4.+Catcher+-+Discussion+questions

Discussion questions

__ The Catcher in the Rye __ by J.D. Salinger
What do we find out about Holden’s family background? Why does he call his brother a prostitute? Why do you think he liked his brother’s story //The Secret Goldfish//? How would you have reacted if you had been in charge of the fencing team, you had forgotten the equipment and you had to return to school? How can you explain Holden’s reaction? Why is Holden watching the football game from the top of a hill? What impression do you get of Holden when he is visiting Mr Spencer?
 * Chapter 1**

Why do you think Holden actually went to visit Mr Spencer? What does he mean when he talks about life “on the other side, where there aren’t any hot-shots”? Why do you think he says: “People never notice anything”? Why do you think Mr Spencer wanted to see him? Do they communicate? What is your impression of Holden so far?
 * Chapter 2**

// “I’m the most terrific liar you ever saw in your life.” // This is how Holden characterizes himself. Does this also make him an unreliable narrator? What do you make of his red hunting hat? Could it be symbolic of something? What sort of guy is Ackley? Why doesn’t Holden simply throw him out?
 * Chapter 3**

What sort of guy is Stradlater? How is their relationship? Holden says he hates movies, but yet he “gets a bang out of imitating them”. What does this tell us about him? Why do you think Holden is concerned about Jane?
 * Chapter 4**

Why does Holden invite Ackley along if he hates his guts? Why do you think Holden does Stradlater a favour by writing a composition for him? What does the subject of the composition tell you? (and what about the fact that he actually had the mitt in his suitcase?)
 * Chapter 5**

Can you understand why Holden tears up the composition? Why is Holden getting nervous when talking about Jane? And why does he write: “This next part I don’t remember so hot”? What do you think is the matter with Holden? What is the function of his hunting hat?
 * Chapter 6**

Why doesn’t Holden want to tell Ackley what his fight with Stradlater was about? Compare Holden’s actions in Ackley’s room with Ackley’s actions in Holden’s room How many times does Holden say that he is lonesome in this chapter? why does he feel this way? Why does Holden decide to leave for New York? How does Holden feel about his mother? How does Holden finally leave Pencey Prep? ** Test yourself, chapters 1 – 7: Leaving Pencey Prep ** - The teacher Holden visits. - The people Holden goes out with in Chapter 5. - How many schools Holden refers to. - What amuses Holden during Ossenburger’s speech. - What Holden’s composition is about. - Why Holden feels sorry for Ackley. - Why Holden loses his temper with Stradlater. - How the author builds up Holden’s character. - The way Holden talks about his school. - Which of the people whom Holden talks about he likes, if any. - What Holden has revealed abut his feelings. - How the author builds up Holden and Stradlater’s confrontation.
 * Chapter 7**
 * Identify the following characters: **
 * Locate the following information: **
 * Consider these issues: **

Why does Holden make up lots of lies when talking to Mrs Morrow? Why does Holden smoke and invite her for a drink? In what way do the events in this chapter prepare us for what is going to happen in New York?
 * Chapter 8**

How does Holden feel about women and sex? Why do you think he asks the cabdriver about the ducks? What indications are there that Holden is desperate for company?
 * Chapter 9**

Why do you think he wants to call Phoebe? What does he like in Phoebe? What is his opinion of the girls he meets in the bar? What do these girls think of him?
 * Chapter 10**

Why do you think he starts thinking about Jane? What does he like in Jane? Do you think he’s in love with her? Why do you think Jane started to cry? Recall the end of ch. 7 when he explained what he wanted to do in New York. Is this what he actually ends up doing?
 * Chapter 11**

What happens in the cab? Why do you think Holden decides to go to Ernie’s? How does he react when someone finally is pleased to meet him? What does he mean when—towards the end of the chapter—he says: “If you want to stay alive, you have to say that stuff, though.”
 * Chapter 12**

What does he mean when he says that he is “one of these very yellow guys”? Why does he accept the elevator boy’s offer? What happens when he meets Sunny?
 * Chapter 13**

Why do you think Holden starts thinking about Jesus here? In what ways does Holden (try to) behave like an adult and when does he really react like a child? In some instances Holden is generous with his money (the girls in the bar, the nuns), but here he makes a fuss about $5. Why? After Maurice has punched him in the stomach, he pretends being in a movie and having been shot in his guts. If he hates movies, like he says he does, why does he do this? And what does he mean when he says that the movies can “ruin you”? Why does he contemplate suicide at the end of the chapter? Is it a credible threat?
 * Chapter 14**

Some quotes: “What I did, I started talking, sort of out loud, to Allie.” “I felt like praying or something, when I was in bed, but I couldn’t do it.” “Every time I got started I kept picturing old Sunny calling me a crumb-bum.” “The goddam movies. They can ruin you. I’m not kidding.” “God, what a jerk I was.” “What I really felt like, though, was committing suicide.” ** Test yourself, Chapters 8 – 14: The Edmont Hotel **

- The woman Holden meets on the train to New York. - The girls with whom Holden dances. - The piano player at the club. - The prostitute Holden sees. -<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> The names of the night clubs Holden visits. -<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> Where Holden and Jane spent time together. -<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> The reason for Holden’s fight with the elevator-man. -<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> The reasons behind Holden’s lying. -<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> The way the author reveals aspects of Holden’s past to us. -<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> How other characters reacts to Holden when he attempts to converse with them. -<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> The way Holden describes the Edmont Hotel. -<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> Holden’s behaviour in the clubs which he visits. -<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> Our reaction to Holden’s depression and loneliness. -<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> The way the author presents the scene with the prostitute. -<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> Whether we have sympathy for Holden after he is hit by Maurice. What do we learn about Holden’s parents in this chapter? While talking to the nuns, we understand that Holden knows quite a lot about literature and that he can talk with people in a normal way without having to lie. He also says that he enjoyed talking with these nuns. What impression do we get of Holden here? Why is so much made of suitcases in this chapter? Does Salinger make them representative of something in people? What’s the point of Holden’s feelings about Catholics? What is the similarity to the suitcases he mentions?
 * Identify the following characters: **
 * Locate the following information: **
 * Consider these issues: **
 * Chapter 15 **

Some quotes: <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> “My 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.” <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> “I hate it if I’m eating bacon and eggs or something and somebody else is only eating toast and coffee.” <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> “It isn’t important, I know, but I hate it when somebody has cheap suitcases.” Why does the boy’s singing make Holden less depressed? Why does Holden go to the park?
 * Chapter 16 **

Some quotes <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> “He was singing that song, ‘If a body catch a body coming through the rye’. (…) It made me feel better. It made me feel not so depressed anymore.” <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> “I hate actors. They never act like people. They just think they do.” <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> ”The best thing, though, in that museum, was that everything always stayed right where it was.” <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> “Then a funny thing happened. When I got to the museum, all of a sudden I wouldn’t have gone inside for a million bucks.” What is Holden’s definition of boring guys? What is it he doesn’t like about the show? What is it he doesn’t like about the guy Sally meets? What sort of conversation do Holden and Sally have after having skated? Why do you think Holden suggests going to Massachusetts or Vermont? How do Holden and Sally part?
 * Chapter 17 **

Some quotes <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> “But anyway, they were the only ones in the show—the Lunts, I mean—that looked like they had any real brains. I have to admit it.” <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> “You never saw so many phonies in all your life, everybody smoking their ears off and talking about the play so that everybody could hear and know how sharp they were.” <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> “(Boy’s school) is full of phonies, and all you do is study, so that you can learn enough to be smart enough to be able to buy a goddam Cadillac some day, and you have to keep making believe you give a damn if the football team loses, and all you do is talk about girls and liquor and sex all day, and everybody sticks together in these dirty little goddam clicks.”

** Chapter 18 **
What about Holden’s comments about the war? How do you think people reacted to this back in the early fifties? Why do you think he would dislike being in the Army? “Sally said I was a sacrilegious atheist. I probably am”. (sacrilegious – no respect for what is holy) What do you make of this scene? Is Holden being sacrilegious here? What is your impression of Carl Luce? What happens at the end of the chapter? Again Holden wants to call Jane and he never seems to get around to it. What is the significance of this? What do telephones represent in the novel? In this chapter Holden has really sunk very low. Find examples of his utter depression. ** Test yourself, Chapters 15 – 20: Faces from the past ** -<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> The girl whom Holden takes to the theatre -<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> Holden’s junior school teacher -<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> The main actors in the show which Holden goes to with Sally. -<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> The old schoolfriend with whom Holden goes for a drink. ** Locate the following information: ** -<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> The name of the Shakespeare play that Holden discusses with the nun. -<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> The title of the record Holden buys Phoebe. -<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> The name of the bar where Holden gets drunk. ** Consider these issues: ** -<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> Why Holden does not phone Jane Gallagher. -<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> Why the writer includes Holden’s memories of his museum visits. -<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> The reasons for Holden enjoying his conversation with the nuns. -<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> Holden’s behaviour on his date. -<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> The significance of Holden breaking his sister’s record. -<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> How the writer brings our attention to Holden’s worsening state of mind. Why is Holden so interested in his sister’s schoolbooks? Why is Phoebe so upset when she understands Holden has been kicked out of school again? Do you find Phoebe credible as a 10-year old?
 * Chapter 19 **
 * Chapter 20 **
 * Identify the following characters: **
 * Chapter 21**

What do Ackley and James Castle have in common and why does Holden think of them? What does Holden mean when he says that he wants to be “the catcher in the rye”?
 * Chapter 22**

Why does Holden begin to cry when Phoebe gives him her Christmas money? Why does he give her his hunting hat? Why do you think Holden likes Mr Antolini? Why does he decide to visit him?
 * Chapter 23**

What is your opinion of Mr Antolini and of the advice he gives Holden? Mr Antolini says that Holden is heading for a fall. What kind of fall and where have we encountered this idea about falling before in the novel? Is Mr Antolini homosexual? Is it important to determine whether or not he is?
 * Chapter 24**

How ill has Holden become at this stage? What is the meaning of Holden’s fear the he will fall and disappear when he steps off the kerb of each street? Why does he get so upset when he sees “--- you” scrawled on the school wall? Remember that he failed a history exam. Link this to what happens at the museum. Do you see a connection? Is his plan to travel west realistic? Why does he suddenly decide not to leave after all? Why does he feel happy in the end?
 * Chapter 25**

In what way is this final chapter linked to the first chapter? What do you make of the final sentences of the book? Why does he even miss “old” Maurice? Why should he regret telling all this?
 * Questions chapter 26**
 * Test yourself, chapters 21-26: Reunited with Phoebe.**

-** the boy who died at Elkton Hills - the character Phoebe is to play in the school pageant - Where Holden's parents are when he returns home. - The name of the poet who wrote "If a body meet a body coming through the rye". - What Mr Antolini drinks. - Where Holden goes after leaving Mr Antolini's. - Where Holden and Phoebe go when they meet in Chapter 25. - The reasons Holden gives to Phoebe for disliking Pencey Prep. - Holden's relationship with Phoebe. - The way the writer builds up Mr Antolini's character. - Holden's reaction when he wakes up to find Mr Antolini patting his head. - How the writer creates a sense of climax in the closing chapters. - Why the writer ends Holden's tale when he does.
 * Identify the following characters:
 * Locate the following information:**
 * Consider these issues:**

"Test yourself" sections are copied from: //York Notes, The Catcher in the Rye. Notes by Nigel Tookey.// York Press, 1997. All other questions, copyright © Julia Kagge.