Chapter 24

In this chapter Holden goes to visit Mr. Antolini. It is very late at night when Holden arrives at Mr.Antonlini’s apartment and Holden tells us that Mr. Antolini is tipsy from the highballs that he continually drinks throughout the chapter. Mr. Antolini asks Holden what he did not like about Pencey and Holden begins to tell him about Mr. Vinison's Oral Expression class. Holden does not really talk about his personal experience in the class instead he talks about a fellow classmate who he describes as being a nervous guy who is not very good at staying on topic. From the way Holden narrates The Catcher in The Rye we are able to tell that Holden also has trouble staying on topic. Do you think there is a reason why Holden does not share his experience giving a speech? Do you possibly think that the boy that Holden is talking about is himself, and he just does not want to admit it to Mr. Antolini? Holden all of a sudden become extremely tired and wishes to continue the conversation in the morning, but Mr. Antolini seem eager to give his advice and share his wisdom. Mr. Antolini tells Holden “I have a feeling that you’re riding for some kind of terrible, terrible fall(p. 186).” Mr. Antolini continues to give his advise but Holden unwillingly yawns and Mr. Antolini helps Holden get ready for bed. Before heading off Mr. Antolini says, “All right. good night, handsome(pg. 191).” While putting together Holden's bed Mr. Antolini tries to talk to Holden about girls, but Holden is to tired to keep a good conversation. As Holden is getting ready for bed he realizes that Mr. Antolini forgot to let him borrow some clothes so Holden just sleeps in his shorts. Holden frantically wakes up and sees Mr. Antolini petting his head. Holden gets extremely nervous because he think that Mr. Antolini is making an advance on him. Holden makes up an excuse and says he has to go. Later Holden reveals that this has happened to him before. I personally believe that Mr. Antolini’s actions were not as innocent as he tried to make them seem. I believe this because Mr. Antolini calls him “handsome”, asks him about girls, and he “forgets” to give Holden some extra clothes. What do you think of Mr. Antolini’s suspicious head petting? What do you think of Holden’s response? Do you think he reacted appropriately?

Chapter 24: Holden and Mr. Antolini

In chapter 24, Holden goes over to Mr. Antolini's apartment and the two begin to talk. Holden knows Mr. Antolini from sometime ago, when he use to come over to dinner at Holden's house. After a while, he started to play tennis in Long Island at the West Side Tennis Club with Antolini and his wife. At the beginning of their talk, we can see that Mr. Antolini is offering some sympathetic talk to Holden for all of his troubles, probably the only adult who has offered any chance at some conversation. He begins to inquire about Holden's expulsion at Pencey Prep, which Holden replies with an answer with arguments of he disliked the rules and regulations. But after Holden explains all of this, he sees that his argument has got him anywhere and he begins to feel uncomfortable. After this, Mr. Antolini says that he is worried about Holden because he sees that Holden could be on the track for a major "fall",“I have a feeling that you’re riding for some kind of terrible, terrible fall.” He believes that Holden's "fall" will be due to the fact that he can't accept becoming an adult, and that if he goes to school that he will learn about different types of relationships with men and women, and that everyone takes the journey from childhood to adulthood. This chapter deals with a issue of a fall, which has come up in some of the later chapters. Another main component in the chapter was when Holden woke up and felt Mr. Antolini stroke his head. Holden then believes it was Mr. Antolini making a homosexual advance toward him and then fled the apartment. This was a very important part because now the only person that Holden could talk too, in his mind, is gone. If you were Holden right now, would you flee Mr. Antolini's apartment or would you talk to him? Why? Do you think he was making an advance on Holden? Before he made an advance on Holden, do you think Mr. Antolini was a good mentor for Holden? Why or Why not? Is Holden on the track of a major fall? Why?

Chapter 24

In chapter 24, Holden goes to Mr. and Mrs. Antolini’s apartment on Sutton Place to stay for the night. Mr. Antolini and Holden have a long and interesting conversation about Holden himself. The talk covers many topics. For example, Holden tells Mr. Antolini how while he may hate kids like Ackley and Stradlater, he only hates them temporary and even ends up missing them after they are gone. He says that he only hates them when they are around him but misses them when he they are not with him. Mr. Antolini also says to Holden, “This fall I think you’re riding for-it’s a special kind of fall. A horrible kind. The man falling isn’t permitted to feel or hear himself hit bottom. He just keeps falling and falling. The whole arrangement’s designed for men who, at some time or other in their lives, were looking for something their own environment couldn’t supply them with. Or they thought their own environment couldn’t supply them with. So they gave up looking. They gave it up before they ever really even got started.” (p. 187) This quote is another method that J. D. Salinger uses for saying that for referring to the journey of maturing from child to adult. The part of the quote that that says, “The whole arrangement’s designed for men who, at some time or other in their lives, were looking for something their own environment couldn’t supply them with,” means that people start maturing to adulthood when they were beginning to find childhood dull, and lacking in the previous enjoyment and chaos that childhood brought. Mr. Antolini is able to see that Holden is having a problem growing up almost instantaneously. He sees Holden’s problems before everybody else sees them, even Holden himself. It almost seemed like Mr. Antolini was going to be able to get through to Holden and be able to help him, but when Holden wakes up in the middle of the night and finds Mr. Antolini rubbing his arm, he is freaked and runs away, in result throwing everything that Mr. Antolini told him away. Why do you think that Mr. Antolini uses the word ‘falling’ to describe the journey to adulthood? Holden comments that the experience with Mr. Antolini happened to him at least 20 times before. Do you think that those moments may also be responsible for some of Holden’s current issues? Do you think that Holden has not willing started to mature because he still enjoys childhood and has not started to find childhood boring and dull?

"I'll just watch."

In chapter 25 of the Catcher in the Rye Holden meets with Phoebe at the  museum to tell her goodbye because he’s going to travel west on the trains and leave New York behind. When Phoebe shows up with a packed bag, she says that she’s coming with him. Holden talks her out of it, but not without her bursting into tears. To control her and win her favor back, Holden takes her to the zoo. While at the zoo, Holden sees a carrousel and asks Phoebe if she wants to go on a ride. Holden mentions that the carrousel is playing the song that all carrousels play, Oh Marie. She says yes and then when she gets on she asks Holden if he wants to ride too. He says no however, he says he’ll just watch. Saying no was a big step in the evolution of Holden. It seems as though he is realizing slowly that he is not a child anymore and that he can still enjoy childhood by watching others go through it and using them to remember his own childhood. Do you think that Holden not going on the carrousel is symbolic of his coming of age and coming to the reality that he has to grow up? Why or why not?

Chapter 23

In this chapter, the reader is allowed to see what a strong bond Phoebe and Holden share. For the first part  of the chapter, Holden is obviously enjoying his time with Phoebe and becoming more and more relaxed. They are dancing and having fun, jitterbugging and swirling around the D.B's room. After they finish, Phoebe jokes around and starts telling Holden to feel her forehead so he can see how she can get her temperature to go "over the thermometer"(176). Holden, playing along, whisks his hand away and asks her why she didn't tell him, as if she would have burnt his hand if he hadn't pulled away.  Just as she was coming up with a reply, their parents come home. Instantly, Holden becomes very nervous, his heart pounding. While hiding in the closet while Phoebe talks to their mother and covers his back when their mother smells the smoke, Holden comments on how his mother obviously did not have a good time despite the fact that she had said she had a marvelous time. After waiting a few minutes, he sneaks out of the closet. He is very nervous by this time, and he knows he has to leave. He borrows money from Phoebe's Christmas "dough", although he thinks that she gave him too much. When he tries to give it back, she wouldn't let him. Then, Holden begins to cry, saying that he "couldn't help it"(179). Phoebe comforts him, although she was very scared at this sudden development. When he tries to get her to go back to bed, she wouldn't, and eventually he stopped crying. She told him that he could stay with her, but he replied that Mr. Antolini was waiting for him. He then proceeds to give her his hunting hat, and leaves, stating that he almost wished his parents had found him.

If you could put yourself into Phoebe's shoes during this chapter, what would you be feeling? Would you have done anything differently? Do you think that she understood what was happening, or was she just frightened and had not noticed her brother's mental state? Why do you think he gave her the red hunting hat?

Chapter 23: Holden and Phoebe

Chapter 23 in Catcher truly shows what kind of relationship Holden and Phoebe have. They are really close siblings and obviously care about each other. In these chapters, D.B.'s room is a safe haven from the harsh outside world, where they can dance and Holden can actually be happy for once in the book. Phoebe is the personification of innocence in Catcher, and her innocence makes Holden happy. When she thinks that she can raise her temperature and makes him touch her forehead, he laughs and plays along because he likes youth, and making up absurd things like being able to control your own body heat is associated with youth and innocence. When their mom comes in and he hides, the mother's phony response is that she had a "marvelous" time at her party, when she actually did not (fun fact: The character who appears throughout the Family Guy episode calling Peter a phony is credited as Holden Caulfield). It shows that Phoebe cares about her big brother when she lies by saying that she lit a cigarette and threw it out the window when asked about the smoke in the room. She also gives Holden the rest of her money that she was planning to spend on Christmas presents. This causes him to burst into tears, so she comforts him. As a parting gift, Holden gives Phoebe his famous red hunting hat and he goes on his way. Does Holden think his mom is a phony? Also, is the cigarette being thrown out the window a reference to the boy at Elkton Hills who committed suicide by jumping out of a window, James Castle?

Chapter 22

In this chapter, Phoebe is still talking to Holden about getting kicked out of Pency. She keeps reminding him that "daddy'll kill you"(Page 166) for getting kick out of Pency. Holden goes on and tells Phoebe how much he hates Pency because of all the phonies in that school. After Holden goes on this long rant, Phoebe finally asks him a question, "You don't like anything that is happening" (Page 169) Holden quickly disagrees with this statement and says that is a lie and of course he likes things. Phoebe follows with saying, "Okay name one thing". It takes Holden a while to figure out what is one thing that he likes. Holden says he likes Allie, but Holden also says he likes a poem called 'If a body meet a body coming through the rye' by Robert Burns. The poem is about little kids playing a game in a big field of rye. Holden puts himself in this poem and says there are thousands of kids, and nobody big is around except for him. Holden continues on saying that he is standing on the edge of some crazy cliff and his job is to catch everybody if they start to go over the cliff. Holden has to catch them because if they are running and they do not look where they are going, he can catch them before they hit the ground. That is the only thing that Holden wants to be, the catcher in the rye. What I wrote above is exactly the reason why Holden is the way he is. In Catcher in the Rye, we realize that Holden has trouble communicating and he has a mental problem. Holden feels like he has to hold the whole world on his shoulder, and he does not know how to ask for help. This is why Holden likes the poem by Robert Burns, because he feels like he has to pick everyone up when they fall all by himself. He can relate to the poem. What do you take away from this statement from Holden, about what he wants to do when he grows up? Do you agree with my conclusion? Why or why not? Do you feel that the reason why Holden likes this poem is because of his personality? Why or Why not?