Written in the first person, The Catcher in the Rye follows Holden's experiences in New York City in the days following his expulsion from Pencey Prep, a college preparatory school. As Holden shares his experiences, it becomes evident that he is talking from a mental facility where he is being psychoanalyzed.
Holden shares encounters he has had with students and faculty of Pencey, whom he criticizes as being superficial, or as he puts it, "phony." After an altercation with his roommate over a girl, Holden packs up and leaves the school in the middle of the night. He takes a train to New York, but does not want to return to his family's apartment immediately, and instead checks into the derelict Edmont Hotel. There, he spends an evening dancing with three tourist girls and has a clumsy encounter with a prostitute; he sends the woman away without any services having been rendered, although he pays her for her time. She demands more money than was originally agreed upon, and when Holden refuses to pay he receives a second beating in as many nights at the hands of her pimp.
Holden spends a total of two days in the city, characterized largely by drunkenness and loneliness. At one point he ends up at a museum, where he contrasts his life with the statues of Eskimos on display. For as long as he can remember, the statues have been fixed and unchanging. It is clear to the reader, if not to Holden, that the teenager is afraid and nervous about the process of change and growing up. These concerns may largely have stemmed from the death of his brother, Allie. Eventually, he sneaks into his parents' apartment while they are away to visit his younger sister Phoebe, who is nearly the only person with whom he seems to be able to communicate. Holden shares a fantasy he has been thinking about; he pictures himself as the sole guardian of several children playing a game of ball in a huge rye field on the edge of a cliff. His job is to catch the children if they wander close to the brink, to be a "catcher in the rye".
After leaving his parents' apartment, Holden then drops by to see his old English teacher, Mr. Antolini. The comfort he hopes to find from his mentor is upset when he wakes up in the night to find Mr. Antolini petting his head in a way that seems to Holden to be "perverty." Holden leaves, and spends his last afternoon wandering the city. [9]
Holden intends to move out west, and relays these plans to his sister, who decides she wants to go with him. He refuses to take her, instead telling her that he himself will no longer go. Holden then takes Phoebe to a zoo, where he watches her as she rides a carousel. Watching her with both fear and joy, Holden seems to have realized that there can be no "catcher" to protect children's innocence, that they should develop in the harsh world on their own.
Holden never does give a thorough assessment of his prognosis since his hospitalization. His voice in the novel's last few pages indicates that his time recovering has left him calmer and with more perspective, yet he remains lonely and without definite direction.
Holden shares encounters he has had with students and faculty of Pencey, whom he criticizes as being superficial, or as he puts it, "phony." After an altercation with his roommate over a girl, Holden packs up and leaves the school in the middle of the night. He takes a train to New York, but does not want to return to his family's apartment immediately, and instead checks into the derelict Edmont Hotel. There, he spends an evening dancing with three tourist girls and has a clumsy encounter with a prostitute; he sends the woman away without any services having been rendered, although he pays her for her time. She demands more money than was originally agreed upon, and when Holden refuses to pay he receives a second beating in as many nights at the hands of her pimp.
Holden spends a total of two days in the city, characterized largely by drunkenness and loneliness. At one point he ends up at a museum, where he contrasts his life with the statues of Eskimos on display. For as long as he can remember, the statues have been fixed and unchanging. It is clear to the reader, if not to Holden, that the teenager is afraid and nervous about the process of change and growing up. These concerns may largely have stemmed from the death of his brother, Allie. Eventually, he sneaks into his parents' apartment while they are away to visit his younger sister Phoebe, who is nearly the only person with whom he seems to be able to communicate. Holden shares a fantasy he has been thinking about; he pictures himself as the sole guardian of several children playing a game of ball in a huge rye field on the edge of a cliff. His job is to catch the children if they wander close to the brink, to be a "catcher in the rye".
After leaving his parents' apartment, Holden then drops by to see his old English teacher, Mr. Antolini. The comfort he hopes to find from his mentor is upset when he wakes up in the night to find Mr. Antolini petting his head in a way that seems to Holden to be "perverty." Holden leaves, and spends his last afternoon wandering the city. [9]
Holden intends to move out west, and relays these plans to his sister, who decides she wants to go with him. He refuses to take her, instead telling her that he himself will no longer go. Holden then takes Phoebe to a zoo, where he watches her as she rides a carousel. Watching her with both fear and joy, Holden seems to have realized that there can be no "catcher" to protect children's innocence, that they should develop in the harsh world on their own.
Holden never does give a thorough assessment of his prognosis since his hospitalization. His voice in the novel's last few pages indicates that his time recovering has left him calmer and with more perspective, yet he remains lonely and without definite direction.
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