The Catcher in the Rye

Holden decides to walk to a record store to find a record for Phoebe before heading to the park to try and catch her roller skating, which she often does on Sundays. While walking, Holden sees a young boy singing, “[i]f a body catch a body coming through the rye” (150); seeing the boy cheers Holden. Holden acquires the record, then stops at a drugstore to call Jane, but her mother answers. He then buys orchestra tickets for his date with Sally. Buying the tickets makes him think about actors, particularly about how the good ones always seem like they’re showing off to Holden.

At the park, Holden doesn’t see Phoebe, so he asks a young girl if she’s seen her. The girl says she might be at the museum with her class, then realizes that she would’ve gone on Saturday, not Sunday. Holden helps her tighten her roller skates and decides to walk over to the Museum of Natural History anyway.

While walking, he thinks about how everything at the museum always stays the same, which is his favorite thing about it. Holden thinks that at the museum, the only thing that changes is you—each time you go, you’re a little bit older and a little bit different. He thinks about Phoebe growing up going to the museum; it upsets him, but he doesn’t know why. When he arrives at the museum, he suddenly doesn’t want to go anymore, so he catches a taxi to the Biltmore to meet Sally for their date.

Holden is early for his date, so he sits in the lobby watching girls. He’s attracted to them, but he’s also troubled by the idea of what will happen to them as they grow up and marry what he thinks of as dopey guys. This makes him think about a roommate he had, Harry Macklin, who was a bore to Holden but was also an excellent whistler; thinking about Harry makes him realize that maybe he’s wrong about marrying a bore.

When he sees Sally, Holden suddenly has strong feelings for her. They get in a cab together and kiss, and Holden tells her he loves her. They go to the show, where Holden is distracted by how good the actors are, comparing them to Ernie the piano player. At intermission, Sally sees someone she thinks she knows who looks important, and Holden gets irritated with her and says she should go kiss him. The young man comes over, and Sally fawns over him, to Holden’s displeasure. They continue talking to each other at each intermission and after the show, which annoys Holden greatly.

Holden is tired of Sally, but she suggests they go to Radio City to go ice skating. They go, and Sally rents a skating outfit that Holden finds attractive. They’re both terrible skaters, though, and soon head into a bar right off the skating rink.

In the bar, Sally again asks Holden if he’s coming over to trim the Christmas tree, which is a frequent topic between them. Holden changes the subject, asking Sally if she’s ever fed up, then launches into a tirade about all the things he hates about school and the city. They argue, as Sally tries to convince him that not everything is bad, but Holden stays firm, then he suggests they borrow a friend’s car and drive north where he can find work. Sally says there will be time for that after college, and Holden is frustrated with her, saying that after college it would all be different, as they’d be expected to behave as good adults in high society.

Sally gets more and more upset by Holden, and he finally calls her a pain in the ass. She starts crying, and he apologizes, but she won’t accept it. When she refuses his offer to take her home, he inadvertently laughs at her, which makes Sally even madder. Holden finally leaves her there at the bar, thinking as he does that, even though he meant everything he said, he probably wouldn’t have wanted to run away with her.

After his date, Holden thinks about how women always apologize for the awful men they date. He tries calling Jane again, but she doesn’t answer. Then he calls a friend of his from Whooten School, Carl Luce, who is a few years older than Holden. Carl agrees to meet him that night for a drink.

Holden has time to kill, so he goes to a movie at Radio City. He dislikes the accompanying stage show, which features the Rockettes and Christmas music, though he remembers loving the kettle drum player when he saw the show once before with Allie. Holden hates the movie, which is a schmaltzy romance about a duke who loses his memory and falls in love with a homely woman. He notices the woman next to him crying throughout but not paying attention to her son’s needs.

After the movie, Holden walks to the bar to meet Carl, thinking about war movies and D. B.’s time in World War II. He remembers a time when Allie told D. B. it was good that he was in the war because it meant he had things to write about, and D. B. asked Allie which of the poets he admires is the best wartime poet; none of Allie’s favorite poets ever went to war. Holden would hate to have to go to war because he’d be surrounded by phonies like at school, and he thinks that if there was another one, he’d volunteer to sit on top of the atomic bomb as it dropped.