#1 Soph journal---From a Different Point of View
If you don't trust Holden as a reliable narrator, how about if you tell your version of the story?
YOU, of course, are NOT you.
You will now retell some part of the Holden chronicles from the point of view of any one of the OTHER characters in the book, like Mr. Spencer, Phoebe, Stradlater, Ackley, Jane Gallagher, Sally Hayes, Mr. Antolini, etc. If you don't want to retell any one incident, then just tell me what you think of this Holden character and explain why you feel the way you do.
In completing this assignment, try to imagine how your character would "talk" to the reader. In other words, don't make your character sound like Holden.
Any worthwhile and creative assignment of this type is going to be at least "a million crumby" words. Sorry, Holden managed for a minute to slip his thoughts into my blog. Let's try for a minimum of 500.
posted by JTF @ 10:05 AM
48 comments
48 Comments:
“Phoebe, wake up,” said Holden. “Huh, who is it?” stated Phoebe. “It’s me Holden.” “Holden! It’s so nice to see you. Whatcha doin waking me up this late at night though? I got a big play at school tomorrow.” “I know, I’m sorry for waking you up but I wanted to see you.” “I missed you Holden. I feel like I haven’t seen you in years.” I hadn’t seen him since summer and living with just my parents was getting real boring but I was used to it because Holden has always been off at prep schools. “Are mom and dad home?” “No they went out to some party at the Goldsteins to celebrate something. I don’t remember what it was but it sounded stupid.” My parents were always going out to parties and stuff. I didn’t mind it much because I liked it when it was peaceful. I would just sit and write in my journal. I want to become a writer like my brother D.B. when I grow up. “Hey aren’t you supposed to still be at school? I thought you weren’t getting home till Wednesday.” Then Holden started to say that a water pipe broke at Pencey so they decided to send everyone home a few days earlier. I immediately knew he was lying because he lies all the time and no school like Pencey would have problems like that. They have so much money that they could afford the finest pipes in the world. “I don’t believe you. Did you get kicked out of school again? Tell me the truth Holden. Jen Webster taught me how to tell if someone is lying or not.” “Fine, yeh I did get kicked out again but this time I didn’t feel bad about flunking out. I hated that phony school.” Holden has been kicked out of so many schools that they probably don’t have any more schools around for him to go to. Holden is actually a smart kid. He just doesn’t try at all. I get worried a lot that he’s never gonna grow up. This boy Billy Preston In my class is so immature. “Why do you have to be so stupid Holden. Im only ten but I know better than you. You make stupid decisions.” Then Holden said, “You sound like a mother for god damn sake.” “Hey, stop cursing. Im developing a bad habit for cursing and it’s mainly because of you. Mom has been trying to teach me to be a lady so that I can start going to parties with them and stuff but I don’t wanna go.” “Well anyway, do you got any money I can borrow? I’m all out of cash,” said Holden. I had plenty of money to give him but I was reluctant to give it to him because I knew he’d just spend it on cigarettes or something, but I gave him my stash of Christmas money anyway. Then we heard the door open to the apartment and we could hear our parents talking. Holden hid in the closet. He was too big for the thing too. It made me laugh. Holden has gotten a lot taller than the last time I saw him. When my parents went to sleep, Holden came out and said goodbye. He told me to meet him at the roller skating rink tomorrow after school and that he would call again soon. To be honest I wasn’t sure if I was gonna meet him because I was mad at him for flunking out of Pencey. I’d probably end up going anyway because I don’t get to see him much and it wouldn’t be long before my parents shipped him off to another prep or military school.
I felt pressure on my bed, well actually it’s D.B.’s bed, but I like to stretch out so I sleep there when he’s gone, but anyway, it roused me from my sleep, and when I heard, “Wake up, Phoeb,” I shot up instantly.
“Holden!” I said instantly. I threw my arms around his neck. He kissed me on the cheek. I’ve missed so much. But he shouldn’t be here yet…. “Whenja get home?” I asked.
“Not so loud! Just now. How are ya anyway?” he asked me.
“I’m fine. Did you get my letter? I wrote you a five page—” I wrote him this real real long letter about this play I’m in at school. I just wanted to make sure he didn’t make any plans for Friday. I want him to see me in it real bad.
“Yeah—not so loud. Thanks. How’s the play? What’d you say the name of it was?”
“’A Christmas Pageant for Americans.’ It stinks, but I’m Benedict Arnold. I have practically the biggest part.” I love telling him about these things. I get real excited because I know he’s real proud of me. “It starts when I’m dying. This ghost comes in on Christmas Eve and asks me if I’m ashamed and everything. You know. For betraying my country and everything. Are you coming to it? That’s what I wrote you about. Are you?” I sure hoped he would.
“Sure I’m coming. Certainly I’m coming.”
“Daddy can’t come,” I said. “He has to fly to California.” I was all wide-awake and everything now. I can get all wide-awake in no time, you know. I was so happy to have him sitting with me. I kept holdin’ his hand and everything. I still didn’t know why he was home so early...he’s not supposed to be home till Wednesday. “Listen. Mother said you’d be home Wednesday. She said Wednesday.”
”I got out early,” he said. “Not so loud. You’ll wake everybody up.” He seemed real nervous.
“What time is it?” I asked. “They won’t be home till very late, Mother said. They went to a part in Norwalk, Connecticut. Guess what I did this afternoon! What movie I saw. Guess!”
“I don’t know—Listen =. Didn’t they say what time they’d—”
I don’t know why he’s all nervous about the time. He keeps bringing it up all nervous and everything. But anyway, “The Doctor. It’s a special movie they had at the Lister Foundation. Just this one day they had it—today was the only day.” I was real excited to see it. My friends were jealous and everything. “It was all about this doctor in Kentucky and everything that sticks a blanket over this child’s face that’s a cripple and can’t walk. Then they send him to jail and everything. It was excellent.”
“Listen a second. Didn’t they say what time they’d—“
“He feels sorry for it, the doctor. That’s why he sticks this blanket over her face and everything and makes her suffocate. Then they make him go to jail for life imprisonment, but this child that he stuck the blanket over its head comes to visit him all the time and thanks him for what he did. He was a mercy killer. Only, he knows he deserves to go to jail because a doctor isn’t supposed to take things away from God. This girl in my class’s mother took us. Alice Holmborg. She’s my best friend. She’s the only girl in the whole—“
“Wait a second, willya?” Holden said, real annoyed. “I’m asking you a question. Did they say what time they’d be back, or didn’t they?”
Again with the time. Why is he real nervous about it? “No, but not till very late. Daddy took the car and everything so they wouldn’t have to worry about trains. We have a radio in it now! Except that Mother said nobody can play it when the car’s in traffic.” When I said this, he didn’t look as nervous anymore. I don’t know why he’s real worried about Mother and Daddy coming home and everything.
“So it was good picture, huh?” he asked me.
“Swell, except Alice had a cold, and her mother kept asking her all the tie if she felt grippy. Right in the middle of the picture. Always in the idle of something important, her mother’d lean all over me and everything and ask Alice if she felt grippy. It got on my nerves.”
“Listen,” Holden said, “I bought you a record. Only I broke it on the way home.” He was real upset.
I was sleeping really well until Holden walked in. He really surprised me; it was so late. At first I didn’t realize that he wasn’t supposed to be home, but then I realized he was home early. I knew he got kicked out right away; I knew it. He’s always getting kicked out of places. Even the last school he went to he got kicked out. I think it was Whooton School, but he wasn’t even there for that long. And Elkton Hills, he went there, too. I’m kinda worried about him. Holden’s the best big brother. I’m a lot closer with him than D.B., even though he lets me have his room when he’s far away in Hollywood. That’s why it made me so happy when Holden visited me. I couldn’t even stay really mad at him. I knew Daddy would be mad, though. Daddy’s always mad at Holden for getting kicked out and all. But yeah, it really worries me. I know Holden is super smart; I feel like he just never tries. He’s nice, too. He really is. He always takes me to see movies. I’ve seen The 39 Steps with him so much that I even know all the words. I still like it a lot, though. I don’t care what we see it’s always fun. But I don’t know why he keeps getting kicked out. Or maybe he just leaves. I don’t know, but I don’t think he will tell me. He thinks that “I’m too young.” I think he acts younger than me actually! I at least do my homework. He doesn’t. He smokes, though. Maybe that’s why he got kicked out. He doesn’t really follow rules either. No matter what he does, I’ll always love him, and even though my mind wouldn’t stop thinking, I was so glad to see him. It made me happy when he asked about Hazel Weatherfield. I love to write. It’s my favorite even though the story doesn’t go on too much, yet. The best about writing is making up names. I like my name Phoebe, but I like changing my middle name. It’s always something different. I wish I could change other people’s names, too. But that’s why I write. I think writing runs in the family, actually. I think I head Holden tell me that he got an A on an English paper he wrote once. He never gets A’s, but he does pretty good in English. Even my big big brother D.B. is out in Hollywood writing for movies. I think my mom called it a screenwriter or something like that. It’s where he writes what is going to happen in the movie. So we all write. Even though it makes me sad to mention, Allie liked writing. He wrote a bunch of stuff on his mitt for baseball and was always reading it during the game. I miss him a lot of times. I know Holden does, too. I have the best brothers.
It was quite late when I got on the train in Trenton. Hopefully no one would see me travelling on such a dirty place like this. I saw a handsome young man sitting by himself on the train. The only seat that didn’t look half as grimy as the other ones was the one next to him so I put my bag down in the aisle and sat down next to him. I didn’t really want to strike up a conversation with a complete stranger until I saw his bags on the rack. They had Pencey Preparatory School stickers on them and I was curious to see if he knew my son, Ernest Morrow. He said he did and that Ernest was in one of his classes. It’s always so exciting to see one of Ernest’s friends outside of school. I always like to hear how my little Ernie behaves when his mommy isn’t there to hold his hand (He is a very dependent child you know. I get worried sending him to such a big place like Pencey Prep). I asked for his name and he said it was Rudolf Schmidt. It was a very interesting name, but you can’t judge a book by its cover, that’s what I always tell Ernie. I asked him how he liked it there, at Pencey, and he seemed very happy there, I think. He was using some big words like “contagious” or something and I didn’t quite understand what he meant. I guess that’s a good sign since he must be learning words like that at Pencey. Hopefully Ernie is as good of a student as he is. He offered me a smoke and I declined, but he insisted. I mean how can you refuse a cigarette from a handsome young man like him? We sat there having a light when all of a sudden I noticed his nose was bleeding. He said he got hit with an icy snowball. Hopefully Ernest didn’t throw it at him. Then he started telling me how popular Ernie was at school and about how Ernest wouldn’t run for class president because he was so shy and modest. I almost teared up I was proud of my little Ernie being so humble. He asked me if I wanted a cocktail from the club car which surprised me. A nice boy like that from Pencey Prep shouldn’t be drinking all the time. I told him it was probably closed, but started to get a little worried about who Ernest was hanging out with. I thought he was skipping school too because Pencey’s winter break didn’t begin until Wednesday. When I asked him about it he told me of his operation he was going to have on a tumor in his brain. I can understand how someone who is going through so many emotions may turn to alcohol to calm them down. I didn’t say anything after that because I didn’t think anything would be correct to say to someone with a brain tumor. When I got off the train at Newark I wished him luck with the surgery and invited him to our vacation home over the summer. Oh, it’s magnificent, the home. We have a tennis court and it’s right by the beach, which is why I was surprised when he declined my offer. However, I then learned he was going to South Africa with his grandmother. I told him that that must be exciting even though I would never go to such a dirty place as Africa. I left the station and couldn’t wait to tell Ernie how nice his friend Rudolf was when he got home.
Just call me Ackley. That's what everyone else calls me. I just got to tell someone about this night. Man, it was a strange night. So everyone was at the football game that night. I was in my dorm just sitting there doing whatever I felt like. I never understood football. It is just repetitive. One group of people want to get a ball to one end, and the other team just tries to do the opposite. It's counteractive. That's beside the point. So I was in my dorm when I heard someone come in. I noticed that it was that Holden kid. That kid is some piece of work. You know, he acts superior to me some times. I'm a whole two years older than him. He thinks he is great just because he is rich I bet. For being so rich though he sure is a cynic. Always talking about people whoring themselves out. God, he pisses me off sometimes. I still went to visit him though and see what he was up too. He didn't seem to notice I walked in, I could of swore he saw me though. I asked him how the fencing matches went. He told me nobody won. I said what do you mean nobody won. Holden said that he lost the fencing equipment. "How did you manage to do that?", I said. He says he put the equipment on the wrong train. I mean how do you leave cases of swords on the subway. This kid just pisses me off. He is so stupid and arrogant. He thinks he is above everyone. I remembered that I wanted to clip my toenails. I got out my clipper and started to clip away. Holden just starts to whine at me and then tells me, his senior, to stop cutting my toenails. I just do not understand people like that. Why would I take all the time to clean up just when I will have to go do it again. Same goes for the acne. Why let it sit when it can disappear sooner? The same goes for hygiene, I can just do it later. But man does Holden piss me off. He doesn't piss me off as much as his friend Stradlater. He pisses me off the most. I asked Holden where Stradlater was at. Holden says he got a date. "Who is it?", I asked. Holden tells me he doesn't know. I like to keep up on people who piss me off. I decided to go back to my room and to do whatever. Later on a different night, I was with Holden and a friend of his playing pinball and having burgers. I was surprised that Holden even invited me. The kid is still a piece of work though. I heard Stradlater come into his room, and he started to argue with Holden. Holden then came into the my room with a bloody freaking nose. I let him stay in my room to give him some peace of mind. After that I really don't remember much of seeing that kid. Man, he still kind of pisses me off but not as much anymore.
It was Saturday night. Tonight was the night of my big date with Jane. The only reason that this was a big date is because this was my first date in about 5 months. Before I left, Holden had a really weird, worried look on his face. This date wasn’t anything special anyways. I picked Jane up at her place and took her to some new food place that just opened up. The atmosphere there was pretty good for a fast food joint. Anyways, it took extremely long for us to get our food. Apparently one of the cooks there called in sick, and they were too busy serving up everyone else’s orders before ours. We were both getting impatient. We were starving. I hadn’t eaten anything since 3 o’clock. Jane was about to start chewing her arm off if I didn’t snap her back in to reality. We eventually got our food and decided to eat in the car. I don’t even remember why we decided to do that. We had a pretty good time though. We didn’t really do much though except just eat our food and talk about things. It would have been a boring night if she wasn’t such an outgoing and energetic person. Still, I was getting pretty tired so I told her I had to go home. I dropped her off to her place and headed off to my dorm room. When I got back to my room, Holden was acting really weird. The English composition he wrote for me wasn’t all that great, and I told him he needs to do a better job. His response was to tear up the only copy of it to shreds. Something wasn’t right with him. He lit up a cigarette when he clearly knows that that’s against the rules of our room. He seemed to not even care. He started interrogating me like I had just committed a federal crime. He kept asking me about Jane. I don’t know why. It was none of his business. He kept asking me why I was late and what we were doing together. All sorts of personal questions. He kept asking me if I knew that Jane kept her kings in the back row. At this point in my life, I knew Holden was a psychopath. I told him that we only hung out in the car. I also told him to calm down and shut up. Then he wanted to know if Jane and I “did it” in the car. What was this guy’s problem? Truth is, we did nothing, but it was still none of his business. When I didn’t tell him, he flipped out and tried to hit me. This gave me a reason to pin him down and knock some sense into him. He started crying and created a scene. I didn’t want to hit him, but I had to defend and protect myself. Yes, Holden was definitely psychotic. After this night, I never looked at him in the same way again.
In my opinion, Stradlater is a pretty interesting, yet normal, guy. In The Catcher in the Rye, the main character, Holden Caulfield had some strong feelings about Stradlater. Holden thinks Stradlater is a phony for various reasons. He also describes Stradlater as a “secret slob”, “yearbook-handsome”, and a “sexy bastard.” While the last two are deserved for Stradlater’s character, I think Holden’s assessment of Stradlater being one of the greatest phonies he has ever seen might be a great exaggeration. I think that Stradlater is a successful, relatively normal guy, and Holden might be a little envious of him. He has many qualities that Holden doesn’t have. He’s fairly handsome, good with the ladies (maybe too good with the ladies), and self-confident. I perceived this through the conversations Stradlater had with Holden. He holds himself well, and he has the same interests, worries, and dislikes as many other guys. He cares for his looks very much, and he likes to show it off. He takes good care of his hygiene, but he doesn’t take care of his hygiene equipment. His razor is unkempt and probably dull. He is a very fit young man. This is shown by the fact that he likes to expose his chest a lot. He worries about his grades. He likes the opposite gender (women). He is also very personal about his personal life. All these are not unusual characteristics of a male human teenager going through puberty in an all boy’s school. While Holden thinks of him as a bad person, I don’t feel that way towards him. The only downside with Stradlater is his attitudes towards women and sex. He seems to see women as mere toys and sex as something to be toyed with. For example, he did not even know the girl that he is going out with. He was only concerned about the curfew of nine-thirty. This particular girl was Jane Gallagher. Holden goes into a bunch of details about this girl and all Stradlater cares about is her body. I somewhat disapprove of the fact that he is an excessive womanizer. Stradlater even has a technique he uses to convince the girl in question to cave in to his demands. Holden describes it as a slow, sincere, Abraham Lincoln voice that just keeps plowing through. Holden even had the unfortunate experience of watching this happen on a double date. In that instance Stradlater fails to win the prize. Stradlater is also personal about his deeds with other girls. When Holden tried to pry, Stradlater pins him to the floor to make him stop. I think this makes him seem a little volatile. Stradlater seems to be an emotional guy, with feeling ranging from vain, lust, pride, and more. I inferred this from all the above statements. Apart from his overbearing, glaring sexuality, Stradlater would be a nice guy to be around if you didn’t pry into his personal life. I think that it is a shame that Stradlater didn’t randomly meet Holden during his voyage in New York City. I think that would be an interesting scene.
I kind of like the rain. It is raining pretty heavily this afternoon and I’m with Holden so I am happy. I love when Holden comes over. He is so sweet. We always play checkers together. Holden usually teases me about keeping my kings in the back row. I think they are pretty. I usually lose, but it’s okay the kings are pretty. Today we are playing on my porch. It is screened in so we aren’t getting wet but the rain is really peaceful. There is something about a rainy Saturday afternoon. It kind of feels like nothing else matters especially when you are with your best friend. Holden is my best friend. I don’t know if he really knows how I feel about him but I hope he does. I have not gone around with many other guys so I’m not really sure how to tell Holden. There was one time we were at the movies and –well - I decide to hold his hands. It was wonderful! There is something about holding a guy’s hand, especially one you care about. I felt like I was in a movie where the guy and girl finally are together at last and they are holding hands. It was kind of magical, I guess you could say. But when I think back about it, I don’t even know if Holden knew that I did it because I really like him. But ever since then we would always hold hands at the movies…so I guess he liked it. I just can’t help but smile when I think of Holden and holding hands with him. Oh and there was this one time at the movies when I put my hand on Holden’s neck- just like I see the older girls do! It made me so happy. I think I may be in love with my best friend. Anyways, I honestly realized how much I loved Holden this afternoon. We were playing and my mother’s terrible new husband came out and asked me if there were any cigarettes. I wish I could tell people how terrible he is to me. For one he is always drinking and smoking and he is rude, for lack of a better word, to me. I wish I could tell Holden what has happened but I just couldn’t ever get myself to do it. And when Mr. Cudahy came out, I got scared and couldn’t answer. I was scared Holden would see how scared I was of him. He never got very far but I’m honestly terrified that the mean old mister will one day-well- touch me and hurt me. After he left, Holden asked if he ever did anything “wise” to me but I was too scared to tell him my fears or anything for that matter so all I said was “No.” I tried to be strong but I couldn’t do it. After Mr. Cudahy left, I tried to “concentrate” on my move while I covered up my fears but then I just couldn’t do it. One tear fell from my eye. I wiped it off the board-maybe, Holden did not notice. He did. He told me to come and sit with him on the glider. I was going to try to be strong but I just couldn’t anymore. Once we sat down, I started to cry and cry and cry. Holden just sat there and held me and kissed me as I cried. For the first time in a long time I felt safe. He was so respectful never even kissing my lips but kissing and holding me in all the right places. I felt happy and secure in his loving care. I probably looked a mess but I put on a sweater and we went to the movies. We needed to get out after that. I will never forget this afternoon. Holden is my best friend. I hope he knows that. I love him more than he will ever know…maybe I should tell him.
I walked downstairs and saw Holden just sitting there. I forgot how good looking he was. Anyways I walked over to him and he looked me up and down I guess approving what I was wearing. “Hello Holden,” I said, “how have you been?”
“I’ve been just swell. And yourself?”
“I’m doing alright, thank you.” Boy, he was so sweet. “Are you all ready to go? We don’t want to be late,” he said. We walked outside and got a cab. We started making small talk about school and the upcoming holidays, but I noticed that Holden would not stop staring at me. I blushed and said “Is something wrong?”
“No. it’s just that well um, you look really nice in that dress.” He leaned over and kissed me. I kissed him back feeling like the happiest girl in the world. We kept kissing for a while then Holden stopped. He looked deep into my eyes and said, “I love you.”
“Aww I love you too.” And I think i really did. By that time we at the theatre and Holden helped me out of the taxi and we paid the driver. We found our seats and the show began. I was really enjoying the film, but Holden kept squirming in his seat so I got the feeling he was not enjoying it as much as I was. At intermission, I have never seen Holden move so fast to get out of the theatre. He bought me a drink and we stood in the lobby with the other people who came to see the show. Then across the room, I spotted someone I knew.
“Holden do you see that boy?” I asked. “No, who is it?”
“I know him from somewhere, but I can’t remember where from” I said.
The boy made his way over to us and as he walked closer I knew exactly who it was. It was George from the Andover School. I hadn’t seen him in such a long time. I introduced George to Holden and we talked about how much we were enjoying the play and the Lunts’ acting. Holden just stood there acting very sore. This made me annoyed because I hadn’t done anything wrong and neither did George. Holden is the one who took me to this damn play anyway.
We went back inside the theatre to watch the rest of the play. I thought it was excellent but I suppose Holden thought differently.
We caught another cab and went to Radio City to go ice skating. Holden didn’t seem to like the idea to much though. I rented a little skating dress and ice skates to show off for Holden. We started skating around, with all of people watching us from above the rink. It was a little embarrassing because Holden and I kept falling over each other. All of a sudden, Holden started talking about school and I knew that this was not going to be a pleasant conversation. He asked me if I liked school.
“Yes, I don’t really enjoy it but I still go because I have to.”
“Well I hate everything about school. The people the dumb teachers. Plus I am not even good at anything. I flunk in every class. But English. I’m pretty good at English. Schools are full of phonies. Especially boys schools. You should go to a boys school sometime. You wouldn’t last a day. All you have to do is act like a phony and be interested in the football games. ” I knew that he would keep going on and on about how much he hated school, so I tried to change the topic of conversation. He stopped me and asked me if I wanted to run away with him. He said he could get a job on a farm and be able to support the family that we would have together. I started to tell him how crazy he was but he stopped me and told me how much of a pain I was.
I got so mad I started crying. Holden tried to apologize, but I was so mad at him. How could he tell me that he loves me just hours before and tell me now that I’m a pain?
I had just slipped into the most marvelous dream. I was in D.B.’s room. I know you’re wondering why. I always sleep in D.B.’s room when he’s away. He’s got this gigantic bed and gigantic desk, and I like to spread out. My room’s too small for me now. But anyways, in the dream, I was outside in the street, and the city was covered in snow. So much snow that it even went higher than the doors. It was sparkling in the light of the street lamps. I fell backwards into it and started to make an angel. Snow fell softly from the sky and it kept getting all tangled in my eyelashes. But going back, I had just been having this wonderful dream, when I heard somebody calling me. I jolted awake and saw that it was Holden. I couldn’t really see him that well because only the desk lamp was on, and my eyes were still kinda blurry because I’d just been asleep. I was so excited! Holden wasn’t supposed to be back until Wednesday. I threw my arms around him. We talked for a little while. Holden was asking me about this play I was in at school where I play Benedict Arnold, the traitor! It was one of the biggest roles, and it was kinda fun playing the bad guy. I also told him about this movie I’d seen that day. It was a pretty swell picture. But my friend Alice’s mother kept asking her if she felt grippy, and it was really getting on my nerves after a while. All of a sudden, Holden started looking all sad. He pulled out the broken pieces of the Little Shirley Beans record that I’ve been wanting forever. He said that he’d accidently broken it. You can bet I still wanted that record though! I cupped my hands and he poured those broken pieces into it. Then I put them into the drawer of my night table all careful-like. I started thinking. And I started getting a funny feeling. Maybe it had something to do with how Holden didn’t look the same. For one thing, he was shivering a lot and it kinda looked like he had some ice chunks in his hair. But the really weird thing was that Holden looked sad. I mean, he’s always looked pretty sad ever since Allie died. I don’t know why. I remember when Holden broke all the windows in our with his own hand after Allie died. But, Allie’s in heaven now with God and the angels and all our ancestors. He’s looking down on us, watching out for us. But Holden looked really sad that night. It almost scared me a little bit once I noticed. I asked why’d he gotten out of school early. He started acting all sneaky and he had that voice he gets when he starts lying. I just knew he’d gotten kicked out. Sometimes, he is just so frustrating! He doesn’t like nothing, and it just about drives me crazy. I flopped back down on the bed and pulled the pillow up over my head. He kept trying to pull it off me, but I’d gotten stronger since he last saw me and he couldn’t get it off. Holden left the room, and I flipped back over on my back. He came back in, but even though I had the pillow off, I still couldn’t look at him. He started talking all about his school, Pencey, and all about the mean guys who go there. He probably thought that I was just daydreaming because I wasn’t even looking at him still. But I was listening. I really was. Finally, I asked Holden what is one thing he likes. One thing! It shouldn’t be that hard, but boy did it take him forever to answer! But you’ll never guess what he said. He said he likes Allie! Allie! Our dead brother! There isn’t even anything alive that he likes! I know that Holden likes me, Phoebe Weatherfield Caulfield, but sometimes I get the feeling that I can’t ever measure up to our red-haired brother who wrote the poetry on his baseball glove.
“Is there a Miss Phoebe Caulfield in here?” I heard a pleasant voice coming from near the door. Everyone in room 4B-1 turned around to see who was there. It was one of those ladies from the principal’s office.
“Yes, that’s her,” the teacher pointed at me.
The lady came over and handed me a note. I knew everyone was looking at me, but I don’t get these special kinds of notes very often, so I opened it anyway.
Dear Phoebe,
I can’t wait around till Wednesday any more so I will probably hitch hike out west this afternoon. Meet me at the Museum of art near the door at quarter past 12 if you can and I will give you your Christmas dough back, I didn’t spend much.
Love,
Holden
I kinda blanked out for a second then. But after I got my bearings back, I made a plan. At lunch, I was gonna run home and grab a suitcase and fill it with my stuff. Not one of those real bug suitcases though, one of the smaller ones. You know, so I can carry it around from car to car. I was set on going with Holden, no matter what he said. I wasn’t gonna let him go all the way out west without out me. I know he thinks I’m just a little kid, but that doesn’t mean I can’t hitch hike out west with him. Maybe he was on his way to see D.B.!
“Phoebe? Do you know the answer?”
“What?” I responded. I probably didn’t seem too smart right then.
“I asked you twice already: What did the Native Americans grow to sustain themselves?”
Just as I was about to answer, the bell rang. What a relief. I mean, of course I knew the answer, but it was just embarrassing that I wasn’t paying attention in the first place and she had to ask the question three times. I hopped out of my seat and started running. I pushed people out of my way and knocked people over without even saying sorry. Boy, I felt like an evil person, but I couldn’t help it. Holden was gonna leave! I had to make it to the Museum real soon!
When I got home, the maid wasn’t home. I was having some real good luck today! I was all outta breath, but I ran to D.B.’s room and got one of them suitcases and started throwing any clothes I could get my hands on in there. Before I left the room, the hunting cap Holden gave me the night before caught my eye. It was an ungodly color, but I put it on anyway. I mean, Holden gave it to me and all and I knew he loved it. As soon as I was all done, I started for the museum. But the suitcase was heavier than I expected. It really weighed me down a heck of a lot. By the time I was almost to the museum, I was dragging it behind me. I just couldn’t carry it anymore. Plus I was all outta breath and all. Holden came out of the museum and down the stairs to meet me.
“Hi,” I said when he got close enough to hear me. Boy was I out of breath. I could hardly say that one word without passing out.
“I thought maybe you weren’t coming,” Holden told me. “What the hell’s in that bag? I don’t need anything. I’m just going the way I am. I’m not even taking the bags I got at the station. What the hellya got in there?”
I finally put the suitcase down. Boy did my arm hurt! “My clothes,” I said. Very matter-of-factly and all. He had to know I wasn’t gonna change my mind. There was no way I was gonna let Holden go without me.
He just looked at me with this real dumb look on his face. Now that I was looking, he didn’t look too good. He was all pale and gross-looking. I guess that’s what you look like when you spend the night in some sewer or wherever he went. Anyway, I just stood there with my arms crossed waiting for an answer while his brain tried to work out what I had just told him.
Holden Caulfield is a very strange, and complex character. He is not your average bully, or jock, but he instead is a character that I had never been introduced to before reading The Catcher in the Rye. Holden Caulfield is certainly not a stock or cliché character by any means. In all honesty, I must say that Holden is one of my personal favorite characters, when it comes to novels, and even movies. Though many may be in disagreement with me, I find Holden to be a very interesting as well as entertaining individual. Holden, throughout the novel, is sharing with us the “madman” stuff that happened to him before last Christmas that eventually got him to where he was in the beginning and at the end of the story, in a sort of mental rest home. In the beginning of the story Holden tells us “ I am not going to tell you my whole goddam autobiography or anything.” However, having his rather contradictory personality, he decides to share many miniscule details about his life. Holden Caulfield possesses a very strange personality, one that no one involved in his life seems to understand or comprehend. He is first of all, an extremely cynical and confused person. He is irritated by very trivial events and actions that do not affect normal people. In fact, Holden seems to dislike most of the things that average people enjoy. For example, one of his most prominent aversions are movies. Holden strongly believes that movies are phony Hollywood depictions of life. He is a very realistic individual that focuses on facts rather than purpose. Though I enjoy movies, as most would agree, I comply with Holden on this issue. Motion pictures, for the most part, are unrealistic, unreasonable, and to watch them would simply be a poor investment of precious time. This is a very pessimistic way of viewing something that entertains many, but Holden is a pessimistic person, who just cannot enjoy, something so “phony” as a “crumby” movie. Many other minor details and words that arise throughout the novel annoy Holden. Words or phrases such as, “good luck” or “qualms” aggravate him, which raises suspicion about his past as well as his mental state. Also many things he witnesses depress him, which causes the reader to speculate what triggers his depression and what has caused him to become so sensitive. It becomes blatantly obvious, even as the book begins that Holden is experiencing confusion as well as mental issues. Though he is not a very appealing character to most, there is something about him that interests me. I feel that Holden is a very smart individual, but in a much different sense than regarding school and education. I think Holden sees life in a different perspective than is common. He tends to pick out the evils in life and focus on the negatives, rather than look on the bright side of issues. I feel that it is very possible that his negative attitude, and melancholy outlook on life lead to his severe depression. I also admire Holden for another reason. Holden Caulfield’s exuberant care for the youth of the world is inspiring. Though he is quite a troubled human being, Holden still has this side of him that deeply cares for children and he feels that he must protect them from the evils of the real world. Holden believes that it is his vocation to be “the Cather in the Rye.” After my complete analysis of the novel, I will admit that Holden Caulfield obviously is problematic as well as cynical. However, I also believe that Holden is morally good, and is simply confused about his place in the world. I found Holden to be a fascinating character, whom in a way helped me understand the view of the world from a depressed mind. Holden is a nonconformist, whom conducts life through his own habits and is very difficult to influence. Holden Caulfield was, without a doubt, a dismal and perplexing character, yet one that I found intriguing in the very least.
It was almost 12:10 when I looked at the clock in my classroom, counting down the minutes until the bell rang and I could meet Holden. While the teacher was talking, I took the note out of my pocket and read it again. “Meet me at the museum of art near the door at quarter past 12 if you can,” it said, in Holden’s scratchy handwriting. I looked down at the fat blue suitcase, Holden’s old suitcase (I had found it in his old closet), sitting next to me as the teacher rambled on. I was positive that I wanted to go with him. I wanted to make sure he got to the west OK and make sure he wasn’t alone. I knew Daddy would kill him if he stayed. But I didn’t want him to have to run away alone, either.
The bell interrupted my thoughts. Before I left the room, I rummaged around in my suitcase for a minute and pulled out Holden’s red hunting cap. I knew people would look at me funny, but as soon as I put it on my head, I felt braver for some reason. I ventured out into the hallway among the sea of people, avoiding teachers and lugging my suitcase behind me. I took the elevator in the back of the school so Charlene couldn’t see me. I finally made my way out the door, then to the Museum of Art down Fifth Avenue. There Holden was, coming towards me from across the street. He was looking at me real funny, like he didn’t know what I was doing. Suddenly, I was pretty scared he wouldn’t let me come with him. “Hi,” I breathed when he got close, trying to sound confident. I was kind of tired from carrying the suitcase across the street.
“I thought maybe you weren’t coming. What the hell’s in that bag? I don’t need anything. I’m going just the way I am. I’m not even taking the bags I got at the gas station. What the hellya got in there?” he was talking really loud and fast. He looked like he might be sick.
“My clothes,” I said. “I’m going with you. Can I? Okay?” Holden closed his eyes and swayed for a minute. Wow, he was even looking a little green. “What?” he answered.
“I took them down the back elevator so Charlene wouldn’t see me. It isn’t heavy. All I have in it is two dresses and my moccasins and my underwear and socks and some other things. Feel it. It isn’t very heavy.” I started to push the bag towards him, but he didn’t seem to register it. “Feel it once… Can’t I go with you?” There was still no response. “Holden? Can’t I? Please?”
“No. Shut up.”
That scared me. He didn’t usually say stuff like that to me. “Why can’t I? Please, Holden! I won’t do anything—I’ll just go with you, that’s all! I won’t even take my clothes with me if you don’t want me to—I’ll just take my—“
“You can’t take anything. Because you’re not going. I’m going alone. So shut up.”
There was no way I was leaving Holden here like this. I kept arguing with him. He grabbed my bag and yelled “You’re not going. Now, shut up! Gimme that bag.” Wow, he was really scaring me. I started to cry. Suddenly, I was so mad at him. I knew he was mad at me, too, because he looked about like he was going to punch me.
“I thought you were supposed to be Benedict Arnold in that play and all,” he said. He said it very nasty, and I knew he was trying to make me mad. “Whuddaya want to do? Not be in the play, for God’s sake?” We were both very mad at each other. Holden started going up the steps to the museum, taking my suitcase. I knew the only thing he could do was not follow him, so I didn’t. I thought he would stop, but he kept going. He was going to put my suitcase in the checkroom so I could get it after school. I stood there on the sidewalk, turning my back on him.
Today at school was very normal up till when we get out of class for lunch. When I got out one of the ladies who works in the office gave me a note. I was excited when I got it. I thought it might be from Shirley again. But when I opened it up I saw it was from Holden! I really like Holden. He’s my brother. He swears alot and stuff but he’s really nice to me usually. Anyway the letter said that he was planning on running away to the west because he got kicked out of school like he usually does. At first I was really sad because I didn’t want him to leave but then I thought that I could go with him! It would be really swell and I could be just like Hazle Weatherfield! I wouldn’t have any parents around except my dad would come visit sometimes and maybe I could help solve mysteries just like her! I was so excited that I went straight home after school let us out for lunch to get packed. I sneaked past Charlene after I packed some clothes and stuff I might need in Holden’s suitcase from one of the schools he used to go to. I walked down to where Holden told me to meet him in the letter wearing the red hat he gave me. He looked happy to see me and asked why I had a suitcase because he thought that I packed stuff for him. I told him I wanted to go with him and he got really angry and yelled at me that I couldn’t go. Then I got really mad at him because if just he went then I wouldn’t get to see him so I stopped talking to me. I can be pretty good at ignoring people. He told me he wouldn’t actually go to the west which made me happy but I wanted him to know I was still mad at him. He asked me if I wanted to go to the zoo, which I really did because I really like the zoo, but I just ignored him instead. When he started to walk toward the zoo, I went to the other side of the street to go as well so he wouldn’t think I forgave him. After a while, he asked me if I wanted to go on the carousel. I always used to love the carousel when I was a kid, but I’m all grown up now so I didn’t think I should go. But eventually I decided to go on just for a bit but I wanted Holden to go with me. He said he would go next time, but he ended up not going on at all. The carousel was alot more fun than I had thought it would be, and I even almost grabbed the gold ring once! It started to rain after the first time so I gave Holden his red hat so he wouldn’t get wet. I told him I wasn’t mad at him anymore and gave him a kiss and stuff to show I forgave him. I was just really glad he wasn’t leaving anymore. I had to go back to school then but it was raining really hard so we had to run. I didn’t really want to go back to school but I was glad I had some time with Holden because I really miss him when he’s at school.
--Phoebe Weatherfield Caulfield
I must say I was kind of surprised when Holden Caulfield rang me up and asked me if I wanted to do something. I mean, we used to go around together quite a bit, but I hadn't heard from him in ages. I've been going around with this Harvard guy and this cadet from West Point, but I figured I'd get dolled up for the occasion anyway, so I wore my black coat and beret. He told me to meet him under the clock at the Biltmore at two o'clock and to not be late because we were supposed to go to a matinee at two-thirty, but a girl should always keep a man waiting, so I came up around ten after two.
“Holden!” I said. “It's marvelous to see you! It's been ages!” It really was nice to see him. It's kind of funny in a way because he doesn't seem to have changed at all.
“Swell to see you too,” he said. “How are ya, anyway?”
“Absolutely marvelous! Am I late?” I knew I was late, but I must look good because he told me I was not late at all. It's so lovely how I can control men with my appearance.
We had to hurry because I had made us late, but he told me that we were going to see the Lunts! The Lunts! I absolutely adore the Lunts!
We caught a cab to the matinee and he really wanted to mess around, which didn't suit me too much because I had just done my lipstick, but I couldn't say no to him. It was just annoying because the cab driver kept slamming on his breaks, which almost sent Holden flying off his seat. He should have expected that though. New York cab drivers are the worst.
The show was marvelous. A real tear-jerker. There's nothing that can bring a tear to my eye more than a story of an old couple from their youth to their death bed, especially since the husband had to go off to war and all. I really do love the Lunts. They are all such marvelous actors and actresses. I don't see how anyone could dislike them.
At the end of the first act, everyone went outside for a smoke. I guess Holden and I went out just so we weren't the only two left in the theater. Then when we were outside the most wonderful thing happened! I saw George from Andover! Well I didn't recognize him at first, and I couldn't remember his name or where I knew him from but I just love it when I run into someone I'm not expecting to see! I always seem to know someone wherever I go. Anyway, we had this lovely conversation about the show we were both seeing. We both love the play and agree that the Lunts are absolute angels. I just love when I can have a conversation of agreement with someone. Holden and I never seem to agree on anything. Anyway, we went on and talked about some other people we both knew, and after the show he walked us out to our cab, which I thought was really swell. I don't think Holden cared too much for it though.
I was getting ready to go on my date with this guy I just met. Stradlater was his name. He was such a hunk, but I wasn’t sure if I was ready for a date with a guy like him. I mean when he asked me to go out with him I felt so surprised that I just couldn’t say no. Then as I was getting ready for this date my mind drifted back to when I was younger and would hang out with this boy Holden Caulfield. My mind went back to a day that I don’t think I will ever forget. It was just a regular old afternoon that me and Holden were playing chess. We were just sitting in my porch since it was raining outside. And of course Holden was nagging me about keeping my kings in the back row. How many times did I have to tell this boy that I liked to keep them there because they just looked so pretty? We were just sitting there playing when my old step father came out to ask me if they were any cigarettes. I just shyly ignored him, but inside I felt like tears were going to burst out of me. I tried my hardest just to pretend to focus on the chess game with Holden. I did not want to make myself appear sad, but I couldn’t hold in my tears anymore. Then when I glanced down at the board I saw one of my tears. I quickly rubbed it into the board. Then Holden made me go sit in the old glider on my porch and he practically sat on top of me, but it didn’t bother me. I had known him for so long that those sorts of things he did didn’t seem out of the ordinary. I felt comfortable enough to ball my eyes out to him. As I was crying I could feel Holden’s lips touching me all over, except for my lips of course. But he comforted me in that time of need. I ran into my house to grab my old red and white sweater and Holden and I went to see a movie. Holden kept asking if my old step father tried to get with me but I just kept pushing away the response, I did not want to get that conversation started. I loved just hanging out with Holden. I don’t know how you would describe our relationship though. We would hold hands but none of that necking stuff. Holding hands with Holden was so natural that I didn’t even think about what my hand was doing. For some reason my brain always goes back to the time that Holden and I went to a movie and I put my hand on the back of his neck. I don’t know what urged me to it, but it just felt so right to me at the time. Thinking back to this time everything seemed so easy, but unfortunately I wasn’t that young girl anymore. It was time for me to grow up and this date with Stradlater was going to be the start.
(When Holden went to the bathroom with Stradlater while he shaved in chapter 4)
Point of view of Stradlater.
I probably should have shaved before I went on the date, but I guess I felt as if I looked good beforehand anyways. I have a hundred things to do before tomorrow, and I could probably use a hand. Holden is a strange guy, but he has a good heart you could say. He wouldn’t be the first guy I’d wanna hang out with, but he wouldn’t be the last either. He’s not one to normally have plans on a Saturday night, so maybe he could write my paper for me. What he lacks in social graces he makes up for in writing skills. He is always easy to get a favor from. Sometimes I feel a little badly always asking him for stuff, but it’s not like he has anything better to do, right? His mind works at about one thousand miles an hour, I’ll tell you what. He got up and started doing this tap dancing thing and was rambling on about how he should be a tap dancer. I’ll be honest, it made me crack a smile. Holden has a tendency to read into everything a little bit too much. I think that’s why he has such an opinion on people. I know he’s got mixed feelings about me. I’m much more popular than him. He much prefers goofy looking hats among other stuff, whereas I would rather try and wear clothes that make me look my best. I’d say I do a pretty nice job. He always asks questions about who I’m dating at the time. Sometimes you just have to tell him what he wants to hear or else he just will not shut up. As I was shaving, Holden put me in this strange wrestling move around my neck. I was starting to lose my patience with him and his clowning around. Sometimes he forgets I’m a lot stronger than him, and I simply pushed him off of me. I don’t think I was in the wrong here, I didn’t want to have a cut on my face for when I went back on my date. Tonight he was more interested than usual in who my date was. I had no problem in telling him who it was other than the fact I couldn’t remember exactly what the girl’s name is. I think it was Jean Gallagher. When Holden heard her name, he nearly freaked out. He corrected me and said her name was Jane not Jean. I’m glad he did that actually. Here he goes again. He started rambling about how they were neighbors and how she was a dancer. I kind of just pretend to listen when he goes on these rants. He has to have some idea that I am most disinterested. He wanted me to ask her something about checkers. I wasn’t paying attention when he mentioned it. But regardless, girls don’t want to talk about checkers on a date. I have always been one to get girls based off my looks and charm, not necessarily my knowledge of a board game. It was about time I get going, and I needed a jacket. Holden has a decent looking one so I just borrowed his. I’m not sure why he decided against coming down and saying hi to Jane, but it was just probably him getting all nervous and anxious.
I stepped onto the train and was about to find a seat when I thought I noticed a familiar sticker. A young man by himself on the train had a sticker on his suitcase I had seen before. Normally I would have chosen an empty seat and not bothered this young man but I was curious to see if he knew my son. The sticker was from the same school my son went to, so I proceeded down the aisle to speak with him. I thought for a moment that Pencey had not yet let the students out for their break, but first I wanted to know if he was friends with Ernest. I moved down the aisle and sat right next to the young man.
“Excuse me, but isn’t that a Pencey Prep sticker?” I asked.
“Yes, it is,” he replied.
“Oh, do you go to Pencey?” I asked. I was getting anxious to know whether or not he had met Ernest.
“Yes, I do,” said the young man.
“Oh, how lovely! Perhaps you know my son, then, Ernest Morrow? He goes to Pencey.”
“Yes, I do, he’s in my class.”
I was so excited to know how my son was getting along with the other students. He usually isn’t the most outgoing boy, so I was also nervous to know if he had integrated well into the school.
“Oh, how nice!” I replied. “I must tell Ernest we met,” I said. “May I ask your name dear?”
“Rudolf Schmidt,” he told me.
He had an interesting name, but this young man seemed quite nice. I still was wondering why Rudolf was out early, but I let it go. I wanted to talk more about Ernest.
“Do you like Pencey?” I asked him.
“Pencey? It’s not too bad. It’s not paradise or anything, but it’s as good as most schools. Some of the faculty are pretty conscientious,” he said.
“Ernest just adores it.”
“I know he does,” said the young man. “He adapts himself very well to things. He really does. I mean he really knows how to adapt himself.”
“Do you think so?” I said. I was shocked to hear what he was saying. It was such a wonderful thing to hear someone say about my son. I was sure this young man was too nice to say anything negative about Ernest, but to hear him say that about my son was such a pleasure.
“Ernest? Sure,” he said.
I went on to explain how we haven’t often seen that side of our son. “Ernest’s father and I sometimes worry about him,” I explained, “and we sometimes feel he’s not a terribly good mixer.”
“How do you mean?” he inquired.
“Well, he’s a very sensitive boy. He’s never really been a terribly good mixer with other boys. Perhaps he takes things a little more seriously than he should at his age,” I said
Rudolf certainly was an interesting young man. After a short conversation about smoking he really caught my attention again when he talked about Ernest.
“Old Ernie,” said the young man, “he’s one of the most popular boys at Pencey. Did you know that?”
“No, I didn’t,” I replied. This was even more unexpected news. I was so overjoyed to hear how great my boy was doing at Pencey that it was almost too good to be true.
After continuing to say how great Ernest was at school, the young man said, “Did he tell you about the elections?”
I couldn’t even talk at this point. I only shook my head no because I was so intrigued by what this young man had to say about my son.
“Well, a bunch of us wanted old Ernie to be president of the class. I mean he was the unanimous choice. I mean he was the only boy that could really handle the job,” he said. “But this other boy, Harry Fencer, was elected. And the reason he was elected, the simple and obvious reason, was because Ernie wouldn’t let us nominate him. Because he’s so darn shy and modest and all. He refused, boy he’s really shy. You oughta make him try to get over that.” He asked, “Didn’t he tell you about it?”
I told him Ernest didn’t say anything about it, and I was so happy after hearing that. I had always thought my son would be able to make it through Pencey, but to know that how much he is excelling is truly great. Rudolf and I talked for a little bit after that, but I couldn’t stop thinking about all the wonderful things he said about my son. That was honestly the best train ride I had ever taken.
Sunny:
So I have been working at the hotel for a little while now, me and this guy Maurice, who got a job as an elevator boy, and he asks people if they`re interested in me, and then I go to their hotel room. We've really got this system down, you know? Anyway it works out pretty well except for the fact that its not always attractive men who are interested. Every now and then there`s some pretty wacky guys I meet. In fact, just the other day Maurice told me I had to go to room 1222, to meet some guy who, "didn't want any old-bags" I got all pretty in this new green dress I had just gotten the other day, and I went over. I was hoping this was going to be another one of those real handsome guys who actually know what they're doing, but I open the door and find some kid standing there. Jim Steele he said his name was. I'll tell you though, even though he said he was twenty-two, he looked like some high school or college kid on their winter break. That night was one of the many nights I questioned the choices I had made. Then I snapped out of it and got to work. "Money is money", as my mom used to say, "No matter how you come about it". She was such a great role model. So then I start to get to take off my dress and all this kid wants to do is sit on the bed and talk and ask me about my life story or some crap! Then the kid says," he doesn't feel like it anymore". What the hell does that mean?! I'm standing here half naked and this kid is telling me that he is too good for me. I thought to myself, "Unbelievable. Of course I would get the 'twenty-two year-old' that acts like a child". I realized that this guy was acting like an innocent little child. Then the sucker told me he would pay for the fling even though nothing happened. I had started to feel a little bad for him at this point and was about to go over and ask what was wrong when the little punk tried to stiff me. This kid, who I thought was in way over his head tried to con me for half the price. He denied it, and denied it, and denied it. Whining about how Maurice really had said a fling was five-dollars. Honestly, did this kid think it was my first day doing this? That I didn't know how much what I was offering was. He gave me five dollars and no more, even though he was five short and he knew it. So I told old Maurice about him, and we both went up there to set this kid straight and get what we were owed. I will admit, I was impressed by how the kid held his ground. Then Maurice started hitting him and he would take every one of them and still refused. Eventually I couldn't stand it any more, what with all the blood and mess they were making, I took the five out of his wallet and nothing more, I would have taken another five for being so uncooperative but I felt bad for the kid and I am no thief. Maurice and I left and I never saw Jim again. I wonder if he ever found love, or more importantly, if he ever finally grew up.
I always enjoyed Holden’s company. I really appreciated it. He was the type of guy who you could hang around and not have to worry about him making a move. It was so refreshing. The summers we spent together were wonderful and I am always grateful to my dog for sneaking into his yard to take care of business. He liked everything about me, even the weird stuff like my terrible golf skills or the way I kept my kings in the back of the board. I thought the kings looked best in the back. We had a great relationship and I knew he truly trusted me when he showed me his brother’s baseball mitt. It had all these wonderful poems written on it and he really had an interesting brother. I really wish I could have met him before he passed away. And even through our mothers did not get along; he made an effort to spend time with me. Holden could always make me feel better in any instance, like the time we were playing checkers and got rudely interrupted by my horrid step-father. It was raining cats and dogs outside and we were playing checkers on my porch. Then my step-father came out, probably drunk, and asked if I knew where any cigarettes were. I could not answer him. I could not even answer him. When he asked me again, I stayed silent. I was so unbelievably sick of him and his drinking. It was so rude and disgusting. Why my mother could not choose a decent man, I will never know the reason? She needed who was respectful and kind. The fact that he was none of those things always bothered me. Finally he left but all this thinking made me really upset. Holden had never seen me cry and I could not break down in front of him so I just stayed silent and continued to look down. When he tried to ask me what was wrong, I could not hold my feelings in any longer. Silently, a single tear rolled down my cheek and made a small splat on a red square in the middle of the board. I quickly rubbed it away with my index finger, hoping he hadn’t seen. But as soon as he moved closer to me to give comfort, I broke down. All the thought of how much I hated my step-father all came out at once. The tears practically poured out of my eyes like water running out of a faucet. Then he embraced me and kissed me. He kissed me all over. His kissed the top of my head, my forehead, my cheeks, and even my nose. He never attempted to kiss my lips, though. I would not have minded, but I appreciate how he was more concerned with making me feel better than taking advantage of me vulnerability. From then on, I always felt more affectionate for Holden. I knew he would never take advantage of me. When were at the movies this one time, I began to rub the back of his neck. I knew he did not mind from the expression on his face. I have not seen him in a while but I definitely cannot wait to catch up with him soon.
Catcher in the Rye- Mr. Antolini’s Point of View
It was very late one night when I had received a call from Holden Caulfield. I was surprised, but glad to hear from him. He told me that he needed a place to stay, and I was more than happy to welcome him into my apartment for the night. Also, he sounded very ill and I wouldn’t have denied his company. I had been Holden’s former English teacher at the Elkton Hills School, and we both had a friendly relationship with each other. I could tell that I was one of the few teachers that Holden could relate to and felt comfortable around. After all, my class was one of the few that Holden has actually passed. I also knew that he tried to act tough and care-free around most people, but I knew that he had a certain level of respect for me, as I did for him. When his older brother, D.B., decided move out to Hollywood, did everything I could to convince him to stay. I knew that Holden needed that type of responsible, brotherly figure in his life as someone to look up to. Even though we kept in touch after he left Elkton Hills, I was anxious to hear how he was doing.
Anyway, while I was waiting for Holden to arrive, I had my wife, Lillian, put some coffee on in the kitchen. Meanwhile, Holden rang the doorbell. I hadn’t seen him in a while and was happy to find out how he was doing. He had told me about leaving Pencey Prep, but I wasn’t surprised about that. We both sat down for a while and were catching up when Lillian finally brought in the coffee. She brought it in just in time; Holden looked like he was just about ready to pass out. He looked even worse than he sounded over the phone earlier. Anyhow, we began to talk about his classes Pencey and he told me that he had passed English all right. Then, he told me about the Oral Expression class that he had flunked. He told me about this kid named Richard Kinsella who had to give a speech and how he kept going off topic and everyone yelled “digression!” at him. I then began to ask Holden some questions about what his plans were for his future. I mentioned that Holden himself was heading for a fall, one that will leave him very frustrated against the rest of the world. He has flunked out of so many schools and is too stubborn to listen to anyone. So stubborn, in fact, that he has practically refused to enter into the adult world and society. I told him that if he truly applied himself to school that he would learn that he could contribute a lot to the rest of the world. He would be able to express himself more clearly and could become a passionate thinker.
While speaking to Holden, he began to look worse than he did before. I briefly thought about taking him to the hospital, but then decided that maybe a good night’s rest would be good enough. I then got the linens from the closet and made up the couch for him. It didn’t take long for Holden to fall asleep. I decided to stay with him for a while to make sure that he was okay. After a while, Holden abruptly woke up and immediately insisted that he left. I suppose that I had made him uncomfortable by staying up to watch him. I began to think that Holden had gotten the wrong impression of me. It was obvious that his health was in very bad condition, and maybe he overreacted or was confused at my hospitality. I also realized, though, that Holden may have had the wrong interpretation of my genuine concern for him. After a while, however, I could tell the alcohol was beginning to wear off as the fuzziness faded from my head, and I realized that I had expressed my concern for Holden a little too much.
POV: Carl Luce
So I’m just relaxing, thinking about my date for later. Oh my I can’t wait, she’s so hot. My phone rings, I pick up and it’s a call from Holden. God damn, I thought I got rid of this kid after I graduated from Whooton. I was wondering what he could possibly want. He said he wanted to meet and get some drinks. It was the last thing I wanted to do before my date, especially with a little kid like Holden. The good in me took over and I accepted the offer. I got ready and headed over to the bar. I lied to him and told him I could only stay for a few minutes before I had to leave. Told him I had to go on a date with this great girl I’ve been seeing. Then I ordered a Martini, dry, my usual. I felt like this was going to end up more than a few minutes with Holden he seemed eager to see me. No surprise he tried to strike up a conversation. He said, “Hey I got a flit for you, at the end of the bar. Don’t look now, I’ve been saving him for ya.” God damn I thought, same old immature kid, hasn’t quite grown up yet. I told him, “Very funny. Same old Caulfield, when are you going to grow up?” Holden started boring the crap out of me. I started to wonder why I accepted this offer again? I could tell I was amusing Holden, he was interested in every word I had to say. Then he asked, “How’s your sex life?” C’mon Holden we’ve been here 5 minutes and you’re getting this personal? I told him, “ Relax. Just sit back and relax for Chrissake.” He kept bothering me asking about how I liked Columbia. I decided I should give him short answers, maybe he’ll calm down then. He tried to make some jokes, they weren’t funny, kinda reminded me of those stupid jokes he used to tell at Whooton. Then he tried asking for advice. I was wondering what the hell he was doing, I came here for conversation, not to give advice. He came back to my sex life. Good God! I could tell this would be a typical Caufield conversation. He kept talking about my ex. I could care less about her. I don’t know why he keeps bringing her up. He kept asking me about who I went around with now. I told him and he asked how old. I told him late thirties. He asked if the older women were good at sex. “God I need to get this kid a girl,” I kept thinking. I told him he needs to grow up. He kept asking away though and I don’t know why. I ordered another martini, boy did I need another to get my mind off of this annoying kid. He kept bothering me about this girl I’ve been seeing. He was getting real loud too so I told him to shut up. He seemed concerned about his sex life. He’s too immature. He decided to change the subject and ask about my dad the psychoanalyst and if he should get treated by him. I told him he could do what he wants. I could care less honestly. Then he asks me if I was ever psychoanalyzed by him. I was embarrassed so I told him no. I decided it was time to go. He was starting to piss me off.
I am writing from Stradlater’s view on the football game.
It sure is one hell of a cold night, I knew I shoulda taken this girl to the movies. I gotta stop mixing up her name, for Chrissake Jane is not that hard to remember. But for some reason I keep on wantin to call her Jean. She’s a pretty little thing to look at, but there are some other nice lookin girls out tonight. She keeps dropping some obvious hints that she’s thirsty, maybe I’ll get her a drink from the concession stand. Damn but nothin’s cheap these days. Oh what the hell, it can’t be that expensive. “Hey sweetheart you want something to drink?” At first she hesitates, but gives in. I go over to the concession stand where a nice lookin blonde is working it. I order two hot chocolates and leave a tip. You never know, I might see her again and I could strike up a conversation with her about how generous that tip was. So while I was walking back to Jane some chump knocks right into me and I spill one of the hot chocolates all over my gray flannel. I was ready for start swinging at the guy until I realized it was my English teacher. Man this guy got under my skin. He apologized about a million times, I told him it was fine. When I finally got back to Jane she was all worked up. She said I shoulda made the guy buy me a new jacket. I told her that it was no big deal, but I did want to get changed. She said she would come up with me to the school and didn’t mind to wait. She really is a nice girl, I gotta remember to keep in touch with this one. So when we finally got into school, I raced to my room. Now just to forewarn you, my roommate can be kinda on the strange side. He’s been to a million different schools and always wears that damn red hunting cap. I really ought to tell him to get rid of that ugly thing, it sure ain’t no girl magnet. But really he doesn’t seem that bad of a kid I guess. I finally make it to the room and one of the first things I see is the kid from next door, Ackley. I could go on forever about that kid. We don’t quite see eye-to-eye. I ask Holden if I can borrow his hounds’-tooth coat. He says I’ll stretch it out but that’s a bit of an exaggeration. I have time for a quick shave so I grab my shaving kit and head to the can. Shaving for some reason always calms my nerves. I hear the door open and from the mirror I see Holden. I’m kinda glad he came, he’s an interesting kid. He can hold a good conversation every once in a while. Not only is he a good kid to talk to but I think he’s a decent writer. He’s always reading those goddamn books. I wonder if I can convince him to write my composition...
I was sitting in class when there was a knock at the door. My teacher, answered it as the class went silent, all trying to hear what was going on. I was nervous and anxious when she called me outside in the hall. “Awhhhhh” said a few kids in hushed voices, followed by the whispers of my classmates. There was nothing I had done wrong… that I could remember at least. When she handed me the note I had no idea what was going on. It was folded so many times I knew it couldn’t have been from an adult which was somewhat of a relief. I saw the sloppy handwriting and immediately recognized it as Holden’s. I could barely read it; you could tell he had something important to say. In the note he told me he was going to leave New York tonight. Then it hit me. Holden promised me he was going to stay. This news was worse than getting in trouble with any teacher. He wasn’t going to leave without me I had a plan. I continued to sit in class staring at the clock until it was time to get out. When the bell rang I ran out of that school as fast as possible. I had to get home and back to the museum fast enough before Holden would leave. I knew I had to pack the essentials. I brought two dresses, my favorite shoes, I even remembered my toothbrush. Before leaving again I grabbed the little money I had left under the mattress. Along with the money Holden already had this should be enough for a while… right? Before leaving I put on Holden’s hunting cap and went to the back elevator.
I made it to the museum to see Holden in time. I was fuming. He didn’t understand at first why I had my bags. I immediately started to plead my case. But Holden kept telling me to “shut up”. You know he could at least listen. “PLEASE let me come with you!!!! Why can’t I? Please Holden, I won’t do anything I promise! I’ll just go with you!” He gave me this long speech about why I couldn’t come. He told me he needed to get away. It wouldn’t be safe for me…BLAH BLAH BLAH. “I WANT TO COME WITH YOU!” I kept pleading and I finally broke down in tears. “Shut up, just shut up Pheobe!” He began this long speech I’m not really sure how it ended all I can remember was the beginning.
“Pheobe, I won’t go if you don’t want me to. I guess I’ll stay for a little while if you want. I’ll even go to that goddam play of yours if that’s what you want. Just stop crying.” I don’t remember the rest, he probably gave me some reason as to why he changed his mind but I really didn’t care. I knew he couldn’t stand seeing me cry, works every time. I was so happy he was staying, but of course I wouldn’t let him see that. He shouldn’t have scared me like that; I thought he was going to leave! I decided I’d give him the cold shoulder for a little while, but of course I’d eventually cave in. It didn’t matter because I’d done my job of getting him to stay.
Pg. 191
“ All right. Good night, handsome.”
“G’night, sir. Thanks a lot.”
Once Holden went to bed I went into the kitchen and had another highball while I read a knew book I just got. After I finished my high ball and the chapter I was on, I walked over to Holden’s bed. At that point in the night I was quite drunk and was not thinking very straight, and when finally I reached his bed, after fumbling around the room, I decided to sit down and admire him for a while.
He really was quite a handsome boy, and I always had thought that while I was his teacher a few years ago. Although, even though I thought he was handsome boy I would never cross that line of having gay thoughts for him. Never would I have gay thoughts for him. I am straight, and I like women. That’s the end of the story. But while I was sitting there I had this sudden urge to start petting his head. Looking back I do not know why I had that urge. Part of it probably had to do with that I was extremely drunk, and when I get drunk I do weird things some times. Looking back I wish I had never done it, because I believe he go the wrong picture of what I was doing. I believe he thought I was being some sort of a pervert or something like that.
So after I was petting his head for a while he woke up.
“What the hell are you doing?” he said.
“Nothing! I’m simply sitting here admiring”
“What’re ya doing, anyway?” Holden said over again.
At that point I was very confused about what was going on. I was still extremely intoxicated at this point, and was hard to comprehend what was going on so I tried to calm him down.
“How ‘bout keeping your voice down? I’m simply sitting here”, I said.
He then said, “I have to go anyway,”
At that point I could tell he was really nervous for some reason. I truly think he thought I was some kind of pervert. It really kills me looking back that he would think that of me. I mean I have know him for so long!! How could he think I would do something to perverty to him? Luckily though I was starting to come to at this point and could somewhat process what was going on.
I then asked him, “You have to go where?” At this point all I wanted to do was to get him to clam down, but it did not seem like I was doing a good job.
He then said, “I left my bags and all at the station. I think maybe I’d better go down and get them. I have all my stuff in them.”
“They’ll be there in the morning. Now go back to bed. I’m going to bed myself. What’s the matter with you?’’ I said.
He then surprised me and raised his voice and said, “ No, seriously, I have to go!!”
He then ran out the door, and that was the last time I saw that Holden Caulfield boy. It truly was one of the most unusual nights of my life................
Sally Hayes (Part 1):
I was supposed to meet Holden at two o’clock, so when I finished getting ready I headed to the lobby. I spotted Holden as I walked up the stairs. He was sitting on one of the leather couches looking deep in thought, as he always does. I was wearing my favorite black coat and my new beret. When Holden saw me, he sort of gaped at me and then stumbled forward to meet me.
“Holden! It’s marvelous to see you! It’s been ages.” I said.
“Swell to see you. How are ya, anyway?” he said.
He looked very happy to see me. I told him I was doing marvelous and asked him if I was late, because I did spent those few extra minutes touching up my hair. He said I wasn’t late, though.
“What are we going to see?” I asked.
“I don’t know. The Lunts. It’s all I could get tickets for,” he said.
The Lunts were my absolute favorite. I told him that was marvelous, and I went with him to the cab. I was truly very excited.
While Holden is very fun to spend time with, he is rather odd. His mind always seems to go off to some faraway place, and the things that he says can really surprise you sometimes. During the cab ride over to the theatre, for example, Holden told me that he loved me. I was rather shocked by the statement, but I didn’t want to offend the poor boy. I told him that I loved him too, and quickly changed the subject. I told him that he should grow out his hair, because it would look lovely if he grew it long. Honestly, that crew cut that he had really looked corny sometimes.
The show was absolutely marvelous. The Lunts were fantastic, and they even drank real tea during the show. After the first act we went out to the lobby for a smoke. I saw a boy across the room who seemed very familiar. When I said this to Holden, he said, “Why don’t you go on over and give him a big soul kiss, if you know him? He’ll enjoy it.”
Honestly, sometimes he can say deep things like, “I love you,” but in the next minute he’ll go and say something rude like that. I will never understand him.
Anyway, the boy from across the room turned out to be my great friend George, who goes to Andover. He’s quite a gentleman, and we talked about old friends and how great the Lunts were in the show. We talked some more after the second act ended, and he walked with us for a couple of blocks after the show before he had to meet some friends for cocktails.
When Holden and I got in the cab, I had the most brilliant idea.
“Let’s go ice-skating at Radio City!” I said. A girl I knew, Jeanette Cultz, had gone the week before. She told me about these darling skating skirts that you can rent when you go.
“Ice-skating at Radio City? You mean right now?” Holden said.
Well of course I meant now. I started to tell him that if he didn’t want to go, it was alright, but he said that he did, so we went.
Sally Hayes (Part 2):
We rented skates, and I got to wear this darling little blue skating skirt. The truth is, though, I’m not a very good skater. I mean, neither was Holden. You should have seen how clumsy he looked. It was quite embarrassing having people see us skating so terribly. My ankles were really hurting, so I agreed with Holden when he suggested going inside and having a drink. We ordered some Cokes, but I wasn’t too thirsty all of the sudden. I asked Holden if he would come trim the tree with us on Christmas Eve, and he said that he would.
All of the sudden Holden started asking me about school. He asked me if I hated it. I told him I didn’t exactly hate it. Then Holden started ranting so fast that I couldn’t make sense of anything he was trying to say. He shouted about school and New York and cars and fitted pants. I tried to tell him to stop shouting, and he got a little quieter, but he was still ranting. He said I was the only reason he was in New York, and he was really starting to scare me. He started yelling about how terrible boys’ schools are and how everyone is a phony. I tried to calm him down but he kept on going.
Then he started talking about running away to Massachusetts and Vermont and whatnot and living by a creek.
“You can’t just do something like that,” I said.
“Why not? Why the hell not?” he yelled back.
I told him that his plan was unrealistic and that we were almost children and needed to go to school. I told him we could wait until after college. That really made him mad. He started telling me that it wouldn’t be the same in this really low voice. I said that I simply didn’t understand him.
“C’mon, let’s get outa here,” he said. “You give me such a royal pain in the ass, if you wanna know the truth.”
No boy had ever said that to me. I couldn’t help it. I started crying and yelling. I wouldn’t accept any of his apologies. I wouldn’t even let him take me home. I just wanted him to go away, and he did eventually. He just left me sitting there in that bar. And even though I told him to go away, I still can’t believe that he actually left me there.
I felt the bed dip down near my feet, and smelled cigarette smoke in the air. “Wake up, Pheob,” a voice said. I looked around at the darkness in the room, and to my surprise, Holden was sitting at the edge of my bed. I yelled his name, and immediately flung my arms around him. It had been so long since I had seen my brother, and I was so happy to have him home. I did not know exactly what time it was, but the darkness told me that it must have been very late at night. I asked him when he got home. I wondered why he was home because I knew he was not supposed to be back from school till Wednesday, but I did not question him about this yet. I was eager to hear if he had recieved my letter I had written him earlier in the week telling him all about my play. I was so excited telling him my about my accomplishment as the biggest role in the play, Benedict Arnold, that I could barely get out all the details. After I got him to promise to come, I started questioning him about why he was home so early, but he insisted that I keep my voice low and avoided my question. He must not have known mother and daddy were out, and he seemed to not want to talk to them for some reason. Holden was insistent on knowing what time mother and daddy would be home, but I ignored him. I told him about the movie I went to called “The Doctor,” which was pretty great, if I do say so myself. My best friend in the whole wide world, Alice Holmborg, went with me, but I made the mistake of sitting in between her and her and her mother, who kept interrupting the picture check on Alice and her cold. Man was that annoying. Anyway, Holden seemed to relax a bit after I finally told him our parents would not be home till very late. He showed me the record he bought me that broke, but I was still pretty excited he got me a gift. That was really great of him, so wanted to keep the pieces. Holden and I were chatting for a bit, and he asked me about the cut on my arm, which was caused by an annoying boy in my grade who always seemed to be picking on me. Holden thinks he likes me. The thought came back to my head, yet again, and I asked him why he was back so early. I asked him if he got kicked out again and he said he got out early, but I know him so well, and could tell he was lying. My brother has been kicked out of so many schools, I couldn’t believe it. I was so upset that and immediately thought of how much trouble Holden would be in. What if daddy killed him! I knew for sure he would be much angrier then the last time he got kicked out. I shoved the pillow over my head and just about a million thoughts flew threw my mind. I could not believe this had happened again. What would Holden do with the rest of his life when he does not even like anything! It took a while for Holden to get that pillow off of my head. I could be very stubborn when I want to be, but even after he assured that daddy would not kill him, I was still worrying about my brother.
I am not particularly fond of Holden Caulfield. For one he is lazy and takes no interest in his school work. He lacks passion for anything he does and likes to take the easy way out. He often rambles and goes on long rants. He jumps from topic to topic and has a tendency to go on and on about subjects that are irrelevant or insignificant. He also complains too much, often about things that aren’t worth complaining about like certain sayings or phrases that annoy the heck out of him. One that stands out among them all is “good luck.” This is what old Spencer says to Holden when he leaves his house after their long talk about his expulsion from Pencey Prep and him flunking history. Also, the lady towards the end of the book who Holden encounters at Phoebe’s school says “good luck” to Holden after he gives her the note to give to Phoebe telling her to meet him when she got out of class around noon. He also hates quite a lot about people in general including their phoniness. He claims that Pencey Prep is full of them. He is very much a character of contradiction. He exhibits many of the phony qualities that he so much despises. He also tries hard to hold onto his youth by associating with children and trying not to grow up, but he tells in the beginning of the book that he had a lousy childhood. Why would one person want to stay a child and not grow up if he claimed to have such a lousy childhood? Holden is very tall for his age and even has gray hair. His appearance is more like an adult while his actions more resemble that of a 13 year old. Holden fails all but one of his classes, making him seem somewhat dumb but he may actually have a hidden intelligence that the rest of society is unable to recognize. His stupidity, hospitalization, and inability to connect with others also make him a highly unreliable narrator. Holden is too judgmental for my taste. Not only does he judge those who are phony, but also those who are boring or even insecure. Holden’s attitude towards sex is also a hard one to figure out. He claims to believe that sex should happen between a man and woman who care deeply about each other; however, he spends quite a bit of time trying to find a girl to have sex with who he doesn’t particularly care too deeply about. Among those are Jane Gallagher, Faith Cavendish, Sunny the Prostitute, and Sally Hayes. I think that Holden is quite selfish. He spends the entire book thinking of himself and his own feelings about situations without any regards to how the people around him might be feeling. For example, when Holden gets the boot out of Pencey Prep he doesn’t think to notify his parents who spent their hard earned money to give him the privilege of attending such a prestigious school. He immediately starts to think of every way possible to avoid going home before the Wednesday that his school gets out for winter vacation. He even imposes on one of his former teachers, Mr. Antolini, to stay at his home in the middle of the night to avoid having any confrontation with his parents that would cause him to have to spill the beans to them about him getting kicked out of Pencey. Then he even leaves Mr. Antolini’s home in the middle of the night and doesn’t return even after he was so kind to him and even offered him some helpful advice on how to live his life. I can understand why some people might respect Holden Caulfield because they may be able to relate to his personality or life situations, but I just can’t connect or relate with him and thus do not care too much at all for the young fellow.
“Holden!” I said. “It’s marvelous to see you! It’s been ages!” I was hoping I wasn’t too late, but Holden didn’t seem to mind at all. He told me we were going to see the Lunts—how grand! As we were fooling around in the cab on the way to the theater I noticed how nice Holden’s hair is. If only he got rid of that corny crew cut! Then, out of nowhere, he told me he loved me and I was equally flattered and confused. “Oh darling, I love you too!” I told him. The show was just wonderful! The other actors were good but the Lunts were just lovely. I really can’t get over how talented they are. Holden didn’t say much about the show, but the Lunts were so marvelous that I can’t imagine he didn’t enjoy it. When we went outside for a cigarette after the first act, I saw a boy that looked quite familiar. I’m not sure where I knew him from—oh! Of course, I had met him last month at another one of the Lunts’s shows. It was George from Andover, how could I have forgotten? He came over and said hello and we got to talking about what angels the Lunts are. He was so lovely to talk to that we started discussing all these people and places we knew. After the next act was over, he walked Holden and I to our cab—what a gentleman George is! I had gotten so wrapped up in my conversation with George that I had almost forgotten about my darling Holden. I felt sort of bad, but I had this absolutely grand idea to make up for it. “Let’s go ice-skating at Radio City!” I heard Jeanette Cultz went and rented one of those little skating skirts there last week. I had to rent one too; it just looked darling on me! It’s a good thing I looked swell in my skirt because Holden was falling all over the ice. He had even drawn a crowd of rubberneckers, the poor thing! He offered to go inside and I told him it was a marvelous idea; I was embarrassed enough for both of us. After we sat down and ordered drinks, Holden was being a terrific bore. He just sat at the table lighting matches and watching them burn down. “Look, I have to know. Are you or aren’t you coming over to help me trim the tree Christmas Eve? I have to know.” I said to break the silence. He said he told me that he would about twenty times when he wrote to me but I don’t ever remember him telling me that. Anyway, then Holden started to ask me all these questions. They were strange questions about school and cars and other stuff. I was uninterested in the conversation—all I could think about was how marvelous George is. He wouldn’t have been asking me all these boring questions. In fact, George and I would probably be having a lovely chat about the Lunts right now. Holden got my attention when he started talking about his plan to run away to Massachusetts or Vermont. He certainly was acting crazy—doesn’t he know that you can’t just do that! You can’t just leave whenever you please without a job or money or a house. Oh, that Holden! He really needs to grow up. He kept on talking about his crazy plan and was making even less sense when he finally insulted me. I’m not going to tell you exactly what he said, but it made me so angry. I even cried. You can’t just say that kind of stuff to a girl. He tried to apologize, but you know what I did? I got right up and left and went to the bar where George was having drinks with friends. That Holden just needs to grow up.
I remember just laying there, in my bed, half asleep. I heard someone rustling through my notebook and things but I thought I was just dreaming. Suddenly, I felt someone sit on my bed and I heard them say, “Wake up, Pheob.”
I opened my eyes and there he was.
“Holden!” I said.
It was such a surprise to see Holden considering he wasn’t supposed to be home until Wednesday for Christmas break and it was only Monday. I immediately gave him a hug. Holden sometimes thinks I’m too affectionate, but it only seemed that way because I was so happy to see him.
“Whenja get home?” I asked curiously.
“Not so loud. Just now. How are ya anyway?” he asked me.
“I’m fine. Did you get my letter? I wrote you a five page—“
“Yeah— not so loud. Thanks.” It seemed like he was in a rush to get outta there or something. I wondered if he’d actually read it. It was about a play I was going to be in, called, “A Christmas Pageant for Americans.” I wrote him the letter to make sure that he wouldn’t make any plans for the Friday of the play so he could come see me in it. I never get to see Holden anymore. He always just seemed so busy, whether he was out on a date with a girl or just out and about in New York. I get mad at him when he doesn’t take me places. I wanted to go to the park a few months ago, to ride the carousel, but Holden didn’t “feel” like it. He thought that carousels were phony. That the people didn’t care if you had fun or not on the ride, and that they just wanted to take your money. Holden then reassured me that he’d be coming to my play. It made me happy. It finally crossed my mind again that Holden wasn’t supposed to be home until Wednesday.
“Listen. Mother said you’d be home Wednesday,” “She said Wednesday.” I said.
“I got out early.” Holden said. I knew something was up by the way he answered me. I was a smart girl, and Holden knew it too. My parents were at a party in Norwalk and wouldn’t be home ‘til late and I was now wide awake. I kept wondering why Holden was home so early so I kept bothering him. “Holden, how come you’re not home Wednesday? You didn’t get kicked out or anything did you?” I asked sternly.
“I told you. They let us out early. They let the whole—“
“You did get kicked out! You did!” I hit him on the leg with my fist. “You did! Oh, Holden!” “Daddy’ll kill you!” I cried. I knew something was up! I flopped over on my stomach and put my pillow over my head. This was the fourth time Holden has gotten kicked out of a school. It made me sad because Daddy was going to kill him. I didn’t like it when Holden was in trouble. I don’t want him to be sent away. I don’t know what I’d do if I never got to see him again.
"Nobody's gonna kill me. Use your head. In the first place, I'm going away. What I may do, I may get a job on a ranch or something for a while. I know this guy whose grandfather's got a ranch in Colorado. I may get a job out there," I said. "I'll keep in touch with you and all when I'm gone, if I go. C'mon. Take that off your head. C'mon, hey, Phoeb. Please. Please, willya?”
I didn’t want to take the pillow off of my head because I didn’t want to talk to Holden. I didn’t want him to go away and I figured if I didn’t talk, he’d feel bad and maybe stay. Holden decided to leave the room. He was as stubborn as me sometimes. So I just laid there, thinking about Holden leaving and how it’d make me sad.
Narrator is Stradlater when he gets back from his date with Jane Gallagher.
“Where the hell is everybody? It’s like a goodamn morgue around here.” I said to my roommate Holden Caulfield as I was getting undressed.
Holden did not respond. He was someone who always seemed to be in deep thought. That is probably why he is flunking out of the school. He did say however that he did write my composition for me so he is not all that bad. I went over to look at the composition he wrote for me.
I looked at it and said, “For Chrissake Holden, it is about a baseball glove.”
He responded like it was no big deal. I just told him to write about a room or something so it would seem like something I would do. The fact that this guy Holden could not even listen to what I said really made me angry and I told him that this is why he flunked out of the school. Then he just tore up the whole composition which really made me angry.
After tearing up the composition, Holden began smoking a cigarette which really made me angry. This was strictly against the rules and if I was caught breaking the rules; I could be suspended from the basketball team. As he was sitting there on his bed with a cigarette, he begins asking me about my date that I just went on. I just tried to ignore and pretend I was preoccupied with cutting my toenails but he persisted. The girl I was with, Jane Gallagher knew Holden and he thought he was special for some reason because of it. He asked me all of these weird personal questions about her that I did not know because I just dated with her once. He finally asked where we went for the hundredth time.
I responded to him by saying, “Nowhere, we just sat in the car.”
He asked me whose car and I told him it was my coaches who I am very close with. Holden always seems to have a problem that I am tight with my coach. Probably it is because he has no one to be tight with. Then he asked me if I gave her the time. That is something I do not talk about and definitely would not talk about with Holden Caulfield.
Holden then did the strangest thing, he got up off of his bed and came over and punched me in the face. I was a little caught off guard by it but it did not hurt too much. I then responded by punching him in the face and tackling him to the ground.
“What the hell is the matter with you,” I said.
He did not listen to me and instead of making peace with me, he kept talking and calling me names. For such a scrawny kid, Holden had a huge mouth. He then called me a moron which really crossed the line for me. I composed myself and told him he had one more shot but the kid is so stupid he called me a moron again so, I hit him in the face again.
I stood over and told the dumb kid, “You asked for it, God damn it.”
I was originally angry but then felt bad that the kid was sitting on the ground so I told him to go wash his face. This is why I am going to be happy when I get someone who is less annoying as a roommate than Holden Caulfield next semester when he is not here.
Phoebe’s point of view pgs. 205-213 : I thought it was pretty strange for Holden to leave me a note saying he wanted to meet at the museum and all. It knew it had to be really important if he wanted to meet this afternoon; I thought he was leaving a few days from now. I packed my bags just in case he decided to leave today; and I was right. I was determined to follow him though; I wasn’t going to leave him, and I thought I could knock some sense into him if I followed him. After he told me to go back to school and leave him alone I was pretty sore at him. I decided to follow him for a while, but I kept my distance and didn’t want to talk to him. After a bit of walking my brother went into the zoo, so I followed him. It was kind of annoying me now, I wish he would stop acting like such a little kid and just go back to mom and dad and tell them the truth and all. I mean jeez he seems to act younger than I do half the time, I wondered when he would finally grow up. Back to the story though; I followed Holden into the zoo and tried to act like I wasn’t paying attention to him so I started to watch the sea lions being fed for a bit. I wasn’t interested in the sea lions that much though I was too worried about Holden to care about the sea lions, but any other day I would have loved to go to the zoo. Then we stopped by the bears, but they were boring, so we left the zoo soon after. After we left the zoo we crossed the street and started heading towards the park; we walked through the tunnel and I heard the carrousel playing the song “Oh, Marie!” That brought back some nice memories; when D.B. and Allie were still around all four of us would go to the park and I would go on the carrousel. I started to forget that I was so mad at Holden and decided to talk to him. He was nice enough to buy me a ticket for the carrousel; I was a little old to still go on the carrousel, but I couldn’t resist. I asked Holden if he wanted to go on, but I already knew he probably wouldn’t. So I got onto the carrousel and chose one of the old beat up horses. It was pretty nice it got me to forget about all that was going on for a little bit. After the ride had ended I went up to Holden and asked if he was telling the truth about going back home; he said he wasn’t lying. That made me really happy I knew it was the best for him. Then it started to rain, but I hadn’t cared and I got another ticket and got on the carrousel just in time. I was so happy for everything, especially for my big bro to finally be heading home.
Maurice
The day was near gone, and it was a crappy day to add. It was freezing outside and the snow was coming down hard, stinging your face with every flake. Anyways, as my shift at the hotel was winding down, a preppy kid jumped into my elevator. My “side-business” was slow that day, if know what I mean, so I thought I’d try to get a buck or two off this kid. He looked like he was having a lousy day too, so I’d thought I’d take a swing.
Soon after he stepped into the elevator, I said to him, “Innarested in having a good time, fella? Or is it too late for you?”
He looked confused as all hell when I said this to him. He said in this shaky, quivering voice, “How do you mean?”
After hearing that, I knew that he had no idea what I was talking about. I don’t blame him though. The kid didn’t look a day over 16. I just laughed to myself, thinking about how naive this kid was. But hey, I thought I’d help the kid out, give him another chance to pick up what I put down. So, I said, “You know. Innarested in a little tail t’night?”
As soon as I said that, his light bulb lit up. He nearly collapsed when I said it. He knew exactly what I was talking about.
“Me,” he gasped. That killed me. He was so surprised by the offer that he didn’t even think I could be talking to him.
In the back of my mind, I was just wondering how old this kid was. He looked young as ever, not nearly old enough to drink. So I asked him. “How old are you, chief?”
Immediately this kid put on his serious, grown up face. In a forced low voice, the kid said, “Why?”
I just looked at him. Didn’t even say a single word. The kid was forced to say his age, so he responded with, “Twenty-two.”
Ha! Twenty-two! Like hell he was. Like I said, I could tell he was a young one. I usually don’t offer kids these kinds of, well, “services,” but like I said, it had been a slow night so I thought I’d take a shot at making a few extra bucks. So I let the age thing slide.
“Uh huh,” I said. “Well, how ‘bout it? Y’innarested? Five bucks a throw. Fifteen bucks the whole night.” Then I remembered the time and changed my offer. “Till noon. Five bucks a throw, fifteen bucks till noon.”
The kid was quick with his reply of, “Okay.” Then he said something that really made me laugh. The boy said, “Hey, is she good-looking? I don’t want any old bag.”
I thought that was just the funniest thing in the world. I pacified his worry and told him not to worry about it, that I’d fix him up nice. I could tell he was a bit excited. Probably the first time something like this ever happened to the kid.
I got the information I needed from the kid and headed up to Sunny’s room. I knocked on the door and told her to head on down to twelve twenty-two for a throw. She nodded and soon was on her way to the kid’s room.
I’m not really in a big rush to meet Holden. It’s better if you make them wait than to show them how desperate you are by actually showing up on time. I took my good ol’ time. When I got there though, he lied and told me I wasn’t late at all. Of course I knew I was. “Holden! It’s marvelous to see you, it’s ages.” It really was marvelous to see him, he looked swell, and I was really looking forward to going to the theater. “So what’re we going to see?” I asked. “I don’t know. It’s called the Lunts, it’s all I could get tickets for.” You should have seen my face when he said the Lunts. “The Lunts! Oh marvelous!” I had wanted to see the Lunts for a week. I was so happy, I even fooled around with him in the cab even though I was wearing my lipstick. He was just being so persistent, and he was taking me to a great show so he deserved it a little. I even told him I loved him back after he told me. I didn’t mean it in the same way he did, of course, but still. I thought maybe it would also be helpful in convincing him to let his hair grow. I do like long hair on a guy, especially his. His hair was just so lovely, and I told him that too. He didn’t have enough time to answer because we arrived at the theatre right after I said it. The show was marvelous. It was about a girl whose parents didn’t want her to marry this boy but she does anyway. It was a classic love story, with drama of course. Holden and I went out with the others for cigarettes after the first act, and we all talked about how marvelous the play was. Then, I saw someone who looked familiar across the street. I know Holden was sore when I told him I knew that guy, because he made a rude comment about going over and giving him a big kiss. I was sore after that so I stopped talking to him for a little bit. But after a minute or two, the guy I recognized came over and talked to me. We had a good conversation, and he walked us to our cab but I didn’t want to go home yet. I had the marvelous idea of going ice skating at Radio City! Holden agreed, and I got to wear one of those skating skirts which made me look just lovely, and I know Holden thought so too. Who wouldn’t? But anyway, we were the two worst skaters. We were falling everywhere, and it was just embarrassing. We finally decided to go inside and have dinner. All the sudden, Holden just started talking crazily. He started saying what phonies everyone was and how boy schools all you do is talk about girls, liquor, and sex. He asked me to run away with him to start a new life and to marry him to get away from all these “phonies.” I told him we have just oodles of time to do that stuff, and you can’t just do something like that when were children. He starting yelling at me saying how different it would be if we waited. I yelled at him back, and he told me I gave him a pain in the ass. What kind of boy says that to a girl? It was just rude. He apologized profusely but I figured it was just because I was crying and that he didn’t actually mean it. I couldn’t forgive him for that anyway, especially after he started laughing. It made me cry harder because I was so mad. I finally got him to leave so I could go home and forget all about Holden Caufield.
I remember that it all started when I came back with my date with Jean and read “my” English descriptive essay. I remember being upset because that sonuvabitch, Holden, wrote my damn descriptive essay about a goddam baseball glove. He doesn’t do one damn thing the way he is supposed to. No wonder Holden was expelled. I remember Holden ripping up the essay after that and trying to annoy me more he had to smoke a goddam cigarette. He kept asking me about my date with Jean. He was asking me why I was back pretty goddam late since she only signed out for nine-thirty. I don’t know why he cares so much. He kept asking me if I gave Jean the time in Ed Banky’s car. Now that I think about it more I feel like Holden actually like Jean that is why he kept asking me about her. I was being a sonuvabitch to Holden. If he really did have feelings for Jean then that’s why he got so damn upset at me. I sort of feel terrible now. The fight was stupid; all over a goddam girl that I will most likely never see again. I mean it’s not like I gave her the time. Holden just had to keep insulting me. I wouldn’t tell him anything though. It wasn’t his goddam business. Holden tried hitting me so I pinned him on the floor with my knees on his chest. I had his wrists held down so he wouldn’t try to punch me again. He kept calling me a sonuvabitch as I had him pinned. He was rambling on about how I don’t care if a girl kept all her kings in the back row or not. I don’t even know what he was talking about. Then he called me a goddam moron. I really hate it when people call me a moron, yet Holden kept calling me a goddam moron as if he wanted to be punched. I remember warning him to shut up, but of course that sonuvabitch wouldn’t shut up. I asked him if I got up if he would shut up. I got up when he said yes except for the fact that when I got up he called me a moron again, which really mad me mad. I slightly remember warning him again. Holden was really making me mad. I ended up punching him so hard that he was on the floor. Holden was pretty bloody after that. I was worried after that because that sonuvabitch could have told on me and because I wasn’t sure if I really hurt him. He was asking for it though. That kid needs to mind his own goddam business. He can never seen to keep his goddam mouth shut. I had to leave the room after that because Holden was being a goddam sonuvabitch, so I went to the can. I remember when I came back Holden was in Ackley’s room. I just wanted to let everything calm down at that point because I really didn’t want to get in trouble.
I remember waiting in the Trenton station for quite a while, and finally the train arrived. Considering how late it was, I was not surprised to see that the whole car was empty except for one young man. I needed to sit in the front seat because I had such a big bag with me, and of course the young man was sitting there. I put my bag in the aisle because no one else was in the car and sat down next to him. I remember being pretty tired since I went to a party my friend Mildred threw.
We sat in silence for quite a while, and then I noticed something on his suitcase. On one his suitcases there was a sticker. The sticker said: “Pencey Prep” on it. Pencey Prep is a very nice school where my son, Ernest, went. I thought Pencey was an excellent school. As soon as I saw this I asked him if it was indeed a Pencey Prep sticker and he said it was. Then I asked him if he went to Pencey and, again, he said yes.
“Oh, how lovely! Perhaps you know my son, then, Ernest Morrow? He goes to Pencey.”
“Yes, I do. He’s in my class.”
When he said that I started to wonder what he thought of my son – perhaps they were great friends?
“Oh, how nice! I must tell Ernest we met. May I ask your name, dear?” I said.
He told me his name was Rudolf Schmidt. At first I thought it was a very odd name, so I just nodded because I didn’t want to seem judgmental or anything. Then I asked him if he liked Pencey and he said it wasn’t too bad, but it was as good as most schools. I then told him that my son adored it, which I really thought he did. Rudolf agreed with me and said that Ernest really knows how to adapt himself. This shocked me a little bit, and I became quite interested. It’s not that I didn’t think that about my son, I did, but to hear it from one of his classmates was remarkable.
I took off my gloves and told him I had just broken a nail getting out of a cab, which I did, and it was bothering me a little. I ignored it, however, and sort of smiled at Rudolf. He was a nice kid and we were having a lovely badinage. Then I told him that my husband and I worry about Ernest sometimes because he’s a very sensitive boy. He looked at me kind of funny as if I what I just said was completely insane. I knew Ernest didn’t get along with boys that well, but he could be sensitive at times.
“Would you care for a cigarette?” he said.
I remember looking to see if anyone was around and then I told him that we weren’t really supposed to smoke on the train. He said it was fine until they started screaming at us, so I went ahead and took the cigarette.
I looked at him funny, again, because his nose was bleeding. I told him that and he said he got hit with a snowball. I felt kind of sorry for him.
“Old Ernie,” he said. “He’s one of the most popular boys at Pencey. Did you know that?”
I didn’t know that at all actually, and that’s exactly what I told him. Then he said Ernest was a funny guy, but also strange. He said Ernest wasn’t snobbish and that he had a very original personality. I thought that was really nice of him to say. I then shook my head when he asked if Ernest had told me about the class elections. Rudolf said that everyone wanted him to run for class president, but he wouldn’t do it because he was shy and modest. Then the train conductor came and took my ticket. It gave me a chance to really think about what Rudolf had just told me because I never knew these things about my son. I wondered what else he hadn’t told me.
“Wake up, Phoeb,” someone whispered into my ear. I jerked awake and saw … Holden! He was home already!
“Holden!” I shouted as I hugged him tightly around his neck. It was so wonderful to see him again. He gave me an awkward kiss as I excitedly asked, “Whenja get home?”
“Not so loud. Just now,” he replied. “How are ya anyway?”
“I’m fine. Did you get my letter? I wrote you a five-page-”
“Yeah – not so loud. Thanks.” I had written Holden that letter a little while ago, and I had told him about the play in which I starred as Benedict Arnold. Then Holden asked, “How’s the play? What’d you say the name of it was?” Sometimes he can be so forgetful.
“’A Christmas Pageant for Americans,’” I replied excitedly. “It stinks, but I’m Benedict Arnold. It starts out when I’m dying. This ghost comes in on Christmas Eve and asks me if I’m ashamed and everything.” Holden looked like he was trying to figure out what I was saying, so I decided to refresh his memory on history more. “You know. For betraying my country and everything. Are you coming to it?” I sat up straight as I waited for a response that didn’t come. I asked him again, “That’s what I wrote you about. Are you?”
“Sure I’m coming. Certainly I’m coming,” he finally answered.
“Daddy can’t come. He has to fly to California,” I told him. Then I remembered something. Why was Holden here on a Sunday evening and not Wednesday? I grabbed his hand and questioned him, “Listen. Mother said you’d be home Wednesday. She said Wednesday.”
“I got out early,” he replied. Sure. “Not so loud. You’ll wake everybody up.”
I decided to save the topic of his early arrival until later. “What time is it? They won’t be home till very late, Mother said. They went to a party in Norwalk, Connecticut.” I saw Holden relax a bit, and I wondered why he was so nervous. I changed the topic again. “Guess what I did this afternoon! What movie I saw. Guess!”
“I don’t know – Listen. Didn’t they say what time they’d-”
I interrupted him by blurting, “The Doctor.” Then I told him all about the storyline. It was a wonderful movie about a doctor who was also a mercy killer. Holden kept trying to ask what time our parents got home, but I continued to tell him about the movie.
I was so excited that I started to talk faster and faster until Holden exasperatedly yelled, “Wait a second, willya? I’m asking you a question. Did they say what time they’d be back, or didn’t they?”
I responded, “No, but not until very late.” Then I told him about how annoying my best friend Alice’s mother was during the movie. She was so nosy and blocked my view of the screen whenever she leaned over me to check on Alice. After my rant, Holden handed me a broken copy of the record Little Shirley Beans, but I didn’t care that it was broken. I’d collect awesome records like that even if they were run over by a train fifty times because they were that wonderful. I grabbed the pieces, shoved them into a drawer, and returned to the bed. We discussed some other things such as whether D.B. will be home for Christmas or not and about this mean kid named Curtis Weintraub who pushed me down the stairs in the park. Then I interrogated him again. “Holden, how come you’re not home Wednesday?”
“What?” He was trying to act all innocent. I had a feeling of why he was here early now.
“How come you’re not home Wednesday? You didn’t get kicked out or anything, did you?”
“I told you. They let us out early.” That was all I heard before I exploded on him. High schools never let their kids out early. His excuse was horrible.
“You did get kicked out! You did!” I punched him on the leg as I repeated, “You did. You did. Daddy’ll kill you!” I flopped on my stomach and put my pillow on my head. Why did he have to flunk out of every single school that he went to? Why couldn’t he just be a good student for once? Sometimes, I can’t understand what goes on in his mind. “Daddy’s gonna kill you,” I repeated every time that he tried to talk to me until he left the room. Why do you always do this, Holden?
“Wake up, Phoeb,” someone whispered into my ear. I jerked awake and saw … Holden! He was home already!
“Holden!” I shouted as I hugged him tightly around his neck. It was so wonderful to see him again. He gave me an awkward kiss as I excitedly asked, “Whenja get home?”
“Not so loud. Just now,” he replied. “How are ya anyway?”
“I’m fine. Did you get my letter? I wrote you a five-page-”
“Yeah – not so loud. Thanks.” I had written Holden that letter a little while ago, and I had told him about the play in which I starred as Benedict Arnold. Then Holden asked, “How’s the play? What’d you say the name of it was?” Sometimes he can be so forgetful.
“’A Christmas Pageant for Americans,’” I replied excitedly. “It stinks, but I’m Benedict Arnold. It starts out when I’m dying. This ghost comes in on Christmas Eve and asks me if I’m ashamed and everything.” Holden looked like he was trying to figure out what I was saying, so I decided to refresh his memory on history more. “You know. For betraying my country and everything. Are you coming to it?” I sat up straight as I waited for a response that didn’t come. I asked him again, “That’s what I wrote you about. Are you?”
“Sure I’m coming. Certainly I’m coming,” he finally answered.
“Daddy can’t come. He has to fly to California,” I told him. Then I remembered something. Why was Holden here on a Sunday evening and not Wednesday? I grabbed his hand and questioned him, “Listen. Mother said you’d be home Wednesday. She said Wednesday.”
“I got out early,” he replied. Sure. “Not so loud. You’ll wake everybody up.”
I decided to save the topic of his early arrival until later. “What time is it? They won’t be home till very late, Mother said. They went to a party in Norwalk, Connecticut.” I saw Holden relax a bit, and I wondered why he was so nervous. I changed the topic again. “Guess what I did this afternoon! What movie I saw. Guess!”
“I don’t know – Listen. Didn’t they say what time they’d-”
I interrupted him by blurting, “The Doctor.” Then I told him all about the storyline. It was a wonderful movie about a doctor who was also a mercy killer. Holden kept trying to ask what time our parents got home, but I continued to tell him about the movie.
I was so excited that I started to talk faster and faster until Holden exasperatedly yelled, “Wait a second, willya? I’m asking you a question. Did they say what time they’d be back, or didn’t they?”
I responded, “No, but not until very late.” Then I told him about how annoying my best friend Alice’s mother was during the movie. She was so nosy and blocked my view of the screen whenever she leaned over me to check on Alice. After my rant, Holden handed me a broken copy of the record Little Shirley Beans, but I didn’t care that it was broken. I’d collect awesome records like that even if they were run over by a train fifty times because they were that wonderful. I grabbed the pieces, shoved them into a drawer, and returned to the bed. We discussed some other things such as whether D.B. will be home for Christmas or not and about this mean kid named Curtis Weintraub who pushed me down the stairs in the park. Then I interrogated him again. “Holden, how come you’re not home Wednesday?”
“What?” He was trying to act all innocent. I had a feeling of why he was here early now.
“How come you’re not home Wednesday? You didn’t get kicked out or anything, did you?”
“I told you. They let us out early.” That was all I heard before I exploded on him. High schools never let their kids out early. His excuse was horrible.
“You did get kicked out! You did!” I punched him on the leg as I repeated, “You did. You did. Daddy’ll kill you!” I flopped on my stomach and put my pillow on my head. Why did he have to flunk out of every single school that he went to? Why couldn’t he just be a good student for once? Sometimes, I can’t understand what goes on in his mind. “Daddy’s gonna kill you,” I repeated every time that he tried to talk to me until he left the room. Why do you always do this, Holden?
The characters viewpoint is Stradlater and the words in italics are thoughts not actually spoken or actions done all throughout chapter 6.
I was coming home from my date with Jane when a series of misfortunate actions took place. I got to the door of me and Holden’s dorm and entered. I look around and see Holden staring at me by the window and the composition on the bed.
Stradlater: It really is so goddamn cold out there! It’s ridiculous! And where the heck is everybody?!
I got not reply from Holden. He must just be an idiot who doesn’t know. After all he is flunking out. So I decided to go get changed and ready for bed.
Stradlater: Thanks for letting me borrow your jacket Holden. Did you write my composition?
Holden: Yeah it’s over on the bed.
Holy crap, he actually did it for me! This will be perfect! I won’t have to stay up and do it! What’s it about? Hmmmm let’s see. I walked over to bed and pick up the paper to start reading it. . .Oh my god. . .this is not good. . .
Stradlater: Do you realize this is about a goddamn baseball mitt?! It’s supposed to be about a house or a room! Not a mitt for Chrissake!!! What are you an idiot?! No wonder you’re failing!
Holden gets up and rips up the composition. Crap! Now what am I going to do?!
Stradlater: Why’d ya do that?!
He just went and threw the pieces in the trash can and glared at me until he got to his bed and lay down. Like is he that immature? So I just continued getting undressed and all the sudden I smelled smoke. Why should I get in trouble for him smoking for Chrissake?!
Holden: So why are ya so late? It’s past 9:30.
Stradlater: Who signs out for that early on Saturday?
Holden: Didja go to New York?
Stradlater: Go smoke somewhere else.
Holden: Did you talk to Jane giving my regards and asking about the kings?
Stradlater: I gave her your regards but the hell with the kings.
What’s his problem with this chick? Like seriously? He’s getting all nervous and stuff. I wanna play with him!
Holden: Then where’d you go?
Stradlater: Coach’s car and sat in the back seat.
Holden: Did you give her the time?
Stradlater: Why would you say that kid? Huh?
Holden: Did you?
Stradlater: That’s a secret!
Next thing I know is he’s swung at me. I dodge it but it still grazed me. So I pin him to the floor and sit on his chest so he can’t move. Like he needed to calm down. I also grabbed his wrists so that he couldn’t punch me again.
Stradlater: What is your problem?!?!?! Like seriously!
Holden: Get offa me!
I just didn’t move. All through this he was cursing at me and yelling. It even looked like he was gonna cry. What a wimp.
Stradlater: If I get off will you shut up?
Holden: Yes.
Then all I hear is him starting to call me a moron and that sure did piss me off.
Holden: You stupid moron!
Stradlater: Shut up! I’m warning you! Just shut yer goddamn mouth you!
I gave him plenty of warnings to knock it off but he just wouldn’t stop. He made me so mad. So I just punched him in the face. Only once but hard enough to get the message across. I grabbed my stuff. I went back and was standing right over him.
Stradlater: Why don’t you stop when you’re told to?
I didn’t realize at first but his nose was just bleeding everywhere. I felt kinda sorry for him and I thought he was gonna go turn me in. I really need to graduate and get out of this goddamn place so he just couldn’t. It woulda ruined me.
Stradlater: Go wash your face Holden.
Holden: Go wash your own face you stupid idiot.
I was done with him. He had just used up all of my patience. So after all the commotion and I had all my stuff, I just left. I went back to the dorm and went to bed.
It was absolutely freezing. I had just gone a date with Jane Gallagher. She was pretty cute. We just spent the night in Ed Banky’s car. I was walking back to my room and the dorm was completely empty. I could hear my own steps echoing back at me as I walked down the linoleum hall. I walked and complained about how cold it was outside and asked Holden, “Where the hell is everybody? It’s like a goddam morgue around here.”
He didn’t answer for whatever reason. I started getting undressed and hung up Holden’s hound’s-tooth jacket. “Thanks for letting me borrow your hound’s-tooth. Did you write my composition for me?”
“It’s over on your goddam bed.” Holden told me. God that kid was weird. I picked up and started reading it. I absentmindedly stroked my chest, feeling my muscles. I was reading the composition Holden wrote and I realized that it was about a goddam baseball glove. “For Crissake, Holden. This is about a goddam baseball glove.”
“So what?” He replied, real cold.
“Wuddaya mean so what? I told ya it had to be about a goddam room or a house or something.” Hartzell wasn’t going to take it if the composition was about a goddam baseball glove. I was going to be up the creek if I couldn’t turn something in by Monday. Goddam why couldn’t this kid do anything right?
“You said it had to be descriptive. What the hell’s the difference if it’s about a baseball glove?” Holden sulked. Goddam, Holden was such a moron. He couldn’t do anything right if his life depended on it. Why did I even bother trying to get him to help me? Now I was up the creek because Holden couldn’t even write a composition right.
“God damn it. You always do everything backasswards.” I glared at him. “No wonder you’re flunking the hell out of here,” I said. “You don’t do one damn thing the way you’re supposed to. I mean it. Not one damn thing.” Why did I have to room with such a screw-up?
“All right, give it back to me, then,” he said. He grabbed it out of my hand and tore it up and threw it away.
“What the hellja do that for?” I shouted. Now I had nothing to give Hartzell. God damn, Holden. He didn’t even answer me. He just lay down on his bed and started to smoke. I ignored him and started to cut my toenails.
All of a sudden Holden asked, “You’re back pretty goddam late if she only signed for nine-thirty. Did you make her late signing in?”
“Coupla minutes,” I said. “Who the hell signs out for nine-thirty on a Saturday night?” Holden was still smoking. That goddam kid was going to get me kicked out. “Listen, if you’re gonna smoke in the room, how ‘bout going down to the can and do it? You may be getting the hell out of here, but I have to stick around long enough to graduate.” He ignored me and kept on smoking in the goddam room.
Then he started asking dumb questions about me and Jane’s date. Like if I asked if I asked about how she plays checkers. Did he think we played checkers the whole night? I got up and started lightly punching his shoulder. I kept punching Holden’s shoulder as he kept bugging me about my date. Then out of nowhere Holden punches me in the head. I pinned him to the ground with my knees on his chest and held down his wrists so he couldn’t try to sock me again.
“What the hell’s the matter with you?” I kept saying. What is wrong with this kid? Randomly trying to sock people in the middle of a conversation? He kept screaming at me and calling me a moron. I was could feel myself get red. Holden was just asking to get slammed one.
Goddam crazy sonuvabitch.
Holden Caulfield is the main character and narrator of the story. He was expelled from his fourth boarding school, Pencey Prep, and is telling his story from a mental hospital. He hates boarding schools like Pencey they are phony and do not really do what they say. One thing that bothers me about Holden is that he seems smart but he does not maximize his potential. He seems to be somewhat lazy or uninspired, but I believe it has to do with constant avoidance of competition. The most annoying thing about Holden is that is very critical of everyone and everything. He criticizes people for everything: being insecure, boring, annoying, or a phony. He constantly uses the term phony to refer to fakes or people acting like a certain social group or people who are superficial. Holden constantly complains about things to a point that is almost unbearable. He hates the adult world because of its lack of innocence and its phoniness. Nevertheless, he still acts like an adult in some ways: drinking, smoking, sex, and independence. Even though Holden seems very immature in his judgmental attitude he is actually very mature. Holden seems to have a very sensitive side. He cares a lot about his siblings D.B., Allie, and especially Phoebe. He has immense love for Phoebe and cares for her because her great understanding of him. Holden is constantly seeking to protect the innocence of children: he wants to be the catcher in the rye, catching the children before they run off the cliff. Holden is also constantly seeking companionship with anyone. He has and encounter with some women in the Lavender Room, he tells Sally Hayes that he loves her, his liking of Jane Gallagher, and he has a strange incident with Mr. Antolini. Holden despises competitiveness; rather, he enjoys doing things like throwing the football around, Allie writing poems in his glove, or Jane keeping all her kings in the back row. His hatred is shown when he discusses how if the football team loses they want you to want to kill yourself. Holden also has a peculiarity and almost an obsession with sex. He is a virgin but he is constantly thinking or talking about it. He got very upset and jealous at the possibility of Jane and Stradlater having sex. He seems to believe that sex should only take place between people who love each other and should not be superficial or casual. This view on sex may explain why he refused to get with the prostitute in his room. Holden also seems to have disgust for perverts: hotel perverts and Mr. Antolini. Holden has a very strange state of mind and personality. He is depressed, he is hateful yet caring, he is intuitive but lazy, and he is obsessed with sex. There is obviously something wrong with Holden, and as Mr. Antolini said, he is heading towards a fall of his own. Holden is obviously troubled and has a skewed yet in depth view of the world which is explained by is childhood innocence that he refuses to let go of.
Coming from Chicago, I was accustomed to the city life, but New York City had unique qualities. My fellow nun and I were a little hungry after we arrived, so we decided to eat breakfast before traveling to Manhattan to start teaching at our new school. Even though we had not been to New York in a while, finding a breakfast shop was not a hassle. We spotted a sandwich bar and went in and sat down at the counter. We were carrying our suitcases and I had a straw basket in my hand since there was no room to put it in my suitcase. We were having trouble finding a place to put our belongings. Then, this nice looking young man sitting at the counter helped us with our bags. We sat next to him at the counter and ordered coffee and toast, which was enough for us. The young man next to us must have noticed my straw basket and asked me if I was collecting money for charity. I responded no and told him I had to carry it because I had no space in my suitcase for the basket. He told us he could make a donation, which was very generous of him. I told him that would be very nice. I was not expecting a large amount of money from him, but then he placed ten dollars in the basket. We were very surprised and could not understand how he could afford to contribute that much money. He said that it was not a problem, but we couldn’t thank him enough. We then began to talk about English, which I taught and it happened to be his favorite subject. He told me that he read Romeo and Juliet, a play that I absolutely love. He also likes the play and told me that Mercutio was his favorite character. He had his thoughts and opinions about the play and expressed them to me. He said quite a lot about Romeo and Juliet, but I did not mind since he was very polite. I changed the subject and asked him what school he attended. He said he went to Pencey Prep. I had heard that it was an excellent school. As the young man and I continued to talk, my coworker said that we had to leave. We were about to pay our check, but then the young man said he would pay for it. I couldn’t accept his offer after his munificent donation. Once again I was shocked at how caring and generous he was. He seemed to have a heart that put others first and helped others in need. As we were leaving, we thanked him for a pleasant conversation and his donation. He started to smoke a cigarette as we walked out and he said good-bye. On accident, he blew smoke into our faces. I was not bothered by it very much, and I couldn’t get mad at such a kind young man. There would be plenty of other smoke in the streets of New York City anyways that I would inhale. Though we were not very angry with him, he nervously apologized, but we told him not to worry. I was so impressed with how mature and polite he was during our lovely conversation. He seemed to be a very thoughtful and nice young man. As we traveled to Manhattan, I continued to think about him and if he really did have enough money and could afford the donation he made. I prayed that he would stay safe and continue to share his kindhearted personality with others. God bless him.
Instead of writing a new narrative for the story from a different character’s perspective, I am going to talk about how I feel about Holden. Personally, I think that Holden is a big complainer who only sees things how he wants to see them. I do not hate Holden though, because at times I feel bad for him because he means well especially when it comes to little kids. The way Holden tells his story does bother me, he always is jumping from idea to idea, or suggesting crazy things that make the book have a very jittery tone. I know that I would not befriend a person like Holden in real life. He complains about certain things, but then ends up doing them. Holden is definitely a hypocrite. For example, he complains about how girls only like jerks, and then he goes and acts like a complete jerk to Sally Hayes. His narrative is full of contradictions. Also, another thing about Holden that bugs me is how much he curses. He uses curse words for no apparent reason. He fits curse words into just about every sentence, and they serve no purpose, they do not emphasize any point he is trying to make. It makes him seem very immature and angry, which he is. I do realize though that the book would not be nearly as interesting if a different narrator told the story. Without Holden’s personality and views the story really has no point. He is a protagonist but he really is not a hero. Holden is supposed to be the good guy, but he does not always show it. That is definitely one thing that sets this book apart from most books I have read.
Even though Holden is supposed to be the good guy, we never really see him display his goodness, but also, there is no clear enemy in the book either. Holden basically wants to fight society and how they treat children, but he really is the only one with the problem. Overall I have a love-hate relationship with Holden. Sometimes he is clever, caring, and smart but other times he is hypocritical, mean, and pessimistic. Not much seems to satisfy Holden, almost everything is “lousy” in his opinion. Even when things are very good, he still complains about how they are to good. Also, Holden thinks of almost everybody as a phony, anyone he does not like immediately becomes a phony. Holden is not very fond of cliques and how people get excluded, but he is not always very quick to include others or be nice to them. Holden is just very childish for his age, which is a main theme of the book. He wants to protect innocence in children so much that he pretty much neglects anything else. Money and other things that he thinks are parts of the adult world do not matter to him at all.
In the end I believe that overall Holden was a pretty good main character for this story. I feel like he perfectly got across the message that J.D. Salinger was trying to send out to readers. Even though I was not fond of him at times throughout the story, I recognize how important of a character he is.
That Rudolf Schmidt really is a great young man. I met him last night on my way home to Massachusetts from New Jersey. I had been visiting an old friend who was having a very large party because of the success of a business venture of his. When I got on that train I really didn’t expect anyone else to be on. What are the chances that the boy I met on the train would go to the same academy as my son Ernest. What a coincidence. What a small world we live in. He was quite mature and courteous for his age. He offered me a cigarette and a drink, two things I certainly wasn’t expecting out of a boy my sons age. It was fantastic to hear the impression my son has had on one of his peers. I love my son, of course. But I never really realized what an amazing young man he was. I think Pencey Prep has done him wonders. He used to be kind of a pain. But now as Mr. Schmidt explains it, he is quite the gentleman. Also, it sounds as if he had learned much better how to interact and mix with his peers and his done away with his sensitivity. That’s one of the reasons my husband, Mr. Morrow, and I choose to send him to an all boys academy. Its good to know we are getting our money’s worth out of Pencey. I feel quite proud as a parent to have raised such a marvelous young man. It is clear to me now that the values I instilled in him at an early age are sinking in. And to believe he is mr. popular, my boy Ernest? Also, I’m so glad to hear that he is modest about his popularity. My. Morrow and I always told him modesty was a very important virtue. At the same time, however, I wish he would have taken that job as class president. That would look great on my Ernest’s résumé. With good grades and an important position like President, we are talking Ivy League. That really would be pleasant. But back to Mr. Schmidt. He seemed very mature for his age. The way he talked to my son, it sounded as if they were good friends. I would really like that. Rudolf seems like quite the young man. I was really feeling good about my meeting him until I found out about his tumor. What a god darn shame! No nice boy like Rudolf Schmidt deserves something like that in his life. I bet he was pretty embarrassed to talk about it. It seemed like sort of a touchy subject. I wonder if there was any correlation between his tumor and his nosebleed. It would make sense. That story about the snowball seemed bogus anyway. I really do question why bad things like that happen to good people like Rudolf, but anyway, he’ll be in my thoughts and prayers. Hopefully his operation will go well. I thought about him the whole train ride back to Massachusetts. When all is said and done I hope he is able to stop by our home in Gloucester this summer. That would be such a nice surprise for Ernest, one of his good friends visiting from school.
As I walked up to the door of me and Holden’s room I didn’t notice a single person. I thought that was kind of weird for how loud Pencey usually was. I opened the door to see Holden sitting at his desk.
“Where the hell is everybody? It’s like a goddam morgue around here.” I said but Holden didn’t respond. He seemed a bit bitter so I didn’t really take much notice to it. I started to undress and thanked Holden for letting me use his nice jacket as I hung it up. I looked pretty damn good in his jacket too.
As I untied my tie I asked about the paper I asked Holden to write for me earlier. He told me it was on my bed in an unpleasant way but I tried to ignore it again, until I read the paper. It was about a goddam baseball glove. I told him to right about a room or a house, not a goddam baseball glove. Holden always did annoying stuff like this. He always did things the way he wanted. He just couldn’t listen to a simple request. That’s probably why he was failing out of Pencey. Just couldn’t follow simple goddam instructions.
“For chrissake Holden, this is about a goddam baseball glove,” I said
“So what?” he responded in his nasty attitude.
"Wuddaya mean so what? I told ya it had to be about a goddam room or a house or something." I wasn’t in the mood for dealing with Holden but this pissed me off. All he had to do was write a little bit about a damn room.
"You said it had to be descriptive. What the hell's the difference if it's about a baseball glove?" he replied
He really didn’t get it. He was just so caught up in his own world he couldn’t see the obvious things in life. If someone tells you to do something, just do it; but noooooo, he always had to twist stuff around and make it all complicated and different.
He was really getting on my nerves so I just said what was in my mind, “God damn it. You always do everything backasswards. No wonder you're flunking the hell out of here. You don't do one damn thing the way you're supposed to. I mean it. Not one damn thing.” I realize that was kind of mean and I probably shouldn’t have said it but Holden was always like this.
"All right, give it back to me, then," he tersely said as he ripped the paper out of my hands and tore it up.
"What the hellja do that for?" I swear this kid had something wrong with him. He couldn’t follow directions, didn’t work hard, smoked all the time, was failing, broke all the rules, and had anger problems or something.
He stormed over to the waste bin and threw the pieces of paper violently into the trash. He was a nutcase sometimes but I didn’t say anything else after he started ignoring me. He had walked over to his bed and lay down as I stripped down to my shorts. And of course, Holden just had to light a cigarette. I swear he did stuff like that just to bother me; he knew it was against the rules and that I hated when he smoke in our dorm. I just didn’t get the kid. I never could figure out if he was an asshole or if he really was just living in his own world oblivious to other people’s thoughts.
Holden Caulfield is quite a character in The Catcher in the Rye. His choices of actions and words lead him to some difficulties throughout the book including getting kicked out of Pencey Prep. If he were to conduct himself with more manners, then he would not have had to deal with some problems that he faced. His negativity, repetitive vocabulary, and ability to manipulate people are qualities of Holden that I dislike.
I admire people who have a positive outlook on life. Holden is the exact opposite. He has at least one negative thing to say after every occurrence in his “goddam autobiography.” One of his many negative comments was that he told a girl that she gives him a royal pain in the ass when he went on a date with her. Holden seems like he suffers from depression due to the death of his little brother, Allie. He would get depressed about the most trivial subjects such as his old principal from Elkton Hills who talked longer with more attractive parents. He is always mentioning things he hates in the book rather than what he likes such as stupid women, the disciples, phonies, cliques, and money (because “it makes you blue as hell”).
Along with Holden’s pessimistic attitude, he does not present a wide variety of terminology. One of the most commonly used words he says is phonies or phony. He used the word phony to describe Pencey Prep, the school that he got kicked out of, the people at Elkton Hills, another former school that Holden attended, and Lillian Simmons, a woman who D.B. used to see. Another renowned saying of Holden was, “that knocked me out.” He commonly uses that phrase to describe how he feels about women. For example, he said it really knocks him out if a girl places her hand on the back of his neck. He also repeatedly used the phrases “that kills me” and “sore as hell.” I do not appreciate his foul mouth. Using a curse word every once in a while is acceptable, but Holden uses “goddam” too frequently. If you turned to a page in the book, you have an eight out of ten chance that the word, goddam, will be on the page.
Manipulative people who have to lie to get their way agitate me. Holden lies to get his way on many occasions in the book. He decides to lie and deceive everyone in order to direct attention away from himself, prevent others from revealing his own faults, and to keep himself out of trouble. On page 16, Holden said, "I'm the most terrific liar you ever saw in your life.” He lies about his name, age at bars, what he fought with Stradlater about, and more. Holden told Ackley that he fought with Stradlater about Ackley so that he could get the topic of conversation off of Holden. When someone is asking too many personal questions, he will also lie so that no one will get to know him on a personal level. Mrs. Morrow asked Holden a series of questions about Pencey Prep because she saw a sticker on his suitcase, but he lied about his name and changed the topic of the conversation to then be about her son. Almost every bar that Holden goes to, he tries to order a drink although he is only sixteen. He is indirectly lying about his age every time he tries to order a drink because he is not yet twenty-one.
“You always do everything backasswards, no wonder your flunking the hell out of here, you don’t do anything the way you are supposed to” I said to Holden. He never can just listen to what somebody says to him, he has to do his own thing every time and disobey simple instructions. No wonder he fails out of every school he is in, he wants to be alone and damn that’s fine by me. “Give it back then” Holden said as he snatched the paper and tore it up. That really pissed me off, I should punch him for that. “What the hellja do that for?!” I decided to just let it go for a while and maybe clip my perfect toenails. As I got undressed I realized I could use a nice workout but layed down in bed instead. Holden lit a ciggarete, I always wondered why people smoked it is gross. I know the only reason he is doing it is to make me mad so I will ignore it, but I wonder why he is so obsessed with that Jane girl she’s nothing special. I mean, who signs out for 9:30 that’s a waste of time. Maybe he likes her, I’m going to mess with him, that will piss him off for sure. Ill give him as little information about the date as possible so his mind just wonders and awful ideas flow through it like a river! “Did you give her my regards?” “Yeah.” No I did not, why would I bring up another man to a girl I am on a date with? That’s why Holden doesn’t do well with ladies, he doesn’t get how to manipulate them into thinking their special. He is too honest, you have to lie to get them to believe you that’s how the Stradlater gets the ladies. He keeps asking me questions about the date and it is starting to get irritating so I told him some lie about how I brought her to my coach’s car and led him to believe we were necking the whole time. He didn’t like that at all, he got up and tried to one-time me but he missed and I knocked him down with one hit, piece of cake. I got on top of him and tried to settle him down, he had to keep calling me a moron though. After I let him up he called me a moron again and I really let him have it this time, felt like I just threw a 100 mph fastball right at his face. He was pretty bloody and my hard kind of hurt but that little bastard ha it coming, mind your own business and leave the school already. I told him to go wash his face, didn’t want his blood getting on any of my belongings, that would be the biggest travesty of the entire event. When he went into the bathroom I went to the library to start on my descriptive essay and wrote about the backseat of my coaches car, you notice a lot while necking…
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