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Description
Ever since it was first published in 1951, this novel has been the coming-of-age story against which all others are judged. Read and cherished by generations, the story of Holden Caulfield is truly one of America's literary treasures.
Ridiculously Simplified Synopsis
Summary
In the book The Catcher in the Rye, a teenager, Holden Caulfield, is having trouble with yet another boarding school, Pency. The book starts off with Holden at a school football game, one that everyone but him is at. Holden is starting to get sick of the school and the people in it, often... read more (warning: may contain spoilers)
Cast of Characters/Important People
- Holden Caulfield: The protagonist and narrator of the novel, Holden is a sixteen-year-old junior who has just been expelled for academic failure from Pencey Prep. Although he is intelligent and sensitive, Holden narrates in a cynical and jaded voice.
- Phoebe Caulfield: Holden’s ten-year-old sister, whom he loves dearly. Although she is six years younger than Holden, she listens to what he says and understands him more than most other people do. Phoebe is intelligent, neat, and a wonderful dancer, and her childish innocence is one of Holden’s only consistent sources of happiness throughout the novel.
- Ward Stradlater: Holden’s roommate at Pencey Prep. He is handsome, self-satisfied, and popular, but Holden calls him a “secret slob,” because he appears well groomed, but his toiletries, such as his razor, are disgustingly unclean.
- Robert Ackley: Holden’s next-door neighbor at Pencey Prep. He is a pimply, insecure boy with terrible dental hygiene. He often barges into Holden’s room and acts completely oblivious to Holden’s hints that he should leave.
- Sally Hayes: A very attractive girl whom Holden has known and dated for a long time. Though Sally is well read, Holden claims that she is “stupid,” although it is difficult to tell whether this judgment is based in reality or merely in Holden’s ambivalence about being sexually attracted to her.
- Jane Gallagher: A girl with whom Holden spent a lot of time one summer, when their families stayed in neighboring summer houses in Maine. Jane never actually appears in the novel, but she is extremely important to Holden, because she is one of the few girls whom he both respects and finds attractive.
- Mr. Antolini: Holden’s former English teacher at the Elkton Hills School. He now teaches at New York University. He is young, clever, sympathetic, and likable, and Holden respects him. Holden sometimes finds him a bit too clever, but he looks to him for guidance.
- Allie Caulfield: Holden’s younger brother. Allie dies of leukemia three years before the start of the novel. Allie was a brilliant, friendly, red-headed boy—according to Holden, he was the smartest of the Caulfields. Holden is tormented by Allie’s death and carries around a baseball glove on which Allie used to write poems in green ink.
- Mr. Spencer: Holden’s history teacher at Pencey Prep, who unsuccessfully tries to shake Holden out of his academic apathy.
Memorable Quotes
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“It’s not bad when the sun is out, but the sun only comes out when it feels like coming out.”
Holden Caulfield -
“The man falling isn’t permitted to feel or hear himself hit bottom. He just keeps falling & falling. The whole arrangements designed for men who, at some time or other in their lives, were looking for something their own environment couldn’t supply them with. So they gave up looking. They gave it up before they ever really even got started.”
Holden Caulfield -
“Don’t ever tell anybody anything. If you do, you start missing everybody.”
Holden Caulfield -
“The mark of the immature man is that he wants to die nobly for a cause, while the mark of the mature man is that he wants to live humbly for one”
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“I thought what I'd do was, I'd pretend I was one of those deaf-mutes.”
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“If you was a fish, Mother Nature'd take care of you, wouldn't she? Right? You don't think them fish die when it gets to be winter, do ya?”
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“It's partly true, too, but it isn't all true. People always think something's all true.”
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“I don't know exactly what I mean by that, but I mean it.”
Holden Caulfield
First Sentence
If you really want to hear about it, the first thing you'll probably want to know is where I was born, and what my lousy childhood was like, and how my parents were occupied and all before they had me, and all that David Copperfield kind of crap, but I don't feel like going into it, if you want to know the truth.
Table of Contents
Glossary
- Pimpy-looking: Resembling a man who is an agent for a prostitute or prostitutes and lives off their earnings.
- Quaker: A member of the Society of Friends, a Christian denomination founded in England (circa 1650) by George Fox; the Friends have no formal creed, rites, liturgy, or priesthood, and reject violence in human relations, including war. The term "Quaker" was originally derisive, aimed at the Friends because of Fox's admonition to "quake" at the word of the Lord.
- Rubbernecks: People who stretch their necks or turn their heads to gaze about in curiosity.
Authors & Contributors
- J. D. Salinger (Author)
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