essay Catcher in the RyeThe novel covers a few important days in the life of the protagonist Holden Caulfield, a tall, skinny, highly critical and depressed teenager who academically flunked out of Pencey Prep, a boarding school. Holden is 17 when he tells the story; he was 16 when the events occurred. Because he is so critical of others, and points out their faults only to exhibit them himself later, Holden is widely considered to be an unreliable narrator [citation needed], and the details and events of his story are apt to be distorted by his point of view. His penchant for wild exaggeration only serves to exacerbate this.
His story starts on Holdens last day at Pencey Prep. He is standing on the crest of a hill that overlooks the football field. It is the final game of the season, but Holden has never cared much for established tradition. He instead runs across the street to the residence of Mr. Spencer, his history teacher. It is revealed here that Holden has been expelled, and that he doesnt particularly care. Mr. Spencer is disappointed in Holden, and lectures to him about the importance of hard work and education. Holden becomes annoyed and lies about having to remove some equipment from the gym to get out of the discussion.
Back at the dorm, Holden talks to his roommate, Ward Stradlater, a tall, good-looking ladies man. Holden sees him very differently, describing him as a “secret slob” because he would shave and groom himself for women, but doesnt bother to clean the dirty, rusty razor he uses to do so. Stradlater returns home late from a date with Jane Gallagher, one of Holdens childhood friends toward whom he has had a long-standing attraction. During Stradlaters date, Holden had been told by Stradlater to write an essay for him on “a room or something”, as the exact topic was never explicitly stated, but as long as it was descriptive Stradlater says. Holden finds inspiration in writing about his late brother Allies baseball mitt. Allie was Holdens younger brother who died of leukemia and had written poetry in green ink on his mitt so that in the outfield he could have something to read. When Stradlater returns and finds what Holden has written about, he gets annoyed. Holden tears up the essay out of anger. A short while later, Holden inquires Stradlater what he did on his date. Stradlater refuses to answer his questions, specifically whether he had sex with Jane Gallagher. Holden becomes infuriated and tries to hit his unsuspecting roommate. Stradlater easily wins the fight, as Holden himself is not particularly strong, but also in part claims to be a pacifist. Holden repeatedly comes back to the question of whether Stradlater did anything sexual with Jane. The date between Stradlater and Jane took place in the back seat of the basketball coach, Ed Bankys, car.
His socially inept neighbor, Robert Ackley (called Ackley for short), is also introduced. Ackleys relationship with Holden is fairly complex: On one hand, Holden expresses disgust at his hygiene, acne, and personality, yet spends time with him of his own free will; he is drawn to Ackley because there is nobody else, going to movies and having snowball fights with him even though he comments on how abrasive Ackley is.
That night, considering everything, especially the fact that he will be leaving Pencey very soon anyway, Holden packs a suitcase and leaves Pencey before the actual last day of school, and decides to stay in New York for the remainder of the period. En route, Holden meets the mother of one of his schoolmates, Ernest Morrow. This schoolmate is an antisocial bully, but Holden decides to lie to the mother because she was seemingly very attractive despite her age. He tells her that her son is a terrific young man and very friendly, and that when other students wanted to nominate him for class president, he humbly refused the honor. Holden tells Mrs. Morrow that his name is Rudolf Schmidt, who in reality is the dorm janitor. She is also the first person Holden asks out for a drink since
[…]
Reality: After the school-sponsored party, Holden gives Mrs. Morrow a massage to remove her blushing. Mr. Schmidt was then placed on a stretcher, which quickly grew in his lap, causing Mrs. Morrow to scream and cry.
Trivia Edit
Mr. Schmidt had one of the worst days of his life. The following day, Holden was asked if there was anything he could do to help him. Holden replied that in an emergency room he was advised not to approach the emergency room’s nurse because of her sensitivity and how worried the nurses are about him being seen.
In the movie version of “Parks and Recreation”, Holden did not want to stay in New York until his birthday, and was asked a simple “Why not”?
In the first scene of episode “On An American Trail”, Holden, when he says goodbye to the mommy, does not say,
“My name is Holden Weber, it’s time to go to hell”,
“I’ll live in hell”.
“I’ll live in hell”, his wife told him.
In the novel version of “Hook” Holden says,
“There’s no room down there for that.”
Appearances Edit