American Literature books summary

twenty bucks. Before he leaves, he yells "Sleep tight, ya morons."

Chapter Eight:

Since it is too late to call a cab, Holden walks to the train station. On

the train, a woman gets on at Trenton and sits right beside him, even

though the train is nearly empty. She strikes up a conversation with him,

noticing the Pencey sticker on his suitcase, and says that her son, Ernest

Morrow, goes to Pencey as well. Holden remembers him as "the biggest

bastard that ever went to Pencey." Holden tells her that his name is Rudolf

Schmidt, the name of the Pencey janitor. Holden lies to Mrs. Morrow,

pretending that he likes Pencey and that he is good friends with Ernest.

She thinks that her son is Њsensitive,' an idea that Holden finds

laughable, but Holden continues to tell lies about Ernest, such as that he

would have been elected class president, but he was too modest to accept

the nomination. Holden asks if she would like to join him for a cocktail in

the club car. Finally, he tells her that he is leaving Pencey early because

he has to have an operation; he claims he has a tumor on his brain. When

she invites Holden to visit during the summer, he says that he will be

spending the summer in South America with his grandmother.

Chapter Nine:

When Holden reaches New York, he does not know whom to call. He considers

calling his kid sister, Phoebe, but she would be asleep and his parents

would overhear. He also considers calling Jane Gallagher or Sally Hayes,

another friend, but finally does not call anybody. He gets into a cab and

absentmindedly gives the driver his home address, but soon realizes that he

does not want to get home. He goes to the Edmond Hotel instead, where he

stays in a shabby room. He looks out of the window and could see the other

side of the hotel. From this view he can see other rooms; in one of them, a

man takes off his clothes and puts on ladies' clothing, while in another a

man and a woman spit their drinks at one another. Holden thinks that he's

the "biggest sex maniac you ever saw," but then claims that he does not

understand sex at all. He then thinks of calling Jane Gallagher but again

decides against it, and instead considers calling a woman named Faith

Cavendish, who was formerly a burlesque stripper and is not quite a

prostitute. When he calls her, he continues to ask whether or not they

could get a drink together, but she turns him down at every opportunity.

Chapter Ten:

Holden describes more about his family in this chapter. His sister Phoebe

is the smartest little kid that he has ever met, and Holden himself is the

only dumb one. Phoebe reminds Holden of Allie in physical appearance, but

she is very emotional. She writes books about Hazle Weatherfield, a girl

detective. Holden goes down to the Lavender Room, a nightclub in the hotel.

The band there is putrid and the people are mostly old. When he attempts to

order a drink, the waiter asks for identification, but since he does not

have proof of his age, he begs the waiter to put rum in his Coke. Holden

"gives the eye" to three women at another table, in particular a blonde

one. He asks the blonde one to dance, and Holden judges her to be an

excellent dancer, but a moron. Holden is offended when the woman, Bernice

Krebs, asks his age and when he uses profanity in front of her. He tells

these women, who are visiting from Seattle, that his name is Jim Steele.

Since they keep mentioning how they saw Peter Lorre that day, Holden claims

that he just saw Gary Cooper, who just left the Lavender Room. Holden

thinks that the women are sad for wanting to go to the first show at Radio

City Music Hall.

Chapter Eleven:

Upon leaving the Lavender Room, Holden begins to think of Jane Gallagher

and worries that Stradlater seduced her. Holden met Jane when his mother

became irritated that the Gallagher's Doberman pinscher relieved itself on

their lawn. Several days later, he introduced himself to her, but it took

some time before he could convince her that he didn't care what their dog

did. Holden reminisces about Jane's smile, and admits that she is the only

person whom he showed Allie's baseball mitt. The one time that he and Jane

did anything sexual together was after she had a fight with Mr. Cudahy, her

father-in-law. Holden suspected that he had tried to "get wise with" Jane.

Holden decides to go to Ernie's, a nightclub in Greenwich village that D.B.

used to frequent before he went to Hollywood.

Chapter Twelve:

In the cab to Ernie's, Holden chats with Horwitz, the cab driver. He asks

what happens to the ducks in Central Park during the winter, but the two

get into an argument when Horwitz thinks that Holden's questions are

stupid. Ernie's is filled with prep school and college jerks, as Holden

calls them. Holden notices a Joe Yale-looking guy with a beautiful girl; he

is telling the girl how a guy in his dorm nearly committed suicide. A

former girlfriend of Holden's brother, D.B., recognizes him. The girl,

Lillian Simmons, asks about D.B. and introduces Holden to a Navy commander

she is dating. Holden notices how she blocks the aisle in the place as she

drones on about how handsome Holden has become. Rather than spend time with

Lillian Simmons, Holden leaves.

Chapter Thirteen:

Holden walks back to his hotel, although it is forty-one blocks away. He

considers how he would confront a person who had stolen his gloves.

Although he would not do so aggressively, he wishes that he could threaten

the person who stole them. Holden finally concludes that he would yell at

the thief but not have the courage to hit him. Holden reminisces about

drinking with Raymond Goldfarb at Whooton. While back at the hotel, Maurice

the elevator man asks Holden if he is interested in a little tail tonight.

He offers a prostitute for five dollars. When she arrives, she does not

believe that he is twenty-two, as he claims. Holden finally tells the

prostitute, Sunny, that he just had an operation on his clavichord, as an

excuse not to have sex. She is angry, but he still pays her, even though

they argue over the price. He gives her five dollars, although she demands

ten.

Chapter Fourteen:

After the prostitute leaves, Holden sits in a chair and talks aloud to his

brother Allie, which he often does whenever he is depressed. Finally he

gets in bed and feels like praying, although he is "sort of an atheist." He

claims that he likes Jesus, but the Disciples annoy him. Other than Jesus,

the Biblical character he likes best is the lunatic who lived in the tombs

and cut himself with stones. Holden tells that his parents disagree on

religion and none of his siblings attend church. Maurice and Sunny knock on

the door, demanding more money. Holden argues with Maurice and threatens to

call the cops, but Maurice says that his parents would find out that he

spent the night with a whore. As Holden starts to cry, Sunny takes the

money from his wallet. Maurice punches him in the stomach before leaving.

After Maurice is gone, Holden imagines that he had taken a bullet and would

shoot Maurice in the stomach. Holden feels like committing suicide by

jumping out the window, but he wouldn't want people looking at his gory

body on the sidewalk.

Chapter Fifteen:

Holden calls Sally Hayes, who goes to the Mary A. Woodruff School.

According to Holden, Sally seems quite intelligent because she knows a good

deal about the theater and literature, but is actually quite stupid. He

makes a date to meet Sally for a matinee, but she continues to chat with

Holden on the phone despite his lack of interest. Holden tells that his

father is a wealthy corporation attorney and his mother has not been

healthy since Allie died. At Grand Central Station, where Holden checks in

his bags after leaving the hotel, he sees two nuns with cheap suitcases.

Holden reminisces about his roommate at Elkton Hills, Dick Slagle who had

cheap suitcases and would complain about how everything was bourgeois. He

chats with the nuns and gives them a donation. He wonders what nuns think

about sex when he discusses Romeo and Juliet with them.

Chapter Sixteen:

Before meeting Sally Hayes, Holden goes to find a record called "Little

Shirley Beans" for Phoebe by Estelle Fletcher. As he walks through the

city, he hears a poor kid playing with his parents, singing the song "If a

body catch a body coming through the rye." Hearing the song makes Holden

feel less depressed. Holden buys tickets for I Know My Love, a play

starring the Lunts. He knew that Sally would enjoy it, for it was supposed

to be very sophisticated. Holden goes to the Mall, where Phoebe usually

plays when she is in the park, and sees a couple of kids playing there. He

asks if any of them know Phoebe. They do, and claim that she is probably in

the Museum of Natural History. He reminisces about going to the Museum when

he was in grade school. He remembers how he would go there often with his

class, but while the exhibits would be exactly the same, he would be

different each time. Holden considers going to the museum to see Phoebe,

but instead goes to the Biltmore for his date with Sally.

Chapter Seventeen:

Holden meets Sally at the Biltmore, and when he sees her he immediately

feels like marrying her, even though he doesn't particularly like her.

After the play, when Sally keeps mentioning that she thinks she knows

people she sees, Holden replies "Why don't you go on over and give him a

big soul kiss, if you know him? He'll enjoy it." Finally, Sally does go to

talk to the boy she knows, George from Andover. Holden notes how phony the

conversation between Sally and George is. Holden and Sally go ice skating

at Radio City, then to eat. Sally asks Holden if he is coming over to help

her trim the Christmas tree. Holden asks her if she ever gets fed up. He

tells her that he hates everything: taxicabs, living in New York, phony

guys who call the Lunts angels. Sally tells him not to shout. He tells her

that she is the only reason that he is in New York right now. If not for

her, he would be in the woods, he claims. He complains about the cliques at

boarding schools, and tells her that he's in lousy shape. He suggests that

they borrow a car from a friend in Greenwich Village and drive up to New

England where they can stay in a cabin camp until their money runs out.

They could get married and live in the woods. Sally tells him that the idea

is foolish, for they are both practically children who would starve to

death. She tells him that they will have a lot of time to do those things

after college and marriage, but he claims that there wouldn't be "oodles"

of places to go, for it would be entirely different. He calls her a "royal

pain in the ass," and she starts to cry. Holden feels somewhat guilty, and

realizes that he doesn't even know where he got the idea about going to New

England.

Chapter Eighteen:

Holden once again considers giving Jane a call to invite her to go dancing.

He remembers how she danced with Al Pike from Choate. Although Holden

thought that he was "all muscles and no brains," Jane claimed that he had

an inferiority complex and felt sorry for him. Holden thinks that girls

divide guys into two types, no matter what their personality: a girl will

justify bad behavior as part of an inferiority complex for those she likes,

while claim those that she doesn't like are conceited. Holden calls Carl

Luce, a friend from the Whooton School who goes to Columbia, and plans to

meet him that night. He then goes to the movies and is annoyed when a woman

beside him becomes too emotional. The movie is a war film, which makes

Holden think about D.B.'s experience in the war. He hated the army, but had

Holden read A Farewell to Arms, which in Holden's view celebrates soldiers.

Holden thinks that if there is a war, he is glad that the atomic bomb has

been invented, for he would volunteer to sit right on top of it.

Chapter Nineteen:

Holden meets Carl Luce at the Wicker Bar. Carl Luce used to gossip about

people who were "flits" (homosexuals) and would tell which actors were

actually gay. Holden claims that Carl was a bit "flitty" himself. When Carl

arrives, he asks Holden when he is going to grow up, and is not amused by

Holden's jokes. Carl is annoyed that he is having a "typical Caulfield

conversation" about sex. Carl admits that he is seeing an older woman in

the Village who is a sculptress from China. Holden asks questions that are

too personal about Carl's sex life with his girlfriend until Carl insists

that he drop the subject. Carl reminds him that the last time he saw Holden

he told him to see his father, a psychiatrist.

Chapter Twenty:

Holden remains in the Wicker Bar getting drunk. He continues to pretend

that he has been shot. Finally, he calls Sally, but her grandmother answers

and asks why he is calling so late. Finally, Sally gets on the phone and

realizes that Holden is drunk. In the restroom of the Wicker Bar, he talks

to the "flitty-looking" guy, asking if he will see the "Valencia babe" who

performs there, but he tells Holden to go home. Holden finally leaves. As

he walks home, Holden drops Phoebe's record and nearly starts to cry. He

goes to Central Park and sits down on a bench. He thinks that he will get

pneumonia and imagines his funeral. He is reassured that his parents won't

let Phoebe come to his funeral because he is too young. He thinks about

what Phoebe would feel if he got pneumonia and died, and figures that he

should sneak home and see her, in case he did die.

Chapter Twenty-One:

Holden returns home, where he is very quiet as not to awake his parents.

Phoebe is asleep in D.B.'s room. He sits down at D.B.'s desk and looks at

Phoebe's stuff, such as her math book, where she has the name "Phoebe

Weatherfield Caulfield" written on the first page (her middle name is

actually Josephine). He wakes up Phoebe and hugs her. She tells about how

she is playing Benedict Arnold in her school play. She tells about how she

saw a movie called The Doctor, and how their parents are out for the night.

Holden shows Phoebe the broken record, and admits that he got kicked out.

She tells him that "Daddy's going to kill you," but Holden says that he is

going away to a ranch in Colorado. Phoebe places a pillow over her head and

refuses to talk to Holden.

Chapter Twenty-Two:

Phoebe tells Holden that she thinks his scheme to go out to Colorado is

foolish, and asks why he failed out of yet another school. He claims that

Pencey is full of phonies. He tells her about how everyone excluded Robert

Ackley as a sign of how phony the students are. Holden admits that there

were a couple of nice teachers, including Mr. Spencer, but then complains

about the Veterans' Day ceremonies. Phoebe tells Holden that he doesn't

like anything that happens. She asks Holden for one thing that he likes a

lot. He thinks of two things. The first is the nuns at Grand Central. The

second is a boy at Elkton Hills named James Castle, who had a fight with a

conceited guy named Phil Stabile. He threatened James, who responded by

jumping out the window, killing himself. However, he tells Phoebe that he

likes Allie, and he likes talking to Phoebe right now. Holden tells Phoebe

that he would like to be a catcher in the rye: he pictures a lot of

children playing in a big field of rye around the edge of a cliff. Holden

imagines that he would catch them if they started to go over the cliff.

Holden decides to call up Mr. Antolini, a former teacher at Elkton Hills

who now teaches English at NYU.

Chapter Twenty-Three:

Holden tells that Mr. Antolini was his English teacher at Elkton Hills and

was the person who carried James Castle to the infirmary. Holden and Phoebe

dance to the radio, but their parents come home and Holden hides in the

closet. When he believes that it is safe, Holden asks Phoebe for money and

she gives him eight dollars and change. He starts to cry as he prepares to

leave, which frightens Phoebe. He gives Phoebe his hunting hat and tells

her that he will give her a call.

Chapter Twenty-Four:

Mr. Antolini had married an older woman who shared similar intellectual

interests. When he arrives at his apartment, Holden finds Mr. Antolini in a

bathrobe and slippers, drinking a highball. Holden and Mr. Antolini discuss

Pencey, and Holden tells how he failed Oral Expression (debate). He tells

Holden how he had lunch with his father, who told him that Holden was

cutting classes and generally unprepared. He warns Holden that he is riding

for some kind of terrible fall. He says that it may be the kind where, at

the age of thirty, he sits in some bar hating everyone who comes in looking

as if he played football in college or hating people who use improper

grammar. He tells Holden that the fall that he is riding for is a special

and horrible kind, and that he can see Holden dying nobly for some highly

unworthy cause. He gives Holden a quote from the psychoanalyst Wilhelm

Stekel: "The mark of the immature man is that he wants to die nobly for a

cause, while the mark of the mature man is that he wants to live humbly for

one." He finally tells Holden that once he gets past the things that annoy

him, he will be able to find the kind of information that will be dear to

his heart. Holden goes to sleep, and wakes up to find Mr. Antolini's hand

on his head. He tells Holden that he is "simply sitting here, admiring‹"

but Holden interrupts him, gets dressed and leaves, claiming that he has to

get his bags from Grand Central Station and he will be back soon.

Chapter Twenty-Five:

When Holden gets outside, it is getting light out. He walks over to

Lexington to take the subway to Grand Central, where he slept that night.

He thinks about how Mr. Antolini will explain Holden's departure to his

wife. Holden feels some regret that he didn't come back to the Antolini's

apartment. Holden starts reading a magazine at Grand Central; when he reads

an article about hormones, he begins to worry about hormones, and worries

about cancer when he reads about cancer. As Holden walks down Fifth Avenue,

he feels that he will not get to the other side of the street each time he

comes to the end of a block. He feels that he would just go down. He makes

believe that he is with Allie every time he reaches a curb. Holden decides

that he will go away, never go home again and never go to another prep

school. He thinks he will pretend to be a deaf-mute so that he won't have

to deal with stupid conversations. Holden goes to Phoebe's school to find

her and say goodbye. At the school he sees "fuck you" written on the wall,

and becomes enraged as he tries to scratch it off. He writes her a note

asking her to meet him near the Museum of Art so that he can return her

money. While waiting for Phoebe at the Museum, Holden chats with two

brothers who talk about mummies. He sees another "fuck you" written on the

wall, and is convinced that someone will write that below the name on his

tombstone. Holden, suffering from diarrhea, goes to the bathroom, and as he

exits the bathroom he passes out. When he regains consciousness, he feels

better. Phoebe arrives, wearing Holden's hunting hat and dragging Holden's

old suitcase. She tells him that she wants to come with him. She begs, but

he refuses and causes her to start crying. She throws the red hunting hat

back at Holden and starts to walk away. She follows Holden to the zoo, but

refuses to talk to him or get near him. He buys Phoebe a ticket for the

carousel there, and watches her go around on it as "Smoke Gets in Your

Eyes" plays. Afterwards, she takes back the red hunting hat and goes back

on the carousel. As it starts to rain, Holden cries while watching Phoebe.

Chapter Twenty-Six:

Holden ends his story there. He refuses to tell what happened after he went

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