Chapter summaries 1 - 21
Chapter 1
We are introduced to the main protagonist Holden Caulfield who introduces his family especially his brother who happens to be a Hollywood writer, Holden doesn't seem to appreciate his brothers job as he refers to his brother as a 'prostitute' - "Now he's out in Hollywood being a prostitute". who sold himself to Hollywood. We then learn about his school - Pencey Prep which is a famous school which he attended in Agerstown, Pennsylvania. We learn that upper class people attend the school. The chapter moves on to the Saxon hall game which Holden is not interested in as he watches from a distance on Thomsen Hill. We learn here that Holden is a solitary character who likes to distance himself from others. Holden then as a way of saying goodbye to the school he begins running towards Old Spencer's house.
Chapter 2
Through out the second chapter we are introduced to Old Spencer who's house he arrives at as he is greeted also by Old Spencer's wife. Old Spencer is Holden's previous teacher and through the chapter he states how he dislikes being around old people who are ill. "The moment I walked in I was sort of sorry I'd come", "Im not too crazy about sick people anyway". Holden is then lectured by Old Spencer who tries to kick some sense into Holden about his life and how it'll eventually become too late to take things seriously. Holden then makes up an excuse to avoid another lecture and leaves Old Spencer's house. "I would, I really would, but the thing is, I have to get going. I have to go right to the gym".
Chapter 3
Chapter 3 then begins to go more into depth about Holden as he lives in the Ossenburger hall which was named after a wealthy Pencey graduate who made his fortune through a funeral home business. We learn that Holden is a Junior at Pencey and seems to have an interest in literature books. One of his favourite authors is his brother D.B as it says 'he sits in his room reading 'Out Of Africa' and puts on his new bright red hat which he bought from New York that morning'. Then he is interrupted by a classmate name Ackley who he described as pimply and peculiar and describes him as a nasty guy - He was also sort of a nasty guy. I wasn't too crazy about him, to tell you the truth' Holden shows he does not enjoy the company of Ackley and thinks he is annoying and unwanted, he always seems to barge into his room and invade his personal space, he also gives the impression that Ackley is extremely unhygienic. - 'I never even once saw him brush his teeth. They always looked mossy and awful, and he damn near made you sick if you saw him in the dining room with his mouth full of mashed potatoes and peas or something' Ackley starts annoying Holden whilst he was trying to read his book, Holden then gives up reading and subtly hints to Ackley to leave the room. However Ackley starts to cut his fingernails even though Holden asks him not too. Ackley then finally decides to leave the room when Holden's roommate Stradlater enters who Ackley hates. Stradlater announces he has a date waiting in the Annex and needs to get ready and have a shave.
Chapter 4
Holden goes to the bathroom with Stradlater and talks to him while he shaves. "I didn't have anything special to do so I went down to the can and chewed the rag with him while he was shaving" Holden compares Stradlater’s habits to Ackley’s. Holden believes Ackley is ugly and has bad dental hygiene, Stradlater on the other hand is attractive in terms of his appearance. He says that while Ackley is an obvious slob, Stradlater is a “secret slob.” The two joke around, then Stradlater asks Holden to write an English composition for him, because his date won’t leave him with time to do it on his own. Holden asks about the date and learns that Stradlater is taking out a girl Holden knows, Jane Gallagher. Holden clearly has strong feelings for Jane and remembers her. He tells Stradlater about when they used to play checkers but Stradlater seems to be uninterested. Holden is irritated by the fact that Stradlater, one of the few sexually experienced boys at Pencey and is taking Jane on a date. "Stradlater was a very sexy bastard". He wants to say hello to her while she waits for Stradlater, but decides he isn't in the mood. Before he leaves for his date, Stradlater borrows Holden’s jacket. After Stradlater leaves, Holden is tormented and jealous by the thoughts of Jane and Stradlater. Ackley then barges in again and sits in Holden’s room, squeezing pimples until dinnertime.
Chapter 5
After discussing his unappetising dinner, Holden gets into a snowball fight with some of the other Pencey boys. He and his friend Mal Brossard decide to take a bus into Agerstown to see a movie, though Holden hates movies but Holden convinces Mal to let Ackley go with them. As it turns out, Ackley and Brossard have already seen the film, so they simply begin to eat some burgers, plays pinball, and they then go back to Pency. Mal then goes off to look for a bridge game, and Ackley sits on Holden’s bed squeezing pimples and telling him stories about a girl he claims to have had sex with the summer before. Holden finally gets him to leave by beginning to work on the English assignment for Stradlater. Stradlater had said the composition was supposed to be a simple description of a room, a house, or something similarly straightforward. However Holden cannot think of anything to say and struggles to talk about a house or room, so he decides to write about a baseball glove that his brother Allie used to copy poems onto in green ink. We then learn that several years before, Though he was two years younger than Holden, Holden says that Allie was the most intelligent member of his family. He also says that Allie was an incredibly nice, innocent child. Holden is shown to be affected by the death of his brother. "He's dead now Allie died of leukaemia and died when we were up in Maine on July 18th 1946. You'd have liked him" He got leukaemia He describes his brother by mentioning his bright red hair. He also describes the night Allie died, he slept in the garage and broke all the windows with his bare hands. We learn from here that he has a violent side when angry.
Chapter 6
Holden is worried about Stradlater and Jane's date after his previous experience of being on a double date and knowing Stradlaters habits, this causes Holden to feel jealous and restless. Stradlater comes back from his date with Jane and Holden ignores Stradlater and gives him the cold shoulder. Stradlater reads the composition that Holden wrote for him whilst he was on his date and Stradlater gets annoyed as the composition was supposed to be about a room or house but instead Holden wrote about his little brother Allie's baseball glove which is a touchy subject for Holden. "He stood there, reading it and sort of stroking his bare chest and stomach, with this very stupid expression on his face". This causes an argument between the two and the situation turns violent. After Stradlater leaves the room Holden puts on his red hat and decides to go to Ackley's room. We learn here that Holden tends to put his hat on when he wants to isolate himself from other people and usually when he is feeling sad. "Then I got up, I couldn't find my goddamn hunting hat anywhere".
Chapter 7
Holden goes to Ackley's room and talks to him for a while and tries to fall asleep in Ackley’s roommates bed, who is away for the weekend. However Holden cant stop imagining Jane fooling around with Stradlater, Holden then has trouble falling asleep. He keeps waking Ackley up and tries to talk to him more asking whether he could run off and join a monastery without being Catholic.. Ackley becomes offended and is annoyed by the conversation, Holden then becomes irritated by Ackley’s “phoniness,” so he leaves. Outside, in the dorm’s hallway, he decides that he will leave for New York that night instead of waiting until Wednesday. After passing a few days there in secret, he will wait until his parents have gotten over the news of his expulsion from Pencey before he returns to their apartment. He packs his bags, puts on his hunting hat, and begins to cry. Whilst walking through the hallway when leaving he yells “Sleep tight, ya morons!” to the boys on his floor before leaving Pencey forever.
Chapter 8
Holden walks to the train station and catches a late train to New York He meets an older lady who he finds attractive who also gets on the train and sits next to him. "She was around forty or forty-five, I guess but she was very goodlooking. Women kill me". He has a long talk with her and discovers that she is the mother of his classmate Ernest Morrow who he is not fond of. He lies and compliments Ernest saying he is the most popular boy on campus. Holden tells her that his own name is Rudolph Schmidt which is the name of the school janitor. He tells her that he is leaving Pencey and he tells her that he is returning to New York because he is getting treatment for his brain tumour.
Chapter 9
Holden reaches Penn Station and wants to call someone but cannot think of anyone to call apart from his brother, D. B who is in Hollywood. He thinks that his sister Phoebe will be awake. He does not feel like calling Jane or Sally Hayes a girl he used to know who's mother hated him. In his room in Edmont he looks out of the window to see a man dressed in women's clothing spitting mouthful's of drinks into each others face "the trouble was that kinda junk is sort of fascinating to watch" which caused Holden to feel aroused so he calls Faith Cavendish a girl who was recommended by a boy he met at a party. He calls her up and tries to get her to go on a date with him but she insists that she needs her beauty sleep so she offers to meet the next day but Holden refuses because he cant wait that long so he hangs up but regrets it after. "Boy I really fouled that up. I should have at least made it for cocktails or something"
Chapter 10
Holden still feels restless so he goes downstairs to the Lavender room which is a nightclub in Edmont, he considers calling his sister before he leaves. In the lavender room he tries to order a cocktail but the waitor refuses. He see's 3 women who are from Seattle who seem amused but not interested in him because he is young. "At the table right next to me, there was these three girls around thirty or so". They begin to laugh at him later and have a conversation about movie stars causing Holden to be bored. He then lies about having seen Gary Cooper, she tells the other 2 she caught a glimpse of Gary Cooper. Holden pays for everyone's drinks and then leaves.
Chapter 11
Holden walks to the lobby and reminisces about Jane and their families’ summer homes in Maine which happened to be next door to one another. "I got old Jane Gallagher on the brain again". He tells us he met her after his mother confronted her mother about a dog that frequently kept coming onto the Caulfields’ lawn. Holden and Jane became close Jane was the only person to whom Holden ever showed Allie’s baseball glove. We learn here that she is important to him because he shared an important aspect of his life with her. One day, Jane’s alcoholic stepfather came out to the porch where Holden and Jane were playing checkers and asked Jane for cigarettes but Jane refused to answer him, and when he left she began to cry. He then tells us he kissed her and comforted her. Apart from that incident, we learn their physical relationship was normal, and they used to hold hands constantly. He talks about holding Jane’s hand as he reminisces, “all you knew was, you were happy. You really were.” Holden then begins to feel upset and he returns to his room. He is still wide awake so he decides to grab a taxi.
Chapter 12
Holden takes a cab to Greenwich village and goes to a bar called Ernie's but on the way he gets into an argument with the cab driver called Horwitz over where the ducks go in Central Park during winter. 'I stopped having a conversation with him, if he was going to get so god damn touchy about it. But he started it up again himself'. 'Old Hortwitz turned around again 'What the hellaya mean what do they do? he yelled at me.
Holden then arrives and listens to Ernie playing the piano which he finds dull as he says 'he was really stinking it up, he was putting all these dumb offy ripples in the high notes and a lot of other tricky stuff which gives me a pain in the ass'. He sits down at the table which he is not pleased with 'They finally got me this stinking table, right up against a wall and behind a goddamn post, where you couldn't see anything'. He is then approached by a girl who's name is Lillian Simmons who used to date his brother D.B, 'all of a sudden this girl came up to me and said 'Holden Caulfield!'. He tries to get rid of her so he lies and decides to leave 'I was just leaving i told her, 'i have to meet somebody'. 'I certainly wasnt going to sit down with old Lillian Simmons and that navy guy and be bored to death'.
Chapter 13
Holden walks 41 blocks back to the hotel and puts on his red hunting hat. 'I didn't give a damn how i looked'. He then thinks about when he gloves were stolen in Pencey and makes up a long scenario in his head about confronting someone who supposedly looks like a thief. We learn that Holden is a coward when it comes to violence. Holden feeling depressed decides to head back to the Edmont hotel when he encouters a strange man named Maurice in the elevator who offers him a night with a prostitute for fifteen bucks. ''Innarested in a tail t'night?", "Uh well how' bout it? Y'innarested? Five bucks a throw. Fifteen bucks till noon'. Holden agrees because he has always been a coward in the past so he begins to clean himself up and get ready. The prostitue named Sunny arives and Holden then begins to think twice about sleeping with her and begins to feel depressed and instead offers to talk to her. 'Sexy was about the last thing i felt. I felt more depressed than sexy. 'Look i dont feel very much like myself tonight, I've had a rough night Honest to God i'll pay you and all, but do you mind very much if we dont do it?. Sunny then tried to seduce Holden by sitting on his lap but he lies in order to stop having sex with her by saying he had an operation on his clavichord. Sunny then becomes irritated 'What the heck did you tell that crazy Maurice you wanted a girl for then'?. Holden then pays her $5 and leaves.
Chapter 14
Holden then begins to feel depressed after Sunny leaves 'i sat in the chair for a while and smokes a couple of ciggerettes. 'Boy i felt miserable. I felt so depressed, you cant imagine. Holden begins to talk out loud to Allie and remembers of a time when Allie wanted to join Holden and his friend Bobby when they were about to go bike riding but refused to take him along. This makes Holden feel guilty and depressed after thinking about it. We then learn about Holden and his opinion on religion which is that he belives in Jesus but he hates the disciples and anyone else in the bible, he recalls having an argumemt with a boy named Arthur Childs when he was at the Whooton School. "He kept telling me that if i dont like the disciples, then i didn't like Jesus and all". Holdens thoughts are interuppted by a knock at the door which makes him nervous and slightly scared. "I was pretty scared, im quite yellow about those things". It turns out that Maurice and Sunny at the door. Maurice then demands Holden to pay him 5 bucks trying to scam Holden which results in a fight when Holden refuses to give up. Maurice then holds him against the wall and calls Maurice a "dirty moron" and ends up being punched in the stomach. Although Holden begins to cry he remains stubborn through out.
Chapter 15
Holden wakes up at 10 o clock (Sunday) and he decides to give Sally a call who he isn't crazy about but finds goodlooking. He asks to meet up with her and she accepts his offer. He then talks about how she constantly talks about other boys. Holden then packs up and leaves the hotel and catches a cab, asking the driver to take him to Grand Central Station next to the Biltmore where he was meeting Sally later on. He goes to a sandwich bar and has breakfast where he meets these two nuns. Holden then strikes up a conversation with them claiming that he always see's nuns collecting money for charity on Christmas. 'You see them standing on corners, especially on Fifth Avenue in front of the big department stores and all.' He then makes a contribution and gives the nuns 10 bucks for when they take up collection.
Chapter 16
After finishing breakfast at noon, Holden takes a long walk as his date with sally is at 2. o clock. He begins walking towards Broadway and remembers he wants to buy Phoebe a record called 'Little Shirley Beans' which was difficult record to find. He buys the record for 5 bucks and feels pleased and excited to give it to her. 'Boy it made me so happy all of a sudden, i couldn't wait to get to the park to see if old Phoebe was around so that i could give it to her'. Holden goes to the park because Phoebe is always rollerskating in the park on Sunday. Holden passes a drugstore and tries to call Jane but her mother picks up so he hangs up. He then buys tickets for his date with Sally and decides to buy two orchestra seats for 'I know my love' which is he isn't fond of but buys it for Sally because it seems sophisticated and Sally would like it. "but i knew old Sally would drooling all over the place when i told her i had tickets for that. She liked shows 'that are supposed to be sophisticated and dry and all". He catches a cab to the park however does not see her anywhere so he asks a little girl around the same age if she knew who Phoebe was who suggests that she could be in the museum. Holden goes to the Museum of Natural History in search of Phoebe but instead begins to reminisce about his own school trips and remembers all of the figures and statues such as Columbus and the Indians in the boat. After not finding Phoebe he catches a cab outside the museum and goes to the Biltmore for his date with Sally.
Chapter 17
Holden goes on a date with Sally and as she approaches him in the lobby he thinks that she looks terrific and suddenly wants marry her. "The funny part is i felt like marrying her the minute i saw her. I'm crazy, I didn't even like her much, yet all of a sudden i felt like I was in love with her and wanted to marry her. I swear to God I'm crazy I admit it". As they watch the performance Holden criticizes the actors by explaining how he felt dizzy when everyone kept coming in and out all the time. He then goes out to smoke and see's an actor smoking "Some dopey movie actor was standing near us, having a ciggerette.". They then encounter a boy who Sally knows and begins flirting with him which irritates Holden. Later he offers to take her ice skating which she accepts when Holden comes up with a sudden idea that him and Sally should run away together and live in a cabin however as realistic and ideal this seems to Holden, Sally disagrees and thinks the idea is ridiculous. "because you can't, in the first place we're practically children and did you ever stop to think what you'd do if you didn't get a job when your money ran out'. This leads to Holden shouting at Sally although he denies it and ends up making her cry by calling her a 'royal pain in the ass'. He tries to apologise and make amendments but Sally refuses to accept his apology.
Chapter 18
Holden leaves the ice skating rink in search of food and decides to call Sally again outside the drug store from a phone-booth, he plans on asking her to go dancing if she's home as he believes she is a good dancer after seeing her at this fourth of July dance when she was dating a boy called Al Pike. He think's he is a show off as he says 'but he thought he was very hot stuff' he doesn't understand why Sally was dating him 'I asked her how come she could date a show-off bastard like Al Pike'. However Sally think's he has an inferiority complex. Since Sally doesn't pick up, he decides to call Carl Luce who was at the Whooton School who was 3 years older than him. He agrees to meet him for drinks at 10 o clock at the Whitter bar. He goes to the movies to kill time and watches a movie which he finds typical. 'I'd tell you the rest of the story but you might puke if i did'. We learn that his brother D.B was also i the army for 4 years. Holden then thinks about being in the army with Stradlater, Maurce and Ackley and says that he'd go crazy. He emphasises his hatred of war and being in the army as he says "Im sort of glad they've got the atomic bomb invented. If there's ever another war, im going to sit right the hell on top of it. I'll volunteer for it, I swear to God I will."
Chapter 19
Holden goes to the Wicker Bar which is in the Seton Hotel which Holden describes as 'swanky', we learn Luce was Holden's student adviser at the Whooton School and he always spoke about sex and affairs. Although he thinks Luce is a phoney he describes him as intelligent 'He was a pretty intelligent guy though, he really was'. Holden then begins to question Luce openly about his sex life which Luce does not seem interested in talking about as it is a private matter. This annoys Luce "Listen, lets get one thing straight . I refuse to answer any typical Caulfield questions tonight. When the hell are you going to grow up?". Luce then suggests him to see a psychoanalyst. Holden recalls that Luce's father was a psychoanalyst. Holden begins to question what his father would do to him but Luce simply replies back with "If your interested call him up if your not. Don't. I couldn't care less frankly.". Luce then leaves after a series of questions asked by Holden.
Chapter 20
After Luce leaves after meeting Holden, he decides to get drunk and ends up sitting at the bar till 1 o clock hardly being able to see straight. Holden begins to pretend that he is shot again 'I kept putting my hand under my jacket on my stomach and all, to keep the blood dripping from all over the place'. Holden then leaves the bar to where the telephones are. He calls Sally because is not in the mood to call Jane. After managing to dial her number Sally's grandmother picks up and Holden demands to speak to Sally although her grandmother tries to raise awareness of the time that he is calling. Sally then picks up and is irritated by Holden as he is drunk and tells him to go to bed and tells him she will call him tomorrow and hangs up. Holden then goes to the men's room and fills the wash bowl with cold water and dunks his head in there and then sits by the radiator because he is shivering. A guy then enters the bathroom and tells Holden to go home questioning his age. Holden lies again about his age claiming he is 86. He then goes to Central park in search of the ducks but see's none. He sits down and puts his hat on which had ice in it. He then imagines about dying from pneumonia and pictures all the jerks that would come to his funeral. He thinks about his mother who would feel worse as she still has not gotten over the death of Allie. This triggers his memories of visiting Allie's grave and how he hates seeing him in the cemetery. "I hope to hell what i do die somebody has sense enough to dump me in a goddamn river or something. Anything except sticking me in a goddamn cemetery". As he checks his left over money he wants to see Phoebe so he risks going home to see her and walks home.
Chapter 21
Holden goes back home luckily enough the lift operator isn't there and tells the current elevator operator that he is going to see the Dicksteins who were the people in the apartment on the same floor as him. He sneaks into the apartment in search of Phoebe who isn't in her room but in D.B's which is where she sleeps when he is not there. Whilst Phoebe sleeps, Holden reads through her school books, reading the notes that her and her friends share. He wakes Phoebe up who gets up straight away and hugs him. She makes him promise that he'll be there for Friday the day of her school play which she is going to be in. Holden reassures her that he is going to come. He then hands her the pieces of the record which he broke but she keeps them in her draw. Phoebe then realises he is home early and questions the reasoning behind him being home and accuses him of being kicked out. Holden tries to lie by claiming they were let out early but Phoebe who is smart realises that he has been kicked out and constantly repeats that 'Daddy'll kill you'. This upsets Phoebe who lies face down on the bed covering her head with a pillow. Holden tries to redeem himself "Cut it out now, Nobody's gonna kill me. Nobody's gonna even - C'mon Phoeb, take that goddamn thing off your head. Nobody's gonna kill me". Holden comes up with a plan which is similar to the one he made with Sally but again fails to convince Phoebe. She remains stubborn so Holden leaves to go into the living room to get ciggerettes.
Chapter 22
The chapter starts with Holden going back to Phoebe’s room trying to get her to listen to what he has to say. He tries tell her why he failed his classes and tells her all the things he hates about school. Phoebe accuses him of hating everything. Phoebe questions him and tells him to name one thing he likes. Holden tells her that he likes Allie and she reminds him that Allie isn't dead. Phoebe questions Holden about what he wants to do with his life, and replies back with the lyric, “If a body catch a body comin’ through the rye.” Holden says that he imagines a field of rye on a cliff with children playing and says wants to stand on the edge of the cliff and catch the children when they come too close to falling off.
Chapter 23
Holden calls Mr. Antolini who was his English teacher at Elkton Hills who offers Holden to stay the night at his house. Holden tells us that it was Mr. Antolini who helped James Castle’s body after he died. Holden goes back into Phoebe’s room and asks her to dance. Suddenly they hear the front door open when their parents arrive. Holden tries to get rid of the cigarette smell and hides in the closet. His mother checks on Phoebe who covers up for Holden saying she was the one trying the cigarette. Holden says goodbye to Phoebe telling her about his plan about New York and to move out west alone. She gives him all the Christmas money she had saved. This makes Holden upset and he begins to cry. Before he leaves Holden gives Phoebe his hunting hat.
Chapter 24
Holden arrives at Mr. Antolini’s who has just had a dinner party with glasses and dishes everywhere. Holden can tell that Mr. Antolini has been drinking. Mr. Antolini asks about Holden’s expulsion from Pencey Prep. Holden tells him that he hated the rules at Pencey telling him of a time when he mentions his debate in class where students kept shouting at the person talking for digressing away from their subject. Later on as Holden is sleeping on the couch he finds Mr.Antolini patting him on the head and watching him whilst he sleeps which makes Holden feel uncomfortable. Holden lies about having to do something and leaves.
Chapter 25
Holden goes to Grand Central Station and spends the night sleeping on a bench in the waiting room. The next day he walks up and down Fifth Avenue, watching the children feeling nervous and overwhelmed. Every time he crosses a street he begins to feel that he will disappear, every time he reaches the pavement he talks to Allie begging him to make it to the other side. He decides to leave New York and go west never to go back home or to school. He decides to say bye to Phoebe to goes to her school and writes her a note telling her to meet him at the Museum of Art so he can return the money she lent him. He walks around his old school and becomes depressed when he finds the words “fuck you” written on the walls. This angers Holden. While waiting at the museum he shows shows 2 children where the mummies are but they get scared and run off after getting there. This leaves Holden alone in the dark, passage which likes at first, but sees another “fuck you” written on the wall. He thinks that when he dies somebody will write “fuck you” on his tombstone. He leaves to wait for Phoebe but passes out on the way to the bathroom. Phoebe arrives at the museum with a suitcase and begs Holden to take her with him. He feels dizzy and worries that he will pass out again. He shouts at her that she cant go with him and feels even closer to fainting. This makes her cry and she gets angry she refuses to look at him gives his hunting hat back. Holden tells her he won’t go away and asks her to go back to school but she refuses so he offers to take her to the zoo. They walk to the zoo, Holden on one side of the street, Phoebe following angrily on the other. After looking at some animals, they walk to the park. They come across a carousel when Holden convinces Phoebe to ride it. He sits on a park bench, watching her go around and around. They make up and he puts on his red hunting hat and feels happy.
Chapter 26
Holden refuses to discuss what happened after his day in the park with Phoebe but briefly tells us that he went home, got sick, and was sent to the rest home. He says he is supposed to go to a new school in the fall and thinks that he will apply himself there, but he doesn't feel like talking about it. We learn that D. B often comes to visit him in the rest home. Talking about what happened makes him miss everyone.
We are introduced to the main protagonist Holden Caulfield who introduces his family especially his brother who happens to be a Hollywood writer, Holden doesn't seem to appreciate his brothers job as he refers to his brother as a 'prostitute' - "Now he's out in Hollywood being a prostitute". who sold himself to Hollywood. We then learn about his school - Pencey Prep which is a famous school which he attended in Agerstown, Pennsylvania. We learn that upper class people attend the school. The chapter moves on to the Saxon hall game which Holden is not interested in as he watches from a distance on Thomsen Hill. We learn here that Holden is a solitary character who likes to distance himself from others. Holden then as a way of saying goodbye to the school he begins running towards Old Spencer's house.
Chapter 2
Through out the second chapter we are introduced to Old Spencer who's house he arrives at as he is greeted also by Old Spencer's wife. Old Spencer is Holden's previous teacher and through the chapter he states how he dislikes being around old people who are ill. "The moment I walked in I was sort of sorry I'd come", "Im not too crazy about sick people anyway". Holden is then lectured by Old Spencer who tries to kick some sense into Holden about his life and how it'll eventually become too late to take things seriously. Holden then makes up an excuse to avoid another lecture and leaves Old Spencer's house. "I would, I really would, but the thing is, I have to get going. I have to go right to the gym".
Chapter 3
Chapter 3 then begins to go more into depth about Holden as he lives in the Ossenburger hall which was named after a wealthy Pencey graduate who made his fortune through a funeral home business. We learn that Holden is a Junior at Pencey and seems to have an interest in literature books. One of his favourite authors is his brother D.B as it says 'he sits in his room reading 'Out Of Africa' and puts on his new bright red hat which he bought from New York that morning'. Then he is interrupted by a classmate name Ackley who he described as pimply and peculiar and describes him as a nasty guy - He was also sort of a nasty guy. I wasn't too crazy about him, to tell you the truth' Holden shows he does not enjoy the company of Ackley and thinks he is annoying and unwanted, he always seems to barge into his room and invade his personal space, he also gives the impression that Ackley is extremely unhygienic. - 'I never even once saw him brush his teeth. They always looked mossy and awful, and he damn near made you sick if you saw him in the dining room with his mouth full of mashed potatoes and peas or something' Ackley starts annoying Holden whilst he was trying to read his book, Holden then gives up reading and subtly hints to Ackley to leave the room. However Ackley starts to cut his fingernails even though Holden asks him not too. Ackley then finally decides to leave the room when Holden's roommate Stradlater enters who Ackley hates. Stradlater announces he has a date waiting in the Annex and needs to get ready and have a shave.
Chapter 4
Holden goes to the bathroom with Stradlater and talks to him while he shaves. "I didn't have anything special to do so I went down to the can and chewed the rag with him while he was shaving" Holden compares Stradlater’s habits to Ackley’s. Holden believes Ackley is ugly and has bad dental hygiene, Stradlater on the other hand is attractive in terms of his appearance. He says that while Ackley is an obvious slob, Stradlater is a “secret slob.” The two joke around, then Stradlater asks Holden to write an English composition for him, because his date won’t leave him with time to do it on his own. Holden asks about the date and learns that Stradlater is taking out a girl Holden knows, Jane Gallagher. Holden clearly has strong feelings for Jane and remembers her. He tells Stradlater about when they used to play checkers but Stradlater seems to be uninterested. Holden is irritated by the fact that Stradlater, one of the few sexually experienced boys at Pencey and is taking Jane on a date. "Stradlater was a very sexy bastard". He wants to say hello to her while she waits for Stradlater, but decides he isn't in the mood. Before he leaves for his date, Stradlater borrows Holden’s jacket. After Stradlater leaves, Holden is tormented and jealous by the thoughts of Jane and Stradlater. Ackley then barges in again and sits in Holden’s room, squeezing pimples until dinnertime.
Chapter 5
After discussing his unappetising dinner, Holden gets into a snowball fight with some of the other Pencey boys. He and his friend Mal Brossard decide to take a bus into Agerstown to see a movie, though Holden hates movies but Holden convinces Mal to let Ackley go with them. As it turns out, Ackley and Brossard have already seen the film, so they simply begin to eat some burgers, plays pinball, and they then go back to Pency. Mal then goes off to look for a bridge game, and Ackley sits on Holden’s bed squeezing pimples and telling him stories about a girl he claims to have had sex with the summer before. Holden finally gets him to leave by beginning to work on the English assignment for Stradlater. Stradlater had said the composition was supposed to be a simple description of a room, a house, or something similarly straightforward. However Holden cannot think of anything to say and struggles to talk about a house or room, so he decides to write about a baseball glove that his brother Allie used to copy poems onto in green ink. We then learn that several years before, Though he was two years younger than Holden, Holden says that Allie was the most intelligent member of his family. He also says that Allie was an incredibly nice, innocent child. Holden is shown to be affected by the death of his brother. "He's dead now Allie died of leukaemia and died when we were up in Maine on July 18th 1946. You'd have liked him" He got leukaemia He describes his brother by mentioning his bright red hair. He also describes the night Allie died, he slept in the garage and broke all the windows with his bare hands. We learn from here that he has a violent side when angry.
Chapter 6
Holden is worried about Stradlater and Jane's date after his previous experience of being on a double date and knowing Stradlaters habits, this causes Holden to feel jealous and restless. Stradlater comes back from his date with Jane and Holden ignores Stradlater and gives him the cold shoulder. Stradlater reads the composition that Holden wrote for him whilst he was on his date and Stradlater gets annoyed as the composition was supposed to be about a room or house but instead Holden wrote about his little brother Allie's baseball glove which is a touchy subject for Holden. "He stood there, reading it and sort of stroking his bare chest and stomach, with this very stupid expression on his face". This causes an argument between the two and the situation turns violent. After Stradlater leaves the room Holden puts on his red hat and decides to go to Ackley's room. We learn here that Holden tends to put his hat on when he wants to isolate himself from other people and usually when he is feeling sad. "Then I got up, I couldn't find my goddamn hunting hat anywhere".
Chapter 7
Holden goes to Ackley's room and talks to him for a while and tries to fall asleep in Ackley’s roommates bed, who is away for the weekend. However Holden cant stop imagining Jane fooling around with Stradlater, Holden then has trouble falling asleep. He keeps waking Ackley up and tries to talk to him more asking whether he could run off and join a monastery without being Catholic.. Ackley becomes offended and is annoyed by the conversation, Holden then becomes irritated by Ackley’s “phoniness,” so he leaves. Outside, in the dorm’s hallway, he decides that he will leave for New York that night instead of waiting until Wednesday. After passing a few days there in secret, he will wait until his parents have gotten over the news of his expulsion from Pencey before he returns to their apartment. He packs his bags, puts on his hunting hat, and begins to cry. Whilst walking through the hallway when leaving he yells “Sleep tight, ya morons!” to the boys on his floor before leaving Pencey forever.
Chapter 8
Holden walks to the train station and catches a late train to New York He meets an older lady who he finds attractive who also gets on the train and sits next to him. "She was around forty or forty-five, I guess but she was very goodlooking. Women kill me". He has a long talk with her and discovers that she is the mother of his classmate Ernest Morrow who he is not fond of. He lies and compliments Ernest saying he is the most popular boy on campus. Holden tells her that his own name is Rudolph Schmidt which is the name of the school janitor. He tells her that he is leaving Pencey and he tells her that he is returning to New York because he is getting treatment for his brain tumour.
Chapter 9
Holden reaches Penn Station and wants to call someone but cannot think of anyone to call apart from his brother, D. B who is in Hollywood. He thinks that his sister Phoebe will be awake. He does not feel like calling Jane or Sally Hayes a girl he used to know who's mother hated him. In his room in Edmont he looks out of the window to see a man dressed in women's clothing spitting mouthful's of drinks into each others face "the trouble was that kinda junk is sort of fascinating to watch" which caused Holden to feel aroused so he calls Faith Cavendish a girl who was recommended by a boy he met at a party. He calls her up and tries to get her to go on a date with him but she insists that she needs her beauty sleep so she offers to meet the next day but Holden refuses because he cant wait that long so he hangs up but regrets it after. "Boy I really fouled that up. I should have at least made it for cocktails or something"
Chapter 10
Holden still feels restless so he goes downstairs to the Lavender room which is a nightclub in Edmont, he considers calling his sister before he leaves. In the lavender room he tries to order a cocktail but the waitor refuses. He see's 3 women who are from Seattle who seem amused but not interested in him because he is young. "At the table right next to me, there was these three girls around thirty or so". They begin to laugh at him later and have a conversation about movie stars causing Holden to be bored. He then lies about having seen Gary Cooper, she tells the other 2 she caught a glimpse of Gary Cooper. Holden pays for everyone's drinks and then leaves.
Chapter 11
Holden walks to the lobby and reminisces about Jane and their families’ summer homes in Maine which happened to be next door to one another. "I got old Jane Gallagher on the brain again". He tells us he met her after his mother confronted her mother about a dog that frequently kept coming onto the Caulfields’ lawn. Holden and Jane became close Jane was the only person to whom Holden ever showed Allie’s baseball glove. We learn here that she is important to him because he shared an important aspect of his life with her. One day, Jane’s alcoholic stepfather came out to the porch where Holden and Jane were playing checkers and asked Jane for cigarettes but Jane refused to answer him, and when he left she began to cry. He then tells us he kissed her and comforted her. Apart from that incident, we learn their physical relationship was normal, and they used to hold hands constantly. He talks about holding Jane’s hand as he reminisces, “all you knew was, you were happy. You really were.” Holden then begins to feel upset and he returns to his room. He is still wide awake so he decides to grab a taxi.
Chapter 12
Holden takes a cab to Greenwich village and goes to a bar called Ernie's but on the way he gets into an argument with the cab driver called Horwitz over where the ducks go in Central Park during winter. 'I stopped having a conversation with him, if he was going to get so god damn touchy about it. But he started it up again himself'. 'Old Hortwitz turned around again 'What the hellaya mean what do they do? he yelled at me.
Holden then arrives and listens to Ernie playing the piano which he finds dull as he says 'he was really stinking it up, he was putting all these dumb offy ripples in the high notes and a lot of other tricky stuff which gives me a pain in the ass'. He sits down at the table which he is not pleased with 'They finally got me this stinking table, right up against a wall and behind a goddamn post, where you couldn't see anything'. He is then approached by a girl who's name is Lillian Simmons who used to date his brother D.B, 'all of a sudden this girl came up to me and said 'Holden Caulfield!'. He tries to get rid of her so he lies and decides to leave 'I was just leaving i told her, 'i have to meet somebody'. 'I certainly wasnt going to sit down with old Lillian Simmons and that navy guy and be bored to death'.
Chapter 13
Holden walks 41 blocks back to the hotel and puts on his red hunting hat. 'I didn't give a damn how i looked'. He then thinks about when he gloves were stolen in Pencey and makes up a long scenario in his head about confronting someone who supposedly looks like a thief. We learn that Holden is a coward when it comes to violence. Holden feeling depressed decides to head back to the Edmont hotel when he encouters a strange man named Maurice in the elevator who offers him a night with a prostitute for fifteen bucks. ''Innarested in a tail t'night?", "Uh well how' bout it? Y'innarested? Five bucks a throw. Fifteen bucks till noon'. Holden agrees because he has always been a coward in the past so he begins to clean himself up and get ready. The prostitue named Sunny arives and Holden then begins to think twice about sleeping with her and begins to feel depressed and instead offers to talk to her. 'Sexy was about the last thing i felt. I felt more depressed than sexy. 'Look i dont feel very much like myself tonight, I've had a rough night Honest to God i'll pay you and all, but do you mind very much if we dont do it?. Sunny then tried to seduce Holden by sitting on his lap but he lies in order to stop having sex with her by saying he had an operation on his clavichord. Sunny then becomes irritated 'What the heck did you tell that crazy Maurice you wanted a girl for then'?. Holden then pays her $5 and leaves.
Chapter 14
Holden then begins to feel depressed after Sunny leaves 'i sat in the chair for a while and smokes a couple of ciggerettes. 'Boy i felt miserable. I felt so depressed, you cant imagine. Holden begins to talk out loud to Allie and remembers of a time when Allie wanted to join Holden and his friend Bobby when they were about to go bike riding but refused to take him along. This makes Holden feel guilty and depressed after thinking about it. We then learn about Holden and his opinion on religion which is that he belives in Jesus but he hates the disciples and anyone else in the bible, he recalls having an argumemt with a boy named Arthur Childs when he was at the Whooton School. "He kept telling me that if i dont like the disciples, then i didn't like Jesus and all". Holdens thoughts are interuppted by a knock at the door which makes him nervous and slightly scared. "I was pretty scared, im quite yellow about those things". It turns out that Maurice and Sunny at the door. Maurice then demands Holden to pay him 5 bucks trying to scam Holden which results in a fight when Holden refuses to give up. Maurice then holds him against the wall and calls Maurice a "dirty moron" and ends up being punched in the stomach. Although Holden begins to cry he remains stubborn through out.
Chapter 15
Holden wakes up at 10 o clock (Sunday) and he decides to give Sally a call who he isn't crazy about but finds goodlooking. He asks to meet up with her and she accepts his offer. He then talks about how she constantly talks about other boys. Holden then packs up and leaves the hotel and catches a cab, asking the driver to take him to Grand Central Station next to the Biltmore where he was meeting Sally later on. He goes to a sandwich bar and has breakfast where he meets these two nuns. Holden then strikes up a conversation with them claiming that he always see's nuns collecting money for charity on Christmas. 'You see them standing on corners, especially on Fifth Avenue in front of the big department stores and all.' He then makes a contribution and gives the nuns 10 bucks for when they take up collection.
Chapter 16
After finishing breakfast at noon, Holden takes a long walk as his date with sally is at 2. o clock. He begins walking towards Broadway and remembers he wants to buy Phoebe a record called 'Little Shirley Beans' which was difficult record to find. He buys the record for 5 bucks and feels pleased and excited to give it to her. 'Boy it made me so happy all of a sudden, i couldn't wait to get to the park to see if old Phoebe was around so that i could give it to her'. Holden goes to the park because Phoebe is always rollerskating in the park on Sunday. Holden passes a drugstore and tries to call Jane but her mother picks up so he hangs up. He then buys tickets for his date with Sally and decides to buy two orchestra seats for 'I know my love' which is he isn't fond of but buys it for Sally because it seems sophisticated and Sally would like it. "but i knew old Sally would drooling all over the place when i told her i had tickets for that. She liked shows 'that are supposed to be sophisticated and dry and all". He catches a cab to the park however does not see her anywhere so he asks a little girl around the same age if she knew who Phoebe was who suggests that she could be in the museum. Holden goes to the Museum of Natural History in search of Phoebe but instead begins to reminisce about his own school trips and remembers all of the figures and statues such as Columbus and the Indians in the boat. After not finding Phoebe he catches a cab outside the museum and goes to the Biltmore for his date with Sally.
Chapter 17
Holden goes on a date with Sally and as she approaches him in the lobby he thinks that she looks terrific and suddenly wants marry her. "The funny part is i felt like marrying her the minute i saw her. I'm crazy, I didn't even like her much, yet all of a sudden i felt like I was in love with her and wanted to marry her. I swear to God I'm crazy I admit it". As they watch the performance Holden criticizes the actors by explaining how he felt dizzy when everyone kept coming in and out all the time. He then goes out to smoke and see's an actor smoking "Some dopey movie actor was standing near us, having a ciggerette.". They then encounter a boy who Sally knows and begins flirting with him which irritates Holden. Later he offers to take her ice skating which she accepts when Holden comes up with a sudden idea that him and Sally should run away together and live in a cabin however as realistic and ideal this seems to Holden, Sally disagrees and thinks the idea is ridiculous. "because you can't, in the first place we're practically children and did you ever stop to think what you'd do if you didn't get a job when your money ran out'. This leads to Holden shouting at Sally although he denies it and ends up making her cry by calling her a 'royal pain in the ass'. He tries to apologise and make amendments but Sally refuses to accept his apology.
Chapter 18
Holden leaves the ice skating rink in search of food and decides to call Sally again outside the drug store from a phone-booth, he plans on asking her to go dancing if she's home as he believes she is a good dancer after seeing her at this fourth of July dance when she was dating a boy called Al Pike. He think's he is a show off as he says 'but he thought he was very hot stuff' he doesn't understand why Sally was dating him 'I asked her how come she could date a show-off bastard like Al Pike'. However Sally think's he has an inferiority complex. Since Sally doesn't pick up, he decides to call Carl Luce who was at the Whooton School who was 3 years older than him. He agrees to meet him for drinks at 10 o clock at the Whitter bar. He goes to the movies to kill time and watches a movie which he finds typical. 'I'd tell you the rest of the story but you might puke if i did'. We learn that his brother D.B was also i the army for 4 years. Holden then thinks about being in the army with Stradlater, Maurce and Ackley and says that he'd go crazy. He emphasises his hatred of war and being in the army as he says "Im sort of glad they've got the atomic bomb invented. If there's ever another war, im going to sit right the hell on top of it. I'll volunteer for it, I swear to God I will."
Chapter 19
Holden goes to the Wicker Bar which is in the Seton Hotel which Holden describes as 'swanky', we learn Luce was Holden's student adviser at the Whooton School and he always spoke about sex and affairs. Although he thinks Luce is a phoney he describes him as intelligent 'He was a pretty intelligent guy though, he really was'. Holden then begins to question Luce openly about his sex life which Luce does not seem interested in talking about as it is a private matter. This annoys Luce "Listen, lets get one thing straight . I refuse to answer any typical Caulfield questions tonight. When the hell are you going to grow up?". Luce then suggests him to see a psychoanalyst. Holden recalls that Luce's father was a psychoanalyst. Holden begins to question what his father would do to him but Luce simply replies back with "If your interested call him up if your not. Don't. I couldn't care less frankly.". Luce then leaves after a series of questions asked by Holden.
Chapter 20
After Luce leaves after meeting Holden, he decides to get drunk and ends up sitting at the bar till 1 o clock hardly being able to see straight. Holden begins to pretend that he is shot again 'I kept putting my hand under my jacket on my stomach and all, to keep the blood dripping from all over the place'. Holden then leaves the bar to where the telephones are. He calls Sally because is not in the mood to call Jane. After managing to dial her number Sally's grandmother picks up and Holden demands to speak to Sally although her grandmother tries to raise awareness of the time that he is calling. Sally then picks up and is irritated by Holden as he is drunk and tells him to go to bed and tells him she will call him tomorrow and hangs up. Holden then goes to the men's room and fills the wash bowl with cold water and dunks his head in there and then sits by the radiator because he is shivering. A guy then enters the bathroom and tells Holden to go home questioning his age. Holden lies again about his age claiming he is 86. He then goes to Central park in search of the ducks but see's none. He sits down and puts his hat on which had ice in it. He then imagines about dying from pneumonia and pictures all the jerks that would come to his funeral. He thinks about his mother who would feel worse as she still has not gotten over the death of Allie. This triggers his memories of visiting Allie's grave and how he hates seeing him in the cemetery. "I hope to hell what i do die somebody has sense enough to dump me in a goddamn river or something. Anything except sticking me in a goddamn cemetery". As he checks his left over money he wants to see Phoebe so he risks going home to see her and walks home.
Chapter 21
Holden goes back home luckily enough the lift operator isn't there and tells the current elevator operator that he is going to see the Dicksteins who were the people in the apartment on the same floor as him. He sneaks into the apartment in search of Phoebe who isn't in her room but in D.B's which is where she sleeps when he is not there. Whilst Phoebe sleeps, Holden reads through her school books, reading the notes that her and her friends share. He wakes Phoebe up who gets up straight away and hugs him. She makes him promise that he'll be there for Friday the day of her school play which she is going to be in. Holden reassures her that he is going to come. He then hands her the pieces of the record which he broke but she keeps them in her draw. Phoebe then realises he is home early and questions the reasoning behind him being home and accuses him of being kicked out. Holden tries to lie by claiming they were let out early but Phoebe who is smart realises that he has been kicked out and constantly repeats that 'Daddy'll kill you'. This upsets Phoebe who lies face down on the bed covering her head with a pillow. Holden tries to redeem himself "Cut it out now, Nobody's gonna kill me. Nobody's gonna even - C'mon Phoeb, take that goddamn thing off your head. Nobody's gonna kill me". Holden comes up with a plan which is similar to the one he made with Sally but again fails to convince Phoebe. She remains stubborn so Holden leaves to go into the living room to get ciggerettes.
Chapter 22
The chapter starts with Holden going back to Phoebe’s room trying to get her to listen to what he has to say. He tries tell her why he failed his classes and tells her all the things he hates about school. Phoebe accuses him of hating everything. Phoebe questions him and tells him to name one thing he likes. Holden tells her that he likes Allie and she reminds him that Allie isn't dead. Phoebe questions Holden about what he wants to do with his life, and replies back with the lyric, “If a body catch a body comin’ through the rye.” Holden says that he imagines a field of rye on a cliff with children playing and says wants to stand on the edge of the cliff and catch the children when they come too close to falling off.
Chapter 23
Holden calls Mr. Antolini who was his English teacher at Elkton Hills who offers Holden to stay the night at his house. Holden tells us that it was Mr. Antolini who helped James Castle’s body after he died. Holden goes back into Phoebe’s room and asks her to dance. Suddenly they hear the front door open when their parents arrive. Holden tries to get rid of the cigarette smell and hides in the closet. His mother checks on Phoebe who covers up for Holden saying she was the one trying the cigarette. Holden says goodbye to Phoebe telling her about his plan about New York and to move out west alone. She gives him all the Christmas money she had saved. This makes Holden upset and he begins to cry. Before he leaves Holden gives Phoebe his hunting hat.
Chapter 24
Holden arrives at Mr. Antolini’s who has just had a dinner party with glasses and dishes everywhere. Holden can tell that Mr. Antolini has been drinking. Mr. Antolini asks about Holden’s expulsion from Pencey Prep. Holden tells him that he hated the rules at Pencey telling him of a time when he mentions his debate in class where students kept shouting at the person talking for digressing away from their subject. Later on as Holden is sleeping on the couch he finds Mr.Antolini patting him on the head and watching him whilst he sleeps which makes Holden feel uncomfortable. Holden lies about having to do something and leaves.
Chapter 25
Holden goes to Grand Central Station and spends the night sleeping on a bench in the waiting room. The next day he walks up and down Fifth Avenue, watching the children feeling nervous and overwhelmed. Every time he crosses a street he begins to feel that he will disappear, every time he reaches the pavement he talks to Allie begging him to make it to the other side. He decides to leave New York and go west never to go back home or to school. He decides to say bye to Phoebe to goes to her school and writes her a note telling her to meet him at the Museum of Art so he can return the money she lent him. He walks around his old school and becomes depressed when he finds the words “fuck you” written on the walls. This angers Holden. While waiting at the museum he shows shows 2 children where the mummies are but they get scared and run off after getting there. This leaves Holden alone in the dark, passage which likes at first, but sees another “fuck you” written on the wall. He thinks that when he dies somebody will write “fuck you” on his tombstone. He leaves to wait for Phoebe but passes out on the way to the bathroom. Phoebe arrives at the museum with a suitcase and begs Holden to take her with him. He feels dizzy and worries that he will pass out again. He shouts at her that she cant go with him and feels even closer to fainting. This makes her cry and she gets angry she refuses to look at him gives his hunting hat back. Holden tells her he won’t go away and asks her to go back to school but she refuses so he offers to take her to the zoo. They walk to the zoo, Holden on one side of the street, Phoebe following angrily on the other. After looking at some animals, they walk to the park. They come across a carousel when Holden convinces Phoebe to ride it. He sits on a park bench, watching her go around and around. They make up and he puts on his red hunting hat and feels happy.
Chapter 26
Holden refuses to discuss what happened after his day in the park with Phoebe but briefly tells us that he went home, got sick, and was sent to the rest home. He says he is supposed to go to a new school in the fall and thinks that he will apply himself there, but he doesn't feel like talking about it. We learn that D. B often comes to visit him in the rest home. Talking about what happened makes him miss everyone.