The Catcher in the Rye s2

‘The Catcher in the Rye’

Key Incidents All of the key incidents highlight aspects of Holden Caulfield’s character. As the events unfold over the short period of 3 days Holden does not change dramatically over that brief time. However the reader is helped to understand the character of Holden and to respond to his character as a consequences of these incidents.

5 key incidents: their PURPOSES  Fight at Pencey – which highlights Holden’s confused character and propels Holden into his New York adventure. Use as introduction to novel.  The prostitute – emphasises important aspects of Holden’s character . Also an amusing incident.  Central Park, chapter 20 – Holden reaches a low point which is the crisis of the plot.  Going home to visit Phoebe – Holden seeks refuge with his family; we see Holden is depressed and in need of help  Mr. Antolini – again aspects of Holden’s character are highlighted; Mr. Antolini identifies Holden’s problem. Significant incident in diagnosing Holden’s problem.  Second meeting with Phoebe – Holden begins to make some sense of his world and concedes that facing life’s difficulties, cruelties, inequalities and unfairness is part of growing up. However this is only tentative on Holden’s part. He does NOT make a life- changing discovery as some main characters do in novels. The novel’s conclusion.

Chapter 20 – crisis point for Holden

* has been unable to find anyone to communicate his ‘angst’ to and is feeling frustrated and lonely Holden has tried unsuccessfully to communicate his frustrations about life at school and society’s values with Sally Hayes and Carl Luce and has resorted to begging Carl to keep him company: ‘I’m lonesome as hell. No kidding’. He spends the rest of Sunday night drinking in the bar till around 1am. trying to act adult, ogling the singer and asking the waiter to pass on a message to her. Again Holden acts as he thinks sophisticated adults behave but soon he reverts to childish play-acting; ‘I started that stupid business with the bullet in my guts again.’ Holden’s transition between child and adult is reinforced as he swings from adult behaviour to childish fantasy. This is typical of the teenage stage however.

By this time he is drunk, ‘I could hardly see straight’, and he decides once more to phone Jane Gallagher. As in other parts of the novel he finds an excuse not to, to avoid disillusionment of his innocent memory of Jane, so phones Sally Hayes instead. The reader is treated to an amusing transcription of Holden’s drunken conversation with Sally where he tries to make amends for his lapse in manners when they met earlier on Sunday. However Holden is desperately seeking human contact as he is lonely, as well as drunk. When he is attempting to sober up in the toilets he tries to strike up a conversation with the piano player, this time asking the man to give the singer a message from Holden. From this conversation we see how needling Holden’s questions are, ‘you need a manager?’, yet he thinks he is being sarcastically witty. The man refuses to rise to Holden’s bait and tells him to go home. Drunkenness has made Holden maudlin and he was ‘crying and all’. The hat -check girl mothers Holden and tells him to put on his red hunting hat to keep off the winter chill. Despite chatting her up she treats Holden as a boy. Here we have seen the conflict in Holden in that when he tries to behave like an adult, he falls short of the mark and is seen for the boy he actually is by the adults: the transition theme again.

The cold sobers Holden up and he has nowhere to go: ‘I didn’t even know where I was supposed to go.’ He feels as ‘blue as hell’ and heads off to Central Park to see ‘what the hell the ducks were doing’. On the way he drops the ‘Shirley Beans’ record. This is symbolic as the record symbolises childhood and Holden has shattered it – Holden’s childhood period is over but he cannot come to terms with this. He scoops up the pieces to give to Phoebe, the remains of his childhood, instead of walking away from it. This incident juxtaposes the earlier incidents in the bar when Holden was unsuccessfully trying to act out adult behaviour. This chapter shows Holden in the transition between childhood and adulthood, a confusing time for him and all teenagers.

Although Holden believes he knows Central Park well, as it was his childhood playground, he finds the park at night a confusing and threatening place. The park is a metaphor at this point for Holden’s life: childhood was easy to negotiate but adulthood is trickier and fraught with dangers. Holden can’t find the ducks he has been concerned about from chapter 8, although he almost falls in the pond in his quest. Where the ducks go in winter remains a mystery for Holden, just as what he is to do with his future remains elusive too.

Holden realises he is in danger of freezing, as he has ‘hunks of ice in his hair’ and thinks morbid thoughts about his death from pneumonia and his funeral. This leads to thoughts of Allie’s death and guilt about causing his mother more grief. Typically he is comforted by the thought that Phoebe, a child, would be protected somewhat from his death by not being allowed to attend his funeral. We then see Holden’s irrational thoughts about Allie’s death and that he still cannot come to terms with it. He worries about Allie being left alone, cold and wet in the graveyard: ‘I know it’s only his body and all that’s in the cemetery --- but I couldn’t stand it anyway.’ Holden is obviously deeply troubled by Allie’s death in a way that is not normal for someone of Holden’s age. Allie’s death typifies the injustice and cruelty in the world which Holden hates but can’t face up to. We see Holden is psychologically scarred by this episode – Allie’s death - in his life. We now realise Holden is not well.

To add to his troubles Holden has little money left and recklessly skims the last of it in the lake. Again this is typically rash behaviour which he almost immediately regrets. He feels if he is going to die he had better pay Phoebe a last visit – again thoughts of death- and decides to ‘sneak home.’ Having discovered that New York City can be a hostile place he longs for the security of his home. Having decided to strike out independently on his own on Saturday night as a young adult, he now feels more depressed and vulnerable after his adventures and longs for the safety of his family. This again shows the transition between childhood and adulthood is not a straight line. Holden is now neither in good shape emotionally or physically and he feels very vulnerable. This is the nadir for Holden, the most miserable time in the novel.