'Just Before the War with the Eskimos', New Yorker (1948) 'Blue Melody', Cosmopolitan (1948) 'A Girl I Knew', Good Housekeeping (1948) also published in Best American Short Stories of 1949 'The Laughing Man', New Yorker (1949)
'Down in the Dinghy', Harper's (1949)
'The Laughing Man', New Yorker (1949)
'For Esme with Love and Squalor',
New Yorker (1950) also published
in Prize Stories of 1950
'Pretty Mouth and Green My Eyes',
New Yorker (1951)
'De DaumierSmith's Blue Period',
World Review (1952)
'Teddy', New Yorker (1953) 'Franny', New Yorker (1955) 'Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters', New Yorker (1955) 'Zooey', New Yorker (1957) 'Seymour: An Introduction', New
Yorker (1959)
'Hapworth', New Yorker (1965)
Plot
Catcher in the Rye is the firstperson account by a teenager named Holden Caulfield of the
events directly preceding his hospitalisation for a mental breakdown. He begins the story by telling us that he has dropped out of Pencey Preparatory School. Rather than return home and confront his parents with the news, he decides to wait until the expulsion notice reaches them by mail. Leaving Pencey several days before the term officially lets out, Holden embarks on a solo 'vacation' in Manhattan.
His adventures include going to nightclubs, living in hotels and even hiring a prostitute (although he dismisses her without engaging in anything more than a brief conversation). He also manages to sneak into his parents' house to spend time with his younger sister, Phoebe, whom he adores. When his mental condition begins to deteriorate, Holden decides to skip town, but he contacts Phoebe one last time in order to say goodbye. She is able to convince him to return home, after which he is hospitalised for a mental condition brought on by the death of his little brother, Allie, several years earlier.
Holden's narration, which he offers from the hospital where he has been 'resting', concludes with his assurances that he will be enrolling in school again in the fall. He even offers a half hearted promise that he will do his best to 'apply himself' this time.
Style
The experiences of the teenage narrator of this novel are relayed in a uniquely informal style characterised by idiomatic speech patterns and the use of profanity. Salinger also makes interesting use of unusual literary effects; for instance, Holden's linguistic inflections are captured through the frequent italicisation of key words, a device which impresses a rhythmic speech pattern upon the reader. For example, when Holden describes his family, he says his parents are 'nice and all' (1) and that D.B. is 'my brother and all' (1). The italicisation indicates a tinge of sarcasm which both undermines and reinforces the connotations of family
The narrative style of Catcher in the Rye has often been compared to the latenineteenth century classic The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Both texts employ a youthful narrator on the fringes of society (who, ironically, sometimes knows less than the reader). The opening sentence of Catcher is an apparent homage to Huck Finn, echoing, through word choice and sentence structure, the first lines of Twain's novel. The two novels are similar in terms of their mixture of comedy and tragedy, as well as their subject matter; and each helped to define an entire genre of American comingofage narratives.
Themes and Motifs
Innocence vs. Maturity: Holden embodies the duality of adolescence: wishing to remain in childhood a little longer and yet at the same time wanting to be acknowledged by the world as an adult. His appreciation for the purity of children is tinged with loss and betrays an almost obsessive attachment to the past. He tells Phoebe that his dream is to be a 'catcher in the rye', watching over children while they play in the fields, heedless of the dangers that lie ahead. Holden understands that he has lost that sense of absolute trust that belongs to childhood and can no longer join in the children's games himself. And yet his idealism is contagious, and toward the end of the novel there is a suggestion of hope that he will find a way to carry these values with him into adulthood.
Outsiders: Arguably, one of the primary reasons that Catcher in the Rye is so popular among young adults is that it captures the isolation and selfconsciousness that so many teenagers experience. Holden is a selfproclaimed outsider, struggling to carve out a sense of identity that will sustain him and set him apart from the world. He chooses to evaluate life from the sidelines, thereby protecting himself from the possibility of failure. He also is able to recognise and express empathy for the outsider status of others. And yet he is oppressed by his selfimposed isolation and becomes frightened that he may literally disappear.
Adolescent Sexuality: Holden is a typical adolescent struggling to make sense of
overwhelming and often confusing sexual impulses. He unconsciously associates sex with perversion and can't imagine violating anyone he loves in that manner. At the same time he won't allow himself to have sex with any girl that he does not respect, though he tries several times to convince himself otherwise. His sexuality is tempered by an innate sense of morality, and he is unwilling to pressure or even seduce a girl into having sex once she has told him to stop. He does, however, enjoy less threatening forms of intimacy such as dancing, kissing and holding hands, and he imagines that sex could be a meaningful and even spiritual experience.
Death: Death figures prominently in the Catcher in the Rye, which is, among other things, the story of a young man's attempts to come to terms with the death of his brother. Holden gravitates towards stories of death and frequently imagines dying himself, though we are never quite sure how serious his suicidal impulses really are. Although his brother died of leukaemia, Holden seems to hold himself responsible and is consumed by survivor's guilt. He fears that he will lose Allie forever if he stops grieving over his death, which occurred nearly four years earlier, and he seems unable to move forward without him.
Phonies: Holden's most frequent complaint is against the phoniness of others; he uses this term to cover a range of human flaws. He is particularly upset by the meanspirited hypocrisy that is intended to hurt and embarrass those less fortunate. He despises all pettiness and social conformity and finds society's value system to be utterly lacking. The qualities he values most are kindness and integrity, and he finds few adults to look up to in either of these respects. He is consequently reluctant to become an adult himself and rebels against anything or anyone that would push him in that direction.
observation and left him with a severely broken hand. Although he describes himself as impotent and cowardly, he is reckless when roused and can be quite staunch in the face of physical danger. He rarely resorts to physical violence himself; however, his deliberate taunting is calculated to provoke a violent response in others.
Take Home Point: draws attention to key images, word choices and events in the text
Exploration Point: has the potential for an essay or paper, or for further research
Theme Alert: provides insight on the theme's emergence at a particular point in the narrative
Quotable: identifies passages that merit close stylistic or narrative analysis
Title
See the Quotables in the summaries of Chapters 16 and 22 for a discussion of the title's relevance.
Chapter 1
Holden introduces himself as the narrator and briefly describes his family members and background. He announces that he has dropped out of prep school and explains that he is trying to find a way to say goodbye before leaving the school for good.
The first sentence of Catcher in the Rye speaks volumes about the style and content of the book itself. Holden Caulfield says, 'If you really want to hear about it, the first thing you'll probably want to know is where I was born, and what my lousy childhood was like, and how my parents were occupied and all before they had me, and all that David Copperfield kind of crap, but I don't feel like going into it, if you want to know the truth' (1). Holden is referring to Charles Dickens's portrayal of childhood misery in Victorian England (David Copperfield is just one of Dickens's novels dealing with this subject), and he both distances himself and
inadvertently allies himself with the genre of comingofage fiction by bringing it up. The distinctive opening line also makes reference to Mark Twain's classic, The Adventures of
Huckleberry Finn, very nearly echoing the first sentence of that nineteenthcentury work. Huck Finn shares several additional attributes with Caulfield; both young men are known for
narrating their adventures in a speech pattern which is distinctively their own, and both of them take on the role of outsiders who comment on society from its margins.
Holden describes 'Old Selma Thurmer', the headmaster's daughter, as being very plain: 'She had a big nose and her nails were all bitten down and bleedylooking and she had on those damn falsies that point all over the place, but you felt sort of sorry for her' (3).
Outsiders: Holden finds it difficult to say goodbye because he does not feel he has ever really belonged at Pencey, but his need to put some sort of closure on his experience speaks to his longing for real connection with others. Finally he remembers an evening spent 'chucking a football around' (4) with a couple of guys he thought were nice. This helps him to feel an appropriate sense of leavetaking and propels him suddenly to say goodbye to one of his former teachers.
Holden decides to visit one of his favourite teachers, Mr. Spencer. He is greeted by Mrs. Spencer, who welcomes him as an old friend, indicating that Holden is on social terms with his professor.
Holden mentions that he has flunked out of school several times before, always for failing to apply himself to his work. He also mentions that while running to Mr. Spencer's house he becomes very short of breath because he is a heavy smoker. Using little asides like these, Holden casts himself as a bad boy and lets us know that he has a selfdestructive streak of which he is vaguely proud.
Phonies: Holden is quick to point out how phony the prep school boys are, and he comments that 'Pencey was full of crooks. Quite a few of the guys came from these very wealthy families, but it was full of crooks anyway. The more expensive a school is the more crooks it has I'm not kidding' (4). Although Holden himself comes from a relatively wealthy family, he despises the hypocrisy of the privileged class.
Holden describes his elder brother D.B. as having 'sold out' because he turned his talent for writing original stories into more commercial ventures.
Holden's feelings about D.B. are a reflection of his own concerns about becoming an adult and indicate his desire to hold on to the idealism of his own youth. Salinger may also have been commenting here about the potential temptations of writing professionally.
Chapter 2
Holden seems to be hoping for some kind of meaningful goodbye from Mr. Spencer. He finds the farewell unsatisfying, however, and reluctantly endures his teacher's misguided and long winded lectures on poor conduct and bad attitude.
Here, as elsewhere in the book, Holden finds himself simultaneously drawn to and repelled by authority figures. In this case Mr. Spencer, who Holden obviously admires, is unable to offer his student desperately needed guidance and understanding.
Holden is depressed by the signs of aging and illness in the Spencer home and admits to being squeamish about the unsightly aspects of mortality.
Death: This scene offers a kind of counterpoint to the preoccupation with death Holden displays in much of the rest of the novel.
Chapter 3
Holden admits freely that he is 'the most terrific liar you ever saw in your life' (16). However, he distinguishes between his own tendency to lie and the insincerity of others. Although he regrets having to play along with the phoniness of other people, he justifies his tendency to humour them as coming out of necessity. But he never misses an opportunity to point out the
phoniness that he sees around him, and he does so here with a description of the undertaker Ossenburger for whom his dormitory wing was named.
He describes the lecture Ossenburger gave to the school in which 'he told us we ought to think of Jesus as our buddy and all. He said he talked to Jesus all the time. Even when he was driving his car. That killed me. I can just see the big phony bastard shifting into first gear and asking Jesus to send him a few more stiffs' (17). He tells us that one of the boys interrupted this self important speech by farting loudly, and he applauds the immature action because it managed to disrupt the stuffy pretense of the administration.
Phonies: In this line of reasoning Holden suggests that one of the best weapons against phoniness is irreverence.
Holden's reverie is interrupted by Ackley, one the boys who lives on his floor. Holden brings out his red hunter's cap for the first time and describes how he bought it that morning for a dollar and how good he feels wearing it.
Outsiders: Holden will continue to wear the hat throughout much of the book, and, in part because it is not the usual type of adolescent attire, it becomes a symbol of his outsider status and his desire to be recognised as an individual.
When Ackley tells him that it is a deerhunting hat, Holden responds, 'Like hell it is. [ . . . ] This is a people shooting hat, [ . . . ] I shoot people in this hat' (22).
Suppressed Rage: Although Holden would never physically attack another person, he does spend a lot of time shooting people down with his biting wit, and he tallies up the faults of others with a latent aggression that has no other outlet. His reference to 'people shooting' also enables him to express a sarcastic and somewhat misanthropic impulse; however again, it should be pointed out that Holden's capacity for actual violence is negligible.
Holden spends a great deal of time describing Ackley.
Outsiders: He spells out all the many reasons why he dislikes Ackley, and yet he is secretly compassionate towards him, as he is towards all those he recognises as being outsiders (Ackley's social demeanour makes him unpopular at the school). When he is invited to the movies later on, he makes a point of inviting Ackley along, knowing that the latter is probably spending Saturday night alone in his room.
Holden also spends time discussing the books he has read.
Because of his discussion of literature, we can see that Holden is highly intelligent. With this recognition, it is natural to hope, as some of his teachers do, that he will find a way to channel his energy into something meaningful one day.
Although Holden describes his roommate Stradlater as having some redeeming social qualities, he is ultimately more judgemental of Stradlater's thoughtless, phony manipulations than he is of Ackley's brand of social failing. He objects to the way Stradlater preens in front of the mirror, for example, particularly as his vanity and superficial good looks mask a surreptitious lack of hygiene. Holden is nevertheless friends with Stradlater out of necessity and even agrees to write a composition assignment for him. Holden becomes nervous, however, when he finds out that Stradlater is going out on a date with Jane Gallagher, a girl with whom Holden shared an innocent summer friendship. Holden is too shy to go downstairs to say hello to Jane, and he resents Stradlater's phony confidence with her.
Innocence vs. Maturity: Holden thinks back on the innocent friendship he shared with Jane and is moved by the almost childlike purity he saw in her. His recollections are tender because they are born out of the intimacy of their time together. With the people he loves, Holden transforms his tendency to criticism into appreciation, cherishing the small details that would have escaped a less sensitive observer.
Chapter 5
Holden describes a typically boring Saturday night at Pencey, beginning with the traditional steak dinner at the cafeteria.
Phonies: Holden recognises the hypocrisy in this tradition: 'I'll bet a thousand bucks the reason they did that was because a lot of guys' parents came up to school on Sunday, and old
Thurmer probably figured everybody's mother would ask their darling boy what he had for dinner last night, and he'd say, 'Steak'. What a racket. You should've seen the steaks. They were these little hard, dry jobs that you could hardly even cut' (35).
Holden is sarcastic here, aware of how he and the other boys are being manipulated.
As he leaves the cafeteria, Holden realises it is snowing outside. He describes how beautiful the night is and how much the students enjoy playing together in the snow.
Innocence vs. Maturity: In this brief descriptive passage we catch a rare glimpse of Holden playing unselfconsciously with his peers, temporarily abandoning his role as the aloof observer. Something of this freedom lingers throughout the evening as he hangs out with Brossard and Ackley. Although he continues to comment on their annoying behaviour, he also seems glad of the companionship on what would otherwise have been a lonely Saturday night.
Holden sees through Ackley's boring stories about all the 'sexual intercourse' (37) he has had and comments knowingly, 'He was a virgin if ever I saw one' (37).
Adolescent Sexuality: Holden is right about Ackley, of course, but he is also a virgin himself, and like Ackley is given to creating fictional accounts of his own sexual prowess from time to time. In this exchange Salinger captures the adolescent tendency to exaggerate as a way of compensating for insecurity in matters sexual.
Death: Holden's story about his brother is particularly poignant because we can see so much of Holden in it. Holden's description of the mitt provides a fitting metaphor for his own tendency to linger in the 'outfield', observing the game of life from a distance. And it seems clear that Allie, like Holden, was a sensitive and introspective youth.
Chapter 6
When Stradlater returns home, Holden grills him about the details of his date and is angry to learn that he may have got Jane into trouble by bringing her back late to her dormitory. When he gets the first indication that Stradlater may in fact have had sex with Jane in the backseat of his borrowed car, he attacks.
Suppressed Rage: Here the normally mild Holden unleashes the rage which has been simmering beneath the surface. Although he is no match for Stradlater he continues to
provoke him, and he seems almost to enjoy getting beaten up. In part this is because he may be at least mildly jealous of the bigger boy.
Death: Looking in the mirror after the fight, Holden describes the abundance of blood that covers his face and clothes (45). He adds, 'It partly scared me and partly fascinated me. All that blood and all sort of made me look tough' (45). Holden's fascination with death, inferred here, reappears throughout the novel and may indicate a desire to stay close to his brother Allie through the bond of mortality. But his comment about looking 'tough' also suggests that the violence he has just experienced serves as a kind of badge of maturity, however
unsatisfactory the results of the fight.
Chapter 7
After his fight with Stradlater, Holden goes to sleep in Ackley's room, since his roommate will be out of town for the weekend. But he finds little comfort there and admits to feeling lonely and depressed.
Death: As he lies awake thinking about Stradlater's date with Jane he says, 'Every time I thought about it, I felt like jumping out the window' (48). Holden's conflict becomes clear at this point; he wants to be different, but he also wants to belong. The fact that neither position seems to make him happy leads to his threat of suicide.
Why do you think it is so difficult for Holden to find a way to belong without losing his identity? Compare his close bonds with Phoebe and Jane (people whom he respects) to his dubious friendships with Ackley, Stradlater and Sally. How does Holden's difficulty in finding people to look up to impinge upon his own sense of selfworth? Do you think this is a common problem for teenagers?
Adolescent Sexuality: Holden explains that his fears for Jane's welfare are based on his
his nature suggests why he is uncomfortable with sex in general.
Unable to endure the remorseless presence of Stradlater in the room next door, Holden decides to leave school immediately. He quickly packs his belongings and checks to see how much money he has, explaining, 'I don't remember exactly how much I had, but I was pretty loaded' (52).
He feels a brief twinge of guilt for flunking out of school as he packs the skates his mother recently bought him. He explains, 'I could see my mother going in Spaulding's and asking the salesman a million dopey questions and here I was getting the ax again. It made me feel pretty sad. She bought me the wrong kind of skates I wanted racing skates and she bought hockey but it made me sad anyway. Almost every time somebody gives me a present, it ends up making me sad' (52). In confessional statements like this we see Holden's compassion for the struggles of others and his sensitivity to good intentions, however misplaced.
Chapter 8
Holden catches a late night train and practically stumbles across a female passenger whom he describes as being 'around fortyfive, I guess, but she was very goodlooking' (54). The woman notices that he has a Pencey sticker on one of his suitcases and tells him that her son, Ernest Morrow, goes to Pencey as well.
Although Holden absolutely despises Ernest, he finds himself telling Mrs. Morrow the sorts of lies he imagines she wants to hear about her son. He goes so far as to invent a story in which everyone wanted to nominate Ernest to be class president and he declined because he was so modest. He tells us that he is glad to have told Mrs. Morrow something nice about her son even if it wasn't true.
'You take a guy like Morrow that's always snapping their towel at people's asses really trying to hurt somebody with it they don't just stay a rat while they're a kid. They stay a rat their whole life. But I'll bet, after all the crap I shot, Mrs. Morrow'll keep thinking of him now as this very shy, modest guy that wouldn't let us nominate him for president. She might. You can't tell. Mothers aren't too sharp about that stuff' (57).
Although one might question just how substantial Holden's act of charity is, his motives seem irreproachable. Unable to affect real change in the world around him, he turns to fiction and fantasy, but his insight into the needs of others is keen.
Innocence vs. Maturity: Holden admits to being slightly attracted to Mrs. Morrow, a glamorous woman who is old enough to be his own mother. He tries to impress her with 'adult' activities like smoking and drinking, but she persists in seeing him as the boy that he is. Throughout the book Holden's wish to stay a child is in conflict with his desire to become an adult; his
discomfort with his own age is quintessentially adolescent.
Death: Holden explains his absence from school by telling Mrs. Morrow that he has to have an operation for a brain tumour. Although the lie is so transparent as to be somewhat humorous, it is also yet another instance of Holden's preoccupation with morbid fantasies.
he see himself as paradoxically heroic in these situations? Discuss Holden's relationship to the idea of suffering, both as it affects himself and as it affects others (including his late brother Allie).
Chapter 9
When he arrives at the train station Holden announces that he feels like calling someone. But after twenty minutes of indecision he finally gives up and leaves without even picking up the phone.
Outsiders: This incident is an expression of Holden's inability to reach out to anyone, even though he clearly wants to. When he later invites his rather unfriendly cab driver to join him for a cocktail, we see further evidence of his longing for some kind of company if only to alleviate the terrible isolation that he feels.
Holden asks his cab driver if he knows what happens to the ducks in Central Park during the wintertime. The cabby is nonplussed by the question, but the plight of the ducks continues to hold Holden's attention.
His concern about how the ducks survive when the lake is frozen over is evidence of his larger anxiety about his own survival and the wellbeing of everyone whom he sees as helpless and vulnerable in the world.
Holden settles into his hotel room and observes the activities of the other guests through their open windows. He is particularly struck by a couple he sees squirting mouthfuls of water into each other's faces as a form of sex play.
Adolescent Sexuality: In his response to this scene, Holden reveals the deepseated conflict that surrounds his understanding of sexuality. He objects to the act he has witnessed but also reluctantly recognises that it might be 'fun' (62). His objection is grounded in the idea that the act (both the waterspitting and sex in general) is demeaning; he uses the word 'crumby' to describe it, suggesting that it is dirty. He remembers a girl he fooled around with who was 'even crumbier than I was' (63) and notes that although they had fun, he is still bothered by the memory. He explains that he tries to control his own behaviour by making 'sex rules' (63) but confesses that he is rarely able to stick to his own resolutions. He thus reveals himself to be wracked with guilt because he cannot reconcile his moral code with his biological impulses.
He suddenly wants to call Jane, the only girl he has ever really felt a genuine connection with, but he doesn't feel up to it. Instead he remembers that a friend of his gave him the number of a prostitute, and he gives her a call instead. Although he tries to act suave and mature on the phone, he is unable to make a date with the girl, and he hangs up feeling more frustrated.
Adolescent Sexuality: Holden's ambivalence about sex and his 'either/or' view of women are perfectly expressed in his confusion over whether to call Jane or the girl 'who wasn't exactly a whore or anything but didn't mind doing it once in a while' (63). Holden is afraid to call Jane because he has strong feelings for her and wants to keep her pure, but he is equally afraid to set a date with the hooker because she represents the kind of sexuality he so despises. And yet he finds himself driven by his own desire for love and sex and is unable to find any acceptable outlet for his own sexuality.
Chapter 10
evident.
Innocence vs. Maturity: Phoebe seems to represent for Holden all of the positive elements of childhood, and in a sense she helps him stay connected to his own innocence. Chief among Phoebe's virtues, according to Holden, is her unwavering honesty and common sense, traits which he seems hard pressed to find in his older companions. He also comments that she is almost too affectionate and emotional, indicating the awkward separation he feels between himself and the pure emotional state of childhood. But his bond with her is undeniable and will ultimately save him from his selfdestructive path when no amount of lecturing could do so.
Holden realises that he can't call Phoebe at this hour and decides to venture out of his lonely hotel room. He finds a band playing downstairs and tries unsuccessfully to order himself a drink. He is annoyed at being treated as the minor that he is, but he manages to console himself by flirting with three young ladies sitting at a nearby table.
Adolescent Sexuality: Holden dances for a while with the prettiest of the girls, a blonde whom he describes as 'dopey' but a great dancer. He admits with an understated bitterness that he has a hard time not being attracted to girls, even if he finds them 'not much to look at' or 'sort of stupid' (73). Dancing with the 'dopey' blonde seems to reinforce his confusion about the opposite sex. Still tending to view women in terms of extreme categories, he indicates an inability to find both sensuality and intelligence in the same girl, any more than he can seem to reconcile the two qualities within himself.
Chapter 11
Holden's thoughts return inexorably to Jane, and he describes the summer that he spent with her. He says, 'I really got to know her quite intimately. I don't mean it was physical or anything it wasn't but we saw each other all the time' (76). He explains that the only time they even kissed was when he was trying desperately to comfort her after she had all but admitted that her stepfather was molesting her.
Adolescent Sexuality: The innocent love between Holden and Jane stands in direct contrast to Jane's sexual violation by her stepfather and provides more of a context for Holden's
ambivalence about sexuality. With this information, it is a little easier to understand why he is reluctant to sleep with someone he really loves.
Chapter 12
After thinking about Jane, Holden suddenly feels lonely and depressed and reprises his earlier pattern: wanting to call his kid sister, inviting a cab driver to have a cocktail with him and becoming suddenly concerned about the welfare of the ducks in Central Park.
The repetitive nature of Holden's thoughts and experiences seems normal at first but gradually signifies an impending breakdown.
Holden takes a cab to Ernie's bar, where is frustrated, as always, by the egotism and phoniness of Ernie's piano playing. He is further depressed by the clientele and caustically observes several couples sitting near him.
Adolescent Sexuality and Death: Holden particularly despises the 'very Joe Yalelooking guy' (85) who is simultaneously feeling up his date and telling her the details of a suicide attempt made by a guy in his dormitory. Holden describes the date's response to these mingled subjects: 'How horrible . . . Don't darling. Please don't. Not here' (86). Holden is appalled by the guy's lack of sensitivity to both sex and death, as evidenced by his thoughtless
juxtaposition of the two.
Holden is then approached by one of his older brother's particularly phony exgirlfriends. She is on a date herself but makes a point of approaching Holden, evidently hoping that he will pass news of her on to his brother.
Phonies: Holden describes the girl's thoughtlessness with biting accuracy: 'She was blocking up the whole goddam traffic in the aisle. You could tell she liked to block up a lot of traffic' (87). He is equally dismissive of her date, a 'Navy guy' he describes as 'one of those guys that think they're being pansy if they don't break around forty of your fingers when they shake hands with you' (867).
Note the humour that comes through in Holden's tone here; the phrase 'around forty of your fingers' reveals an extremely effective sarcastic mind.
Chapter 13
As he walks back to the hotel Holden puts his hat on against the cold and remembers with irritation that someone at Pencey had stolen his gloves. He calls himself 'yellow' and imagines that if he knew who had committed the theft he would get his gloves back, but without physical violence; his approach would be to rouse the perpetrator's anger with a cutting remark (89).
Suppressed Rage: It is clear from this passage that Holden is fighting masculine stereotypes that equate bravery with violence. By his own admission, Holden uses caustic wit as a
substitution for physical expressions of the anger he keeps bottled up inside. The fact that his entire narrative is peppered with biting sarcasm suggests that this anger runs deep.
By the time Holden finally returns to his hotel he tells us he is feeling lousy, 'Depressed and all. I almost wished I was dead' (90). He is then approached by the elevator guy, who asks him if he's 'Innarested in a little tail t'night?' (91). Holden agrees to a five dollar 'throw' and he tells us, 'It was against my principles and all, but I was feeling so depressed I didn't even think' (91).
Adolescent Sexuality: As he waits for the girl to arrive he admits to being a little nervous because he is still a virgin. He assures us that he's had 'quite a few opportunities' to lose his virginity but explains:
The thing is, most of the time when you're coming pretty close to doing it with a girl a girl that isn't a prostitute or anything, I mean she keeps telling you to stop. The trouble with me is, I stop. Most guys don't. I can't help it. You never know whether they really want you to stop, or whether they're just scared as hell, or whether they're just telling you to stop so that if you do go through with it, the blame'll be on you, not them. (92)
this passage. But he betrays himself when he adds, 'The trouble is, I get to feeling sorry for them. I mean most girls are so dumb and all. After you neck with them for a while, you can really watch them losing their brains. You take a girl when she really gets passionate, she just hasn't any brains' (92). Though he is concerned with protecting those he sees as weak, he also demonstrates an inability to look at most women fairly; this is a symptom of the fact that he is still immature.
When the prostitute arrives Holden tries to act nonchalantly, but he is completely unnerved. He is surprised by how young she seems and comments on her use of the phrase, 'Like fun you are' (94).
As with his earlier comments about courage (and the idea of fighting his enemies with acerbic remarks instead of physical violence), Holden here demonstrates a keen awareness of the effects of language. He observes that the prostitute sounds like a 'kid' because of her use of the phrase 'like fun you are' instead of a more stereotypical 'like hell you are' or 'cut the crap' (94). On another level, it is as if Holden is shocked to discover that the prostitute is a real person.
Holden becomes more nervous when the prostitute unceremoniously removes her dress: 'All she had on was this pink slip. It was really embarrassing. It really was' (95). He asks the girl if she would mind just talking for a while and admits, 'It was a childish thing to say, but I was feeling so damn peculiar' (95). He finally asks if they can just skip the sex and offers to pay her for her time anyway. Holden is embarrassed by the whole situation and justifies his lack of interest by telling her that he has just had a serious operation.
Adolescent Sexuality: When she asks him why he asked for a prostitute if he'd just had an operation he says, 'I thought I'd be feeling a lot better than I do. I was a little premature in my calculations' (97). Of course he is speaking on two levels at once here, having realised that he is not ready to enter the world of adult sex, at least not in this sordid and meaningless way.
Chapter 14
When the hooker finally leaves, Holden is so depressed that he begins talking to his dead brother. He remembers a time when he excluded Allie from playing with him and tells us, 'once in a while, now, when I get very depressed, I keep saying to him, 'Okay. Go home and get your bike and meet me in front of Bobby's house. Hurry up'' (99).
Death: Although Holden was very close to Allie while he was alive, he is eaten up by guilt over the things he never got to say and do with him, and he tries to comfort himself by escaping into fantasy. His inability to come to terms with death is painfully clear in the fact that he needs to relive the past.
Holden tells us that he feels like praying but can't, and he launches into his interpretation of the New Testament.
Note how Holden's language is comically irreverent in these passages. He says that while he liked Jesus, he didn't care much for the Disciples: 'They annoy the hell out of me, if you want to know the truth. They were all right after Jesus was dead and all, but while He was alive, they were about as much use to Him as a hole in the head' (99).
I remember I asked old Childs if he thought Judas, the one that betrayed Jesus and all, went to Hell after he committed suicide. Childs said certainly. That's exactly where I disagree with him. I said I'd bet a thousand bucks that Jesus never sent old Judas to Hell. [ . . . ] I think any one of the Disciples would've sent him to Hell and all and fast too but I'll bet anything Jesus didn't do it. (100)
Outsiders: This exchange perfectly illustrates Holden's moral code and his objections to the judgements made by society. He sees Judas as a human being who made a mistake but should not be outcast or condemned for it. The judgemental phoniness of the world around Holden is in part so troubling to him because it does not seem to allow for forgiveness or compassion toward those who are different.
The elevator pimp and his prostitute come to Holden's room demanding that he pay them ten dollars for the prostitute's time instead of the agreed upon five, but Holden refuses. Although he thinks of himself as a coward, he displays a great deal of nerve under pressure, and he insists that he will not be cheated. Although the pimp beats him up and the prostitute takes his money, Holden continues to hurl insults at the man until he can no longer speak. As the
prostitute and her pimp finally leave Holden pretends to himself that he has been shot and retreats into a cinematic fantasy of revenge.
Death: Holden concludes the evening by saying, 'I felt like jumping out the window. I probably would've done it too, if I'd been sure somebody'd cover me up as soon as I landed. I didn't want a bunch of stupid rubbernecks looking at me when I was all gory' (104). Although it is not always easy to tell how serious Holden's suicidal threats are, this particular scenario is in fact based on the suicide of a boy he went to school with. The fact that Holden is referring to a suicide that actually happened makes the threat seem more real and alerts us to the extent of his depression.
Holden's suicidal fantasies are one of the primary reasons that Catcher in the Rye has been banned in many schools. Trace Salinger's treatment of the topics of depression and suicide throughout the novel. Do you think he glamorises suicide in a way that is dangerous for teenagers? Or does he rather give voice to alltoo common feelings which have isolated many teenagers unnecessarily?
Chapter 15
When he wakes up the next morning Holden thinks about calling Jane but decides instead to call a girl he once dated named Sally Hayes.
Adolescent Sexuality: Holden once again criticises his own biological impulses when he points out that '[m]y big trouble is, I always sort of think whoever I'm necking is a pretty intelligent person. It hasn't got a goddam thing to do with it, but I keep thinking it anyway' (105).
As soon as he hears Sally's voice on the line, Holden remembers what a phony she is and regrets calling her, but he makes a date with her anyway.
While he will go out of his way to spare other people embarrassment, Holden is at a loss when faced with a victim of class prejudice who chooses to perpetrate the very system that
oppresses him; Holden cannot imagine why the boy would choose to buy into the class mentality that demeans him because he cannot afford expensive luggage. But he relates this story because he is still trying to find a way to alleviate the discomfort of those he perceives as vulnerable.
As Holden chats with the two nuns he is particularly struck by one of them, whom he describes as being very plain but with a 'helluva kind face' (109). He is so moved by the thought of the nuns' life of service and the difficulties they must face in the world that he gives them a
contribution of ten dollars, which is a rather large sum and more than he can afford. Even after giving them this contribution he still cannot shake his feeling of concern and tries to pick up their breakfast tab, although they refuse to take any more money from him.
Outsiders: Here, as earlier, Holden seeks to ally himself with those who stand apart from the mainstream and seems embarrassed by his own ties to the phony society he despises.
Chapter 16
Holden continues to think about the nuns and is both inspired and depressed by the selflessness of their lives.
For Holden these two emotions are closely linked, and his appreciation of beauty and goodness in others is nearly always tinged with sadness. Holden is moved by the innocence and sincerity that he observes in others, but he knows only too well how vulnerable the innocent are in a cynical and sometimes cruel world.
In order to cheer himself up Holden buys a record for his sister, which he describes as being 'about a little kid that wouldn't go out of the house because two of her front teeth were out and she was ashamed to' (114).
Outsiders: This is yet another example of Holden's sensitivity to the insecurities of others and of his appreciation of the human condition. The fact that he purchases this record for his sister suggests that he knows she experiences the same feelings of empathy and compassion that he does and this of course is one of the reasons she is so important to him.
Holden observes a family that has just come from church and notices that their sense of solidarity and warmth lends dignity to their apparent poverty.
Holden particularly enjoys the sight of their little child, who is humming a traditional song which Holden hears as, '"If a body catch a body coming through the rye"' (115). Although he will later learn that the words he thought he heard belong to a poem by Robert Burns and are actually, 'If a body meet a body', the line he imagines he heard forms an image which
Holden purchases theatre tickets for his date with Sally and says, 'I didn't much want to see it, but I knew old Sally, the queen of phonies, would start drooling all over the place when I told her I had tickets for that, because the Lunts were in it and all' (116).
Phonies: Although Holden enjoys reading plays, he explains that he has a hard time
appreciating live theatre because of the rampant phoniness which he feels characterises even the most acclaimed acting. Holden is intelligent and highly literate, but he has a lovehate relationship with films, plays and to some degree with literature as well. And yet one imagines that he could someday be able to contribute to one of these fields (in part because of the keen insight he often demonstrates as the narrator of this novel) if he could find a way to cope with the phoniness that alienates him.
In the park, Holden has a pleasant little encounter with a girl who knows his sister, and he begins to think back upon his own childhood. He imagines Phoebe and her classmates going on the same museum field trips he used to go on and is overwhelmed by the sense of time
passing. He remembers how each time he went to the museum as a child, the museum itself would be exactly the same, and he observes, 'The only thing that would be different would be
you. Not that you'd be so much older or anything. It wouldn't be that, exactly. You'd just be
different, that's all' (122).
Innocence vs. Maturity: Holden measures the passage of years against the backdrop of the museum, which serves as a powerful metaphor for the idea of frozen time. He says regretfully that he wishes some things could stay the same forever.
Chapter 17
Holden is torn between his deep frustration with Sally and his irrational attraction to her. He is irritated by Sally's phony mannerisms, particularly when she engages in a cloying conversation with a young man she claims to have met at some previous function. However, in spite of his withering comments about her, Holden agrees to hang out with Sally after the play, if only because he has nothing else to do.
Adolescent Sexuality: Holden captures the contradictory impulses that are typical of teenage romance when he says, 'The funny part is, I felt like marrying her the minute I saw her. I'm crazy. I didn't even like her much, and yet all of a sudden I felt like I was in love with her and wanted to marry her' (124).
As they sit down and attempt to have a real conversation, Holden finds that he is unable to make Sally understand his ongoing frustration with the school system, or anything else about his life for that matter. However, he is suddenly taken with the idea of running away with Sally, eloping perhaps and starting a life together. Sally is predictably unenthusiastic about the idea and ruins his fantasy by raising a host of practical objections. The discussion becomes
increasingly heated, and Holden regrets having started it (133).
As he leaves Holden seems to realise that his desire for someone to run away with has nothing to do with Sally, although he says, 'The terrible part [ . . . ] is that I meant it when I asked her. That's the terrible part. I swear to God I'm a madman' (134). Holden wants to escape his problems by running away but realises that this solution will never work, particularly if he includes Sally in the plan. By calling himself a 'madman', he is expressing his frustration with the adolescent impulses which make it difficult for him to act rationally.
Holden remembers a horrible guy whom Jane dated when he was first getting to know her and questions why girls are so easily misled about the opposite sex. He observes, 'The trouble with girls is, if they like a boy, no matter how big a bastard he is, they'll say he has an inferiority complex, and if they don't like him, no matter how nice a guy he is, or how big an inferiority complex he has, they'll say he's conceited. Even smart girls do it' (136).
This type of insight is typical of much of Holden's discourse. He has a tendency to illustrate (in some detail) problems which he feels powerless to change, thereby reinforcing his own
cynicism and apathy. His tendency to criticise life from the sidelines is ultimately ineffectual, but at the same time Holden seems to gain a degree of confidence from the simple act of cataloguing the dangers around him.
Holden goes to the cinema by himself to kill some time and complains violently about both the preshow entertainment and the film itself. He is particularly upset by a woman he observes in the audience who refuses to take her young child to the restroom and yet cries copiously over the sentimental story on the screen. He tells us that although you might think she was a nice lady from the way she was crying, 'She was about as kindhearted as a goddam wolf. You take somebody who cries their eyes out over phony stuff in the movies, and nine times out of ten they're mean bastards' (140).
Phonies: This woman's false sentimentality contrasts starkly with the gentle kindness of the nuns, and Holden seems driven to articulate the difference between surface and substance.
Holden does his best to put the movie out of his mind when it's over, but the military subject matter of the film continues to occupy his thoughts. He thinks back to D.B'.s experiences in World War II and recalls how his older brother had told Allie, 'if he'd had to shoot anybody, he wouldn'tve known which direction to shoot in' (140). Holden explains that according to D. B., 'the Army was practically as full of bastards as the Nazis were' (140). Holden then tries to imagine what being in the Army would be like and concludes that it would probably be very similar to his prep school experiences or to the Boy Scouts (which he attended for about a week when he was younger).
Outsiders: Holden's instinctive distrust of the military is very much tied to his experience in the educational system, and he points out valid similarities between the two institutions. Although his ideas about the military are not yet fully formed Holden has already developed a deep seated distrust of any institution which demands social conformity at the expense of individual integrity.
Chapter 19
Holden has made plans to meet up with Luce, a former student advisor of his. Although he makes disparaging remarks about both Luce and the bar where they are supposed to meet, Holden seems eager to talk to his old friend.
He explains that Luce was an expert on sexual 'perversion' (143). Holden remembers Luce telling them all about 'creepy guys that go around having affairs with sheep, and guys that go around with girls' pants sewed in the lining of their hats and all. And flits and Lesbians' (143). According to Holden, Luce is an absolute authority on the subject of 'flits', and Holden
remembers how he used to scare the boys into thinking that they might suddenly turn into 'flits' without meaning to. He observes, however, that Luce always seemed like he might be sort of 'flitty' himself.
generally given to prejudices, has become fairly homophobic under the inexpert sexual counselling of his student advisor.
When Luce arrives, Holden eagerly presses him with questions about his sex life, although Luce repeatedly tries to rebuff him. Holden is persistent, however, and soon learns that Luce is currently dating a woman who is not only older, but Asian as well.
Holden betrays his immaturity by asking a barrage of questions about what seems to him to be a tremendously exotic arrangement. Although many of Holden's remarks during this exchange are crude and immature, he also unconsciously demonstrates a commitment to his own moral code. He objects, for example, to Luce's offhanded slur against his former
girlfriend: 'That isn't nice. If she was decent enough to let you get sexy with her all the time, you at least shouldn't talk about her that way' (145).
When Luce later tells Holden that sex is seen as a combined physical and spiritual experience in Eastern cultures, Holden eagerly concurs (146).
Adolescent Sexuality: Although this concept of spiritual sexuality appeals to him, Holden is not quite ready to absorb it fully and explains to Luce that it is still hard for him to imagine having sex with a girl that he truly loves and respects.
Chapter 20
Holden continues to drink alone after Luce leaves and eventually staggers out into the night, drunk and very cold. When he accidentally breaks the record that he bought for Phoebe he becomes distraught and saves the broken pieces in his pocket.
Holden eventually finds himself wandering around the lake in Central Park, though he is still unable to find any sign of the ducks. He is shivering cold and imagines himself dying of
pneumonia. At first he becomes agitated at the thought of all the 'morons' who would come to his funeral, but he grows even more upset when he considers the effect his death would have on his mother and his sister. Thoughts of death lead inevitably back to Allie, and Holden explains that he didn't go to Allie's funeral because he was still in hospital himself. He says that he did visit Allie's grave several times but found it unbearably depressing.
Death: In this scene we get to the heart of Holden's grief and see clearly that he is unable to accept his brother's death or to move forward without him even though several years have passed since Allie died.
After sitting alone in the dark thinking about Allie and imagining his own death Holden is
suddenly overwhelmed by a desire to see his sister and decides to sneak back home to visit her.
Chapter 21
Holden manages to sneak into his parents' house without too much trouble and is thrilled to see little Phoebe, fast asleep in D.B'.s old bed. He spends some time watching his sister sleep and looks around her room for a while, absorbing all the evidence of her habits. When Holden finally wakes Phoebe up she is overjoyed to see him and cheerfully regales him with stories of her recent activities.
Death: It is strange that Phoebe, who represents everything pure and childlike to Holden and who was presumably too young to really remember Allie's death, should tell a story so focused on the idea of mortality. It is possible that this exchange is only of passing interest to Phoebe but represents Holden's own fear that he will lose his sister or that she will one day have to face the death of a loved one. It may also indicate that Phoebe is on some level aware of her brother's suicidal impulses and of the shadow that death has cast over her family. But most importantly, Phoebe's comment that it is a sin to 'take things away from God' foreshadows the role she will later play in saving her brother from a mental breakdown and his own demise.
Chapter 22
Phoebe is upset when she finds out that Holden has flunked out of school again and she confronts him about his pattern of failure. He tells her he didn't like Pencey, but she responds that he doesn't like anything, implying that he is merely being contrary for its own sake. Phoebe refuses to accept her brother's attachment to the past; she'd prefer him to try to determine what he wants to get out of his life in the years ahead.
Although she is only a little girl, Phoebe insightfully presses Holden to consider his choices and his attitude. She seems to behave as a mother would and her motivated compassion may be one of the reasons Holden is drawn to her. Still, somewhat ironically, he seems to ignore much of the content of what she says.
If Holden's little sister can tell him what he needs to do to put his life on track, even Holden himself must have some idea what is holding him back. Why is he unable to take the advice that is offered? And why does he continue to seek out people who can advise him if he will not listen to what they have to say? How does Holden eventually learn the life lessons that will pull him out of his depression?
As he tries to come up with a list of things that he likes, Holden recalls a 'skinny little weak looking guy' (170) he went to school with who had committed suicide. He explains that this boy 'wouldn't take back something he said about a very conceited boy' (170), even when he was assaulted and perhaps sexually abused by the boy's friends. Instead he jumped out of a window and died wearing a sweater he had borrowed from Holden.
Outsiders: Ever the champion of the underdog, Holden is moved by the courage and conviction of this boy, but there is an unwholesome quality to his admiration. When Phoebe asked him to name something that he likes she was thinking about his future, but Holden chooses instead to align himself with those who, like Allie, have no future.
Holden tells Phoebe about the song he heard earlier, and Phoebe tells him the actual line in question ('If a body meet a body').
This fantasy perfectly illustrates Holden's unresolved feelings of guilt and powerlessness about having been unable to save Allie from leukaemia. But for the reader it provides insight into Holden's own danger and his unconscious hope that someone will catch him before he falls off 'some crazy cliff'.
Chapter 23
Holden wants to sneak back out before his parents come home, and he calls an old teacher, Mr. Antolini, to see if he can stay with him for the night. Holden explains that Mr. Antolini was the best teacher he ever had and remembers how Mr. Antolini carried the body of the boy who killed himself inside and covered him with his coat.
Holden plays with Phoebe for a little while longer and promises that he will come to her school play. He then borrows some money from her, although he feels guilty about it and promises to pay her back. When his parents return home suddenly, Phoebe covers for him, and Holden manages to sneak out undetected.
Chapter 24
Holden describes the Antolinis, whom he considers to be fairly close friends of his, as wealthy, sophisticated and slightly decadent. He appreciates their warm greeting, although he attributes Mr. Antolini's high spirits in part to the fact that he was 'a little oiled up' (182). However Holden still regards Mr. Antolini as one of the few truly intelligent teachers he has ever known and seems almost eager to discuss his recent scholastic experiences with him.
Holden is uncharacteristically forthcoming in the presence of his mentor and manages to articulate his frustration with the teaching system at Pencey. Although he bridles under Mr. Antolini's more instructive remarks, he clearly values his teacher's insight and seems willing, for the first time, to seriously contemplate his future.
This constructive experience is brought to a crashing halt, however, by an incident which occurs later that evening. Holden describes waking up to find Mr. Antolini 'sitting on the floor right next to the couch, in the dark and all, [ . . . ] sort of petting me or patting me on the goddam head' (192). When he confronts Mr. Antolini, the older man becomes defensive and asks him to keep his voice down.
As he is preparing to leave, Holden thinks, 'I know more damn perverts, at schools and all, than anybody you ever met, and they're always being perverty when I'm around' (192). Holden's dark hints about past experiences with 'perverts' give us important insight into his deepseated distrust of authority figures. However, it is particularly unfortunate that a mentor to whom Holden turned for guidance should become a source of such shame and anxiety. To a certain extent, this incident seems to justify Holden's cynicism.
Chapter 25
Holden begins to doubt his own impression of Mr. Antolini's advances and wonders whether anyone who seemed so kind and intelligent could be capable of hurting him in that way. He tries to read a magazine to distract himself but is alarmed by the medical information in the journal and imagines that he is dying of cancer. He feels nauseous and dizzy and tries to eat something, but he is unable to swallow anything more than coffee.
Then I started doing something else. Every time I'd get to the end of a block I'd make believe I was talking to my brother Allie. I'd say to him, 'Allie, don't let me disappear. Allie don't let me disappear' [ . . . ] And then when I'd reach the other side of the street without disappearing, I'd thank him' (198).
This is perhaps Holden's lowest point in the whole novel and is our strongest indication that he needs medical attention. Holden had turned to Mr. Antolini for help and might have been able to regain his course had his trust not been broken by his teacher's unwanted advances. Now he seems unwilling to put his faith in anyone still living and retreats to his memory of Allie for comfort.
Holden's trust in humanity has been so badly shaken by his encounter with Mr. Antolini that he fantasises about dropping out of society completely. He says that he will pretend to be a deaf mute so that 'I wouldn't have to have any goddam stupid useless conversations with anybody' (198). He imagines marrying a deafmute girl and living in a little cabin where they could hide their children from the world. He gets so excited about this idea that he decides to leave town as soon as he's had a chance to say goodbye to Phoebe.
Holden decides to try to contact Phoebe before he leaves and calls in at her school to give her a note. He notices that someone has written 'Fuck you' on the wall and says, 'It damn near drove me crazy. I thought how Phoebe and all the other little kids would see it, and how they'd wonder what the hell it meant, and then finally some dirty kid would tell them all cockeyed, naturally what it meant, and how they'd all think about it and maybe even worry about it for a couple of days' (201).
Innocence and Maturity: Holden wants desperately to protect the innocence of children, and yet he knows that they will inevitably go through the same passage into adulthood that he himself has taken. His sense of the futility of his protective impulse is clear when, even as he rubs out a second 'Fuck you', he tells himself, 'it's hopeless anyway. If you had a million years to do it in, you couldn't rub out even half the 'Fuck you' signs in the world' (202). His desire to protect his sister is somewhat ironic given their earlier discussion, where he seemed less mature than she.
Holden becomes so incensed by the graffiti that he wants to kill the person who made it. He imagines that it was some 'perverty bum' (201).
Suppressed Rage: Holden's anger seems to have become more personal here, and it recalls his earlier comment that 'I know more damn perverts, at schools and all, than anybody you ever met, and they're always being perverty when I'm around' (192). We can only imagine what experiences Holden is referring to and the effect that they have had on his development.
As he waits for Phoebe to meet him Holden feels ill and dizzy and passes out in the museum bathroom. When Phoebe finally arrives she is lugging a large suitcase and tells Holden that she has decided to go away with him. He says rather harshly that she can't come and repeatedly tells her to shut up. When she finally begins crying he admits, 'All of a sudden I wanted her to cry till her eyes practically dropped out. I almost hated her. I think I hated her most because she wouldn't be in that play anymore if she went away with me' (206).
hear the story of his homecoming, but we can assume that it led to the hospitalisation and treatment that he described at the beginning of the novel.
Chapter 26
Holden concludes his story by complaining about all the questions wellmeaning people insist on asking him. He particularly objects to the psychoanalyst who wants to know if he will apply himself when he goes back to school in the autumn. He assures us that he will try but maintains that no one ever really knows what they're going to do until they've done it. However, his hospitalisation has given him some perspective, and he even admits to a certain nostalgia for his days at Pencey.
He tells us in closing, 'It's funny. Don't ever tell anybody anything. If you do, you start missing everybody' (214). Of course, Holden has always found it easier to appreciate things once they're past, but still we are left with some hope that the process of recounting his story has given Holden a new understanding that will allow him to step back into the world and face his own future.
Works Consulted
Alexander, Paul. Salinger, A Biography. Los Angeles: Renaissance, 1999.
Bloom, Harold, ed. Modern Critical Interpretations of J. D. Salinger's Catcher in the Rye. Philadelphia: Chelsea House, 2000.
Booth, Wayne C. The Rhetoric of Fiction. Chicago: U of Chicago P, 1983.
Fiedler, Leslie A. Love and Death in the American Novel. Normal, IL: Dalkey Archive, 1966.
French, Warren. J. D. Salinger Revisited. Boston: Twayne, 1988.
Pinsker, Sanford. The Catcher in the Rye, Innocence Under Pressure. New York: Twayne, 1993.
Salinger, Margaret. Dream Catcher, A Memoir. New York: Washington Square, 2000.
