The Catcher in the Rye | Summary, Analysis, Reception, & Facts

Plot summary

From what is implied to be a bedlam, Holden, the narrator and protagonist, tells the report of his adventures before the former Christmas. The report begins with Holden at Pencey Prep School on his way to the house of his history teacher, Spencer, then that he can say adieu. He reveals to the lector that he has been expelled for failing most of his classes. After he visits Spencer, he encounters his roommate, Ward Stradlater, who asks Holden to write an try for English course for him while he goes on a date with a longtime friend of Holden ’ sulfur. Having agreed, Holden writes about the baseball glove of his youthful buddy, Allie, who died of leukemia. When Stradlater returns, he tells Holden that the test international relations and security network ’ thyroxine full, and Holden gets angry when Stradlater refuses to say whether he had sex with his date. This causes Holden to storm out and leave Pencey for New York City a few days in the first place than planned for Christmas break. Once he arrives in New York, he can not go home, as his parents do not however know that he has been expelled. rather, he rents a room at the Edmont Hotel, where he witnesses some sexually charged scenes through the windows of early rooms. His aloneness then causes him to seek out human interaction, which he does at the Lavender Room, the hotel ’ randomness cabaret. After interacting with some women there, he goes to another cabaret, entirely to leave after seeing his elder buddy ’ s ex-girlfriend. When he gets back to the hotel, he orders a prostitute to his board, entirely to talk to her. This position ends in him being punched in the stomach .

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The next good morning, Holden calls Sally Hayes, an ex-girlfriend of his. They spend the day together until Holden makes a natural remark and she leaves crying. Holden then meets up with a former schoolmate, Carl Luce, at a bar, but Luce leaves early because he becomes annoyed by Holden ’ randomness green comments. Holden stays behind and gets drunk by himself. After he leaves, he wanders in Central Park until the cold drives him to his family ’ s apartment. He sneaks in, inactive not train to face his parents, and finds his 10-year-old sister, Phoebe. She is upset when she hears that Holden has failed out and accuses him of not liking anything. It is at this clock time that Holden describes to his baby his fantasy of being “ the catcher in the rye, ” which was inspired by a song he heard a short boy cantabile : “ If a body catch a torso comin ’ through the rye. ” Phoebe tells him that the words are “ If a torso meet a body coming through the rye, ” from a poem by Robert Burns. ( Burns ’ south poem, “ Comin thro ’ the Rye, ” exists in several versions, but most render the lines as “ Gin a body meet a soundbox / Comin thro ’ the rye. ” ) soon they hear their parents come dwelling after a night out, and Holden sneaks away. He calls his former English teacher, Mr. Antolini, who tells Holden he can come stay at his apartment. Holden falls asleep on Antolini ’ s sofa and awakes to Antolini stroking his brow, which Holden interprets as a intimate advance. He immediately excuses himself and heads to Grand Central Station, where he spends the pillow of the nox. When he awakes, he goes to Phoebe ’ second school and leaves a note telling her that he plans to run away and asking her to meet him at a museum during lunch. She arrives with a pack bag and insists on going with him. He tells her no and rather takes her to the menagerie, where he watches her ride the carousel in the pour rain. This is where the flashback ends. The novel closes with Holden explaining that he has fallen “ nauseated ” but is expected to go to a newly school in the fall.