Holden Caulfield's Journey Through New York

Pencey Prep

He has been kicked out of a prestigious school called Pencey Prep

He is spectating the football game from the top of the hill before going to see his old teacher; Old Spencer

After visiting Old Spencer, Holden returns to his Dorm

He reads a book until his neighbor,

Ackley comes and disturbs him

Holden finally gets Ackley to leave

Holden's roommate Stradlater comes

back and borrows his coat for a date

with a girl that Holden used to know

Holden and Stradlater talk for a

while but we get the impression

neither likes the other very much

An argument takes place between

Stradlater and Holden over an English

composition Stradlater gets Holden

to write for him;

Holden ends up covered in blood

Holden gathers all the money

he can find and decides there

is no point in him staying at

school for the last few days

Holden leaves Pencey Prep

and goes to New York

Holden gets on the

train to New York

Whilst he is on the train

he meets the mother

of a boy he knew from

Pencey

Holden lies to the

woman who we

come to know is

called Mrs Morrow;

he tells her he has left

school early as he has

to have a brain tumor

removed over the

Christmas period

Holden boasts to us that he is a terrific liar

Holden uses his red hunting hat

as a form of protection and self-alienation

This becomes a recurring theme throughout the novel as Holden uses his hat to make himself feel less alone whilst he is in New York

Holden arrives in New York

Once in New York Holden tries to call someone;

he is feeling lonely

there are many people he thinks about calling

His sister; Phoebe

His brother; DB

Jane Gallagher

Sally Hayes

Carl Luce

but he doesn't call anyone

He takes a cab (indirectly to the Edmont Hotel)

On the way Holden starts to talk to the cab driver about the ducks in the lagoon in central park; this topic has been bothering him for quite a while

Edmont Hotel

Holden stays here when he is in New York

* Home to the Lavender Room

In the Lavender Room we first see how Holden really Interacts with Women; another key part of the novel

* Holden dances with a couple of girls as he thinks they are attractive but they are more interested in looking for celebrities

* He tries to act older than he is buy ordering alcohol from the waiter

this is representative of how he does not want to the leave the innocence of childhood but wants to do things that adults do; Holden is struggling with the concept that he is 16 and needs to grow up

Holden leaves the Lavender Room & starts to think about Jane Gallagher again

it now becomes apparent that Holden has quite strong feelings towards her

Holden gets another cab and goes to another bar

Holden tries to communicate with this cab driver about the ducks in the lagoon but with even less luck than before

the bar is called Ernies;

after the piano player that plays there

Holden does not like Ernie as he believes him to be a phony

whilst at Ernies, Holden sees a girl who was friendly with his brother, DB, this makes him feel uncomfortable as there is a guy with this girl

Holden spends another couple of days in this cycle of depression

He visits many other bars and clubs, he even meets with an old friend;

Carl Luce

Holden also wants to talk to Carl about Sex;

a topic that seems to be troubling Holden the most

Carl allows us, the reader, to see more of Holden

and who he really is rather than the persona

we are exposed to throughout the novel

Whilst talking with Carl Luce, Holden gets very drunk and calls Sally Hayes

They talk for a few minutes but Sally

is unimpressed by Holden's childish acts

Holden walks to Central Park where he walks to the lagoon where he hopes to find the ducks

He nearly falls into the lagoon as he is

so drunk he cannot stand upright

Here he also drops the record "Little Shirley Beans"

which he bought for his sister Phoebe;

it breaks into many pieces

Holden decide to return to his familie's apartment and see Phoebe

Holden wants to catch every young child

who is going to fall off the cliff at the

edge of the Rye Field

This symbolizes how he wants to protect children from the corrupt world of adults

The idea comes from a misinterpretation of a Robert Burns poem he heard being sung by a young child

Phoebe corrects him about this

but it does not prevent him

from thinking this is what he

will do in life

This dream however soon fades when Holden realises that it is not possible to protect people from adulthood forever

At Mr. Antolini's House Holden has a long conversation over his school work and how he is going to apply himself in the future

Holden falls asleep at the Antolini residence but awakes to Mr. Antolini patting him on the head

Holden leaves the Antolini residence confused

and shaken by what has just occurred.

It is only 5am

Holden goes to Grand Central to get his bags

Here he sleeps a little but not much as

he is disturbed by passers by and early

morning commuters

Holden convinces himself that his hormones are out of balance and that he has cancer

Here we see how desperate Holden's situation is.

He starts to panic about whether he is going to die and decides to go for a walk to take his mind off everything that has happened in the past 12 hours

Holden knows that he has to eat something however the thought of eating a doughnut makes him feel ill so he just drinks a coffee

This reflects just how lonely Holden is feeling at a time of year when family is so important to many people

* Holden really starts to become quite paranoid that he will not even make it to the other side of the road when crosses the street

He starts to call out to his brother Allie to make sure he got to the other side OK. Holden says "Allie, please don't let me disappear"

This act shows how much his younger brother's death has affected him even though he doesn't want to admit it to anyone

Holden makes the radical decision to go away alone and start a new life afresh somewhere where no one knew him or his story

Holden's imagination goes wild and he decided he will pretend to be a deaf mute to make life easier and no one will bother him and he will get married to a deaf mute girl and they will have children together

Holden goes to Phoebe's school (his old school) and sends her a note telling of his plan

Whilst at school Holden sees the words "fuck you" written on the wall

"it drove me damn near crazy"

This quote shows that even though Holden uses these phrases all of time that fact they are written in a school really upsets him as he feels that young children, like Phoebe should not be exposed to these kinds of obscenities

Holden takes it upon himself to try and remove the words from the wall on the 2 occasions he sees them which reflects his idea of being the catcher in the rye and preventing the adult world corrupting the innocence of childhood

Holden leaves the school unsure of whether his note made it to his sister showing his lack of trust in the adult world

He thinks about giving Jane Gallagher a call but decides not to. Here we see his fear to communicate with people stops him from talking to others about his problems which is the cause for his spiral out of control

Holden doesn't communicate with anyone in a particularly successful way.

His encounters with people who he may had started any sort of relationship with are ruined by his prejudging ways and the fact he cannot explain his in depth point of view about life to anyone without being embarrassed by his thoughts. Many themes such as sex, love, growing up etc. all trouble Holden throughout the novel but he never explains these problems to people so he can have help solving them

Holden shows some young boys to where the mummies are found in the museum of art and he sees yet another "fuck you" written here as well

This depresses him even further as his views of the adult world and the corruption he faces when he finally gets there are all becoming true and he sees that everything is not as it seems and that childhood protects you from so much and Holden wants it to remain like that forever

Holden thinks about how there is nowhere in life where you can be peaceful as everywhere you turn there is something there bringing you down

Holden decides that even when he dies someone will write on his tombstone:

Phoebe finally turns up but has a large suitcase from Holden's time at the Whooton school with her

She demands to go with him wherever he is going

Holden refuses to let her go with him as he himself doesn't even know what is going to happen and he wants Phoebe to stay in New York, finish school and do well - he wants her to have a good future and not mess it up like he has his

Holden convinces Phoebe that he was

kidding and that he isn't going away

anywhere

They walk and end up at the carousel

Catcher in the Rye

Holden's Journey through New York

Holden wants to know who cares for the ducks

in the winter when the lagoon freezes over

Holden Caulfield

yyyy-yyyy

"Fuck You"

The Carousel

* Whilst Phoebe is riding the

carousel Holden comes to the conclusion that

you cannot stop children from experiencing the corruption of the adult world they will enter

* For the first time in the novel he tells us "Boy I

felt so damn happy all of a sudden"

* This is the first time that Holden tells us he is

happy during the novel

Holden’s former English teacher

at the Elkton Hills School.

Mr. Antolini now teaches at New York University.

Carl Luce was Holden's student adviser at the Whooton School; Holden feels able to confide in him

Carl Luce

"Old Luce" offers advice on the level with which Holden is more familiar with; Carl is only slightly older than Holden which mean Holden can relate to what he is saying about certain topics.

* The thought regarding Carl's sexuality seems to bug Holden quite a lot; the theme of homosexuality plays on Holden's mind a lot

* Through Carl we see a change in Holden's general attitude towards his situation

* Carl gives Holden advice that he should speak with a psychoanalyst about his many problems

* Carl tells Holden he is being childish which seems to distance the two and their relationship

* Holden becomes an annoying child during their conversation and pesters Carl about sex, which is quite a childish topic

Through Carl Luce we learn how lonely Holden really is

Mr. Antolini

Like many characters in the novel, he drinks heavily.

Holden sometimes finds him a bit too clever,

but he looks to him for guidance.

He is young, clever, sympathetic,

and likable, and Holden respects him.

Caulfield Residence

The Ending

* Once at home Holden gives the pieces of the broken record to Phoebe

* Phoebe guesses he has been kicked out of school

* Here he tells her of his dream about being the Catcher in the Rye

* Holden give Phoebe his Red Hunting Hat and calls Mr. Antolini

* Holden's parents return & Holden hides then leaves for Mr. Antolini's house

Christmas Shopping on Fifth Avenue

At the start of the novel we are

introduced to Holden.

* Holden remembers taking Phoebe shopping here "the Christmas before last"

* He wishes for her to be with him

* We see here just how alike Holden and his kid sister are as they both got a laugh out of messing the salesman around in Bloomingdale's

* After the carousel we are with Holden in a sort of rest home

* Holden doesn't tell us what happened after the carousel but we get the idea he went home, got very ill and had to "come out here & take it easy"

* He talks about a psychoanalyst (Carl Luce said he should speak to one) and how he is going back to school (Mr Antolini told him to do this)

* He talks about his brother DB in a more positive way - his family have obviously supported him

* Holden tells us about how he misses everyone showing that even though he didn't have strong relationships with anyone, he had something as he misses them all

Dear Phoebe,

I can't wait around till Wednesday any more so I will probably

hitch hike out west this afternoon. meet me at the Museum of

art near the door at quarter past 12 if you can and I will give you your Christmas dough back. I didn't spend much.

Love,

Holden