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Summary Summaries and analysis
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- University Of South Africa (Unisa)
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By: lianigoussard • 6 year ago
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Although J.D. Salinger has written many short stories, The Catcher in the Rye is Salinger's only novel and his mostnotable work, earning him great fame and admiration as a writer and sparking many high school students' interest in
great literature. The protagonist's adventures and concerns about "phony" people engage readers young and old.
The novel draws on characters and themes that appeared in a number of Salinger's earlier short stories, some of
which form the basis for individual chapters in The Catcher in the Rye. Indeed, the Caulfield family is the subject of
two of Salinger's major stories, "This Sandwich Has No Mayonnaise" and "I'm Crazy," as well as a number of
unpublished works.
The first of these stories, "This Sandwich Has No Mayonnaise," is narrated by Vincent Caulfield, who learns that his
brother is missing from Pentey Preparatory School (changed to Pencey in the novel). Vincent serves as the basis for
D.B. Caulfield, Holden's older brother in the novel, and is the protagonist in a number of stories by Salinger. In "An
Ocean Full of Bowling Balls," Vincent recalls his relationship with Kenneth, his deceased younger brother (the obvious
basis for Allie). This unpublished story also details how Kenneth becomes angry when an adult calls Holden crazy and
how Holden complains about hypocritical adults at his summer camp.
Other Salinger stories can be read as filling in details left out of The Catcher in the Rye. "The Last and Best of the
Peter Pans," narrated by Vincent Caulfield, focuses on a conversation between Vincent and his actress mother, Mary
Moriarty, concerning a questionnaire from the draft board that she had hidden from Vincent. This conversation ends
with a reference to her wanting to keep a child from going over a cliff, a notion that Holden references in The Catcher
in the Rye when he discusses his ideal situation with Phoebe. In another story, "Last Day of the Last Furlough,"
Vincent and "Babe" Gladwaller prepare to go off to World War II. Salinger has Vincent Caulfield die during the war,
and "The Stranger" concerns "Babe" Gladwaller's attempt to tell Vincent's girlfriend how he died.
The other major short story concerning the Caulfield family is "I'm Crazy," the story which forms the basis for the first
two chapters of The Catcher in the Rye as well as the chapter in which Holden goes home to see Phoebe. In this story,
however, Holden expresses greater regret for his expulsion from Pentey, even lamenting that he will never again play
games of football on Saturday evenings with his friends from school. The chapter in which Holden tries to convince
Sally to run away with him to New England finds its source in yet another short story, "Slight Rebellion Off Madison."
The derivation of The Catcher in the Rye from a series of unrelated short stories--as well as Salinger's affection for the
form of the short story--helps explain the pacing and relative lack of narrative continuity in the novel. No setting or
character other than Holden continues in the novel for more than two consecutive chapters (which also may be a
characteristic feature of Holden’s specific story). Holden, as narrator, is the only continuous character in the entire
story. Characters such as Sally Hayes and Mr. Antolini appear only in one chapter and then mostly disappear. The first
chapters of the novel, which are all set at Pencey, are the only ones that sustain the same characters and setting for
an extended period. Furthermore, since Salinger reiterates thematic elements throughout the novel (in practically
every chapter Holden complains about phonies), many of the chapters essentially could be short stories in
themselves.
The Catcher in the Rye Summary
,Holden Caulfield, the narrator of The Catcher in the Rye, begins with an authoritative statement that he does not
intend the novel to serve as his life story. Currently in psychiatric care, this teenager recalls what happened to him
last Christmas. This story forms the basis for his narrative. At the beginning of his story, Holden is a student at Pencey
Prep School, irresponsible and immature. Having been expelled for failing four out of his five classes, Holden goes to
see Mr. Spencer, his history teacher, before he leaves Pencey. Mr. Spencer advises him that he must realize that “life
is a game” and one should “play it according to the rules,” but the sixteen-year-old, who has already left four private
schools, dismisses much of what Spencer says.
Holden returns to his dormitory, where he finds Robert Ackley, an obnoxious student with a terrible complexion who
will not leave Holden alone, and Ward Stradlater, Holden’s roommate. Stradlater is conceited and arrogant, a “secret
slob” who asks Holden to write an English composition for him. Stradlater prepares for a date with Jane Gallagher, a
friend of Holden from several summers before, while Holden goes with Ackley and Mal Brossard into New York City
to see a movie. When he returns, Holden writes the composition for Stradlater. It is about his brother’s baseball mitt.
Holden relates that his brother Allie died of leukemia several years ago and states that he broke all of the windows in
his garage out of anger on the night that Allie died.
When Stradlater returns, he becomes upset at Holden for writing what he thinks is a poor essay, so Holden responds
by tearing up the composition. Holden asks about his date with Jane, and when Stradlater indicates that he might
have had sex with her, Holden becomes enraged and tries to punch Stradlater, who quickly overpowers him and
knocks him out. Soon after, Holden decides to leave Pencey that night and not to wait until Wednesday. He leaves
Pencey to return to New York City, where he will stay in a hotel before actually going home.
On the train to New York, Holden sits next to the mother of a Pencey student, Ernest Morrow. Claiming that his name
is actually Rudolf Schmidt (the name of the Pencey janitor), Holden lies to Mrs. Morrow about how popular and well-
respected her son is at Pencey— actually Ernest is loathed by the other boys. Holden invites her to have a drink with
him at the club car. When Holden reaches New York, he does not know whom he should call. He considers inviting his
younger sister, Phoebe, as well as Jane Gallagher and another friend, Sally Hayes. He finally decides to stay at the
Edmond Hotel.
From his window he can see other guests at the hotel, including a transvestite and a couple who spit drinks back at
each other, which makes him think about sex. He decides to call Faith Cavendish, a former burlesque stripper and
reputed prostitute, but she rejects his advances. He thus goes down to the Lavender Room, a nightclub in the Hotel,
where he dances with Bernice Krebs, a blonde woman from Seattle who is vacationing in New York with several
friends. Holden thinks that these tourists seem pathetic because of their excitement over the various sights of the
city.
After leaving the Lavender Room, Holden decides to go to Ernie’s, a nightclub in Greenwich Village that his brother
D.B. would often frequent before he moved to Hollywood. He leaves almost immediately after he arrives, because he
sees Lillian Simmons, one of D.B.’s former girlfriends, and wishes to avoid her because she is a “phony.” He walks back
to the hotel, where Maurice, the elevator man, offers him a prostitute for the night. He accepts. When Sunny, the
prostitute, arrives, Holden becomes too nervous and refuses to go on with it. She demands ten dollars anyway, but
Holden believes that he only owes five based on the earlier deal. Sunny and Maurice soon return, however, and
demand the extra five dollars. Holden argues with them, but Maurice threatens him while Sunny steals the money.
Maurice punches him in the stomach before leaving. Holden then imagines shooting Maurice in the stomach and
even jumping out of the window to commit suicide.
,Holden calls Sally Hayes to meet her for a matinee. He leaves his bags at a locker at Grand Central Station so that he
will not have to go back to the hotel, where he might again face Maurice. At Grand Central Station he talks with two
nuns about Romeo and Juliet and insists on giving them a donation. He shops for a record for Phoebe and feels
depressed when he hears children singing the song, “If a body catch a body coming through the rye.” He meets Sally,
and he immediately wants to marry her, even though he does not particularly like her.
They go to see a show starring the Lunts, which he knows Sally will enjoy because it seems sophisticated. After the
show, Sally keeps mentioning that she sees a boy from Andover whom she knows, and Holden responds by telling her
to go over and give the boy “a big soul kiss.” While she talks to the boy, Holden becomes disgusted at how phony the
conversation is. Holden and Sally go ice skating and then have lunch together. During lunch, Holden complains that
he is fed up with everything around him and suggests that they run away together to New England, where they can
live in a cabin in the woods. When she dismisses the idea, Holden calls her a “royal pain in the ass,” causing her to
cry.
After the date, Holden calls Carl Luce, a friend from the Whooton School who goes to Columbia, and meets him at
the Wicker Bar. Carl soon becomes annoyed at Holden for having a “typical Caulfield conversation”—one that is
preoccupied with sex—and he suggests that Holden see a psychiatrist. Holden remains at the Wicker Bar, where he
gets drunk, then leaves to wander around Central Park. He nearly breaks down when he breaks Phoebe’s record. He
thinks he may die of pneumonia.
Thinking that he may die soon, Holden returns home to see Phoebe, attempting to avoid his parents. He awakens her,
but she soon becomes distressed when she hears that Holden has failed out of Pencey. She says that their father will
kill him. He tells her that he might go out to a ranch in Colorado, but she dismisses his idea as foolish. When he
complains about the phoniness of Pencey, Phoebe asks him if he actually likes anything. He claims that he likes Allie,
and he thinks about how he likes the nuns at Grand Central and a boy at Elkton Hills who committed suicide. He tells
Phoebe that he would like to be “a catcher in the rye,” and he imagines himself standing at the edge of a cliff as
children play around him. He would come out of somewhere and always catch them just before they fell off the edge.
When his parents come home, Holden sneaks out to stay with Mr. Antolini, his former English teacher at Elkton Hills.
Mr. Antolini tells Holden that he is headed for a serious fall and that he is the type who may die nobly for a highly
unworthy cause. He quotes Wilhelm Stekel: “The mark of an immature man is that he wants to die nobly for a cause,
while the mark of the mature man is that he wants to live humbly for one.” Holden falls asleep on the couch. When
he awakens, he finds Mr. Antolini with his hand on Holden’s head. Holden immediately interprets this as a
homosexual advance, so he decides to leave. He tells Mr. Antolini that he has to get his bags from Grand Central
Station but will return soon.
In fact, however, Holden spends the night at Grand Central Station, then sends a note to Phoebe at school, telling her
to meet him for lunch. He becomes increasingly distraught and delusional, believing that he will die every time he
crosses the street. He falls unconscious after suffering from diarrhea. When he meets Phoebe, she tells him that she
wants to go with him and becomes angry when he refuses. He buys Phoebe a ticket for the carousel at the nearby
zoo, and as he watches her, he begins to cry.
, Holden ends his story here. He refuses to relate what happened next and how he got sick. He notes that people are
concerned about whether or not he will apply himself next year. He ends the story by relating that he misses
Stradlater and Ackley and even Maurice.
The Catcher in the Rye Character List
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