The Catcher in the Rye

The narrator, Holden Caulfield, is also the main character of this book. The other characters are his family, friends, and teachers. Holden Caulfield has a mother, a father, a sister, and two brothers. One of the brothers, Allie, died of cancer a while back. "The Catcher in the Rye" has no specific plot, but in the end it's clear that he's in some kind of mental institution. Holden starts the story off at Pencey Prep in Agerstown, Pennsylvania during the 20th century. He attends this all-boy boarding school before getting kicked out on account of failing 4 out of 5 subjects, English being the only subject he manages to pass. It's around Christmas time and after Christmas vacation, he isn't supposed to go back.

He explains that he doesn't enjoy his time at Pencey Prep and that most of the boys there are a bunch of "phonies." So instead of staying until Christmas vacation, he decides to leave on his own a few days before the break. He travels to New York, where his parents and sister live, but doesn't go home because he doesn't want them to know that he got kicked out just yet. Instead, he searches for a cheap hotel to stay at for the time being. He gets extremely bored and lonely so he calls different people to meet up with.

After a while he decides to go home to visit his little sister Phoebe. (His older brother D.B is a writer and lives in Hollywood.) Holden sneaks into his apartment and goes into D.B's room because that's where Phoebe sleeps. Holden stands there for a short time and then decides to wake Phoebe up. She tells him that their parents are at a party somewhere and won't be back until much later. Then Phoebe guesses that Holden got kicked out of school but she promises that she won't tell their parents.

When his parents get home he has to hide in the closet until both his parents are occupied. He leaves & goes to an old teacher's house, Mr. Antolini, who gives Holden advice about school and education. Holden ends up sleeping at Mr. Antolini's house but wakes up in the middle of the night to find him staring at him and patting his head. It frightens him so he leaves. In the morning he writes Phoebe a note and gives it to somebody that works at the school to give to her. Phoebe meets Holden at the museum like he tells her to and he tells her that he's moving away to the West. Phoebe insists she joins him on his journey, so he decides the only way to make her stay is if he stays himself.

" 'And I hate to tell you,' he said, 'but I think that once you have a fair idea where you want to go, your first move will be to apply yourself in school. You'll have to. You're a student- whether that idea appeals to you or not. You're in love with knowledge.'" That passage is found on page 189. It was spoken by Mr. Antolini, Holden's old teacher. I picked this particular paragraph because it's significant. I feel as if the author wrote that paragraph to be directed at me. Applying myself to school is my top priority and it's something my parents always tell me to do. This passage helped me realize that I really don't have a choice when it comes to school, and that as a student, I'm obligated to make an effort, which will eventually lead to good results.

Kimberly Chan 9th grade