Chapter 1-3                                                                                                                                          

1. Make a list of all of the conflicts Holden has so far.
2. Holden is unable to solve issues affecting him
3. He feels isolated from other men of his age
4. Holden also refuses to engage in activities with other people claiming that they are fake and insincere
5. He has lost his innocence and yearns to recover it.
6. Experiences that Siddhartha had on going outside the Palace for the First Time
7. He experienced the reality of aging after seeing an old man.
8. He realized that every person is subject to diseases and pain after seeing a sick person,
9. He realized that every person was destined to die one day after seeing a dead body.
10. Lastly, he realized that it is good to live by one’s principle and aim at making a difference in the world.
11. How did Holden have two similar experiences in the first two chapters?

In the first two chapters Holden demonstrates how the world around him seems to ignore his innocent. Although he refuses to speak about his past in Chapter 1, it is clear that he has a dark past. Having failed severally at Pencey Prep before being forbidden to return there, Holden feels that he is only being mistreated (Salinger 20). In Chapter 2, the actual experiences unveil whereby Mr. Spencer advices him to play by the rule and avoid failing progressively. However, Holden thinks Mr. Spencer is mean and cannot understand him too. Therefore, the two chapters reveal how Holden disregards other people’s views of him.

Chapter 10-12

Question 1

Context: The words were said by Holden while he was seated with Stradlater. He was referring to Jane Gallagher, a lady who Stradlater claimed that he was dating.

Evidence 1: Holden Lived knew Jane from the past since they had lived close to each other sometime back

Comment: Holden seems to have a good understanding of her.

Evidence: Jane Gallagher had a lousy childhood

Comment: Since Holden lived close to their home, he is aware of the events that occurred there, including running around the house.

Significance: The phrase indicates that Holden had a good understanding of Jane Gallagher, and so he could tell Stradlater everything about her.

Question 2

Context: Holden was telling Stradlater the story of Jane Gallagher, who was his date.

Evidence 1: Holden lived near to Jane’s homestead some time back.

Comment: He might have seen the drama between Jane and her stepfather.

Evidence 2: Jane had just shifted to her stepfather’s home after he had married her mother.

Comment: There was a high possibility of the stepfather treating her in an odd manner.

Significance: The phrase shows that Jane’s stepfather was careless and had a cold relationship with her.

Chapter 13-15

Question 1

Sunny is a prostitute who is introduced to Holden by the elevator man. She relates to what Holden speaks about D.B in the first chapter. Holden says that D.B had decided to leave his career to go and act Hollywood movies for money and fame. Sunny had as well chosen to be a prostitute so as to get money and fulfill her pleasures.

Question 2

Holden decides not have sex with Sunny because he was not prepared for it, and also because he was still a kid (Salinger 94).

Question 3

Ossenburger: He takes advantage of grieving families by running discount funeral parlors.

Ackley: Refuses to let Holden sleep in his roommate’s empty bed.

Mr. Spencer: Try to make himself look good like his students

Chapter 19-22

1. Why does Holden feel guilty when he thinks about dying?

He feels guilty because he thinks that he has not done anything good that will make people remember him.

2. Explain how it is ironic that D.B. is writing a movie script about Annapolis

Holden knows that D.B writes movies scripts about war and Annapolis is a love story (Salinger 88)

Chapter 23-24

Question 1

The quote shows that Holden does not care if his parents caught him in the house. In the first chapter, he had claimed that all people around seemed to misjudge him due to his innocence. As such, he was aware that his parents could do the same if they caught him.

Question 2

Mr. Antolini says that he thinks Holden is “riding for some kind of a terrible, terrible fall.” In this case, he tends to address Holden indirectly that he should take care of his personality and attitude towards others, or else he will continue to stay alone and even fail in whatever he undertakes.

Question 3

According to me Holden overreacts at the end of Chapter 4 when he calls Mr. Antolini a pervert after waking up to realize that he had been patting on his head. Mr. Antolini had drunk much alcohol before going to bed and that might have triggered him to pat him on the head while he was asleep.

Work Cited

Salinger, Jerome David, Nigel Tookey, and Stephen Player. The catcher in the rye. Vol. 90. Boston: Little, Brown, 1951.