StudyBoss » Catcher in the Rye – Chapter Summaries

Catcher in the Rye – Chapter Summaries

Chapter one:

*Starts off in a mental hospital somewhere near hollywood. Holden Caufield is the narrator and begins to tell the story through a flashback. His flashback starts off with him standing alone on a hill looking down on a football game. He was watching the game because he got home early from the fencing match because he left all of the teams gear on the subway (he was the manager for the team). Holden was waiting for an ending to his private highschool days at pency (he was kicked out because of the academic policy, he just wasn’t up to par and failing out). So he leaves the football game and heads for Old Spencer’s house his history teacher. He arrives at Old spencer’s house and Mrs. Spencer answers the door and he asks her how Old Spencer is doing.

Chapter two:

*He goes into Old Spencer’s room. Old Spencer explains to him why he had to fail him (because he knew nothing). He asks if he had seen Dr. Thurmer (the head guy at pencey) and holden tells him yeah and that he told him about how life was a game. Spencer plainly tells holden that thurmer is right. Then Spencer reads holden’s paper he wrote about some egyption crap and aloudly reads the note that holden had written to him at the end of it. Spencer asks him if he’s thought about his future. Then holden tells spencer that he has to go to the gym and says goodbye not feeling one bit like he was getting the hell out of pencey.

Chapter three:

*Holden reveals how much of a lyar he is. He didn’t really have to go to the gym to check equipment he just wanted to get out of there. He then talks about where his room is at pencey and how its in a hall named after Ossinburger some fat guy who donated alot of money to the school. He remembers of the time when Edgar Marsalla fladulated loudly during some speach that ossiburger gave during church. He then made it to his room where he was happy to be (his room had two of everything) he sat down in a chair put on the hat he had bought earlier in new york and started to read Out Of Africa.

Then as he had finished about three pages Ackley(a disgustingly poor hygenic guy who liked to pick at his pimples)came into the room. Ackley asked about Stradlater (holden’s roomate) where he was and keeping tabs on him coz he hated him so much. Then stradlater asked to borrow holden’s new houndstooth jacket and he acted like he was in a hurry to get all gussied up (he left his date sitting in the annex so he could get all fixed up) Then ackley decided to leave(basically because he couldn’t stand stradlater) Then stradlater tells holden he’s goin to the can to shave.

Chapter four:

*Holden has nothing to do so he goes with stradlater to the can. He sits there and watches him (stradlater is a secret slob he has a rusty razor but he always has a clean shave and spends alot of time fixing himself up). So holden aks about his date and stradlater tells him she knows him and that its jean gallagher (she was a girl he spent alot of time with over the summer and knew her well) Then holden gets all excited and keeps sayin he should go say hello to her and how he wonders if she still keeps all her kings in the backrow still.

He never gets up enough nerve to go say hello to her so he tells stradlater to. Then stradlater asks him to do an english composition for him describing anything. Holden says he will do it if he has enough time. Then they go up to their room agian and stradlater spends more time infront of the mirror. Then ackley leaves and holden sits there thinking only of jean and can’t get his mind off of her then ackley comes in and bothers him again (holden is happy tho coz its keeping him from thinking about her)

Chapter five:

*Holden decides to go out for something to eat and see a movie with Mal Brossard and he invites Ackley to come along (Ackley takes about five hours to get ready) They leave and take a bus into Agerstown and he gets back to his room at about quarter to nine. He sits their and thinks of jean while Ackley lays on his bed and pillow and picks at his pimples then he leaves coz holden has to write that composition. Holden decides to write about his brother Allies baseball glove (Allie died of lukemia and the day he died holden punched out all of the windows of the garage and tried to with the car but they were too tough and he broke his hand now its week and he can’t make a full fist) his brother’s glove had poems written on each of the fingers to keep him buisy during the game because he played outfield.

Chapter six:

*Holden begins to worry about jean being alone with stradlater because stradlater was one of those guys who actually had sex with girls (instead of ackley who just made up silly lies about it) He started to get mad at stradlater and sat aroudn thinkin about it. Then stradlater came home and obnoxiously asks where the hell everybody was when he knew that they were either out or asleep. So then he read holden’s composition and complained that it was aobut a baseball glove and how it was suposed to be about a room or something.

So holden snaged it back out of his hands and ripped it up and threw it out. Then holden asked what he and jean did Holden told him that he borrowed ed banky’s car and they just sat in it. Then holden punched stradlater and stradlater pinned him on the ground and told him he would let him up if holden stopped callin him a moron. then he let him up and then holden called stradlater a moron again and he punched him in the nose causing him to bleed terribly. Then stradlater left to go wash his face and look at himself in the mirror some more.

Chapter seven:

*Holden heads into ackley’s room well aware that he had to be up. He asks ackley if he wants to play a game of canasta and ackley says no. So holden lays on ackley’s roomate ely’s bed for awhile and plans a scheme to go to new york for awhile. He gets really depressed while laying on the bed so he gets up and shakes his hand and leaves to go pack …..his stuff. When he was leaving he yelled “sleep tight ya morons” to all of the people in the dorm.

Chapter eight:

*holden can’t get a cab to the station so he walks there in the cold. He only had to wait ten minutes for the train and then he got on and when the train stopped at trenton the mother of his classmate earnest morrow got on the train and sat next to him. holden found her verry attractive and he gave her a fake name when she asked for one and lied to her and told her all this crap about her son being sensitive. he then lies to her agian about having a brain tumor and going to south america with his grandma before she gets off the train at her stop.

Chapter nine:

*holden arrives at penn station and goes to a payphone and thinks of someone to call but he doesn’t end up calling anyone. He gets a cab to a crummy hotel and gets a room and looks out the window at all the crazy buisness going on around. Then he gets the urge to call his little sister but he can’t because his parents will know its him. So he calls this girl who’s number he got from a friend at a party from columbia. He asks her to go get a drink, but things don’t work out.

Chapter ten:

*He changes his clothes and thinks of his sister phoebe and how bright, smart and pretty she was and how he had such a good time with her and allie. Then he goes downstairs into the lavender room the club at the hotel. While sitting int the club he tries to get served alcohol but it doesn’t work and he eyes up these three girls sitting in the club too. He goes over and asks any of them if they want to dance then finally the blonde agrees. He dances with her and the rest of the girls and tries to have a conversation with them but they don’t pay attention. So he decides to leave and go somewhere else.

Chapter eleven:

*Holden gets jean on his mind again while he’s in the lobly. He sits there thinking of jean and their summer together and of time when they were playing checkers and her stepdad came home and asked where her mom was and she didn’t answer him and holden looked at her and she had a tear coming down from her eye so he got up and sat next to her and held her while she cried and he kissed her on the cheek and everywhere but on the lips.

Chapter twelve:

*Holden then took a cab too Earnies and inside earnies he is spotted by an ex gf of his brother DB’s and he doesn’t want to have to sit with her and her friend so he tells her he’s suposed to meet someone somewhere and is mad he has to leave

Chapter thirteen:

*Holden walks all the way back to the hotel. When he’s in the elevator he agrees to have a hooker come to his room for five bucks with a guy named maurice. He then waits for her at his room and when she comes he decides he doesn’t want to do anything with her so he pays her five bucks and she leaves

Chapter fourteen:

*Holden is even more depressed by the hooker. He begins to talk to allie because that is something he does when he is really depressed. Then he goes and lies in bed and then he hears nocking at the door adn he knows its maurice. Maurice tells him he owes him five bucks but holden refuses to pay it coz he told him five and then maurice and the hooker break into his room beat him up and take the five bucks. Holden calls maurice a moron so he beats him some more then the leave.Holden gets up and goes into the bathroom from lying on the floor. He takes a bath and then lies in bed

Chapter’s fifteen- eighteen:

*Holden wakes up in the moring and goes to a subway restaurant for food. He meets two nuns and donates to their charity and ends up having a pleasant conversation with them. Then holden arranges a date with sally hayes later for two o’clock that afternoon. He then goes to the park in hopes to see his sister phoebe, he didn’t see her but he helped a kid put on their skates and it reminded him of a childhood memory. He then left from the park for his date wich he arrived early His date ends up going horrible and he asks sally to run away with him and she says no and leaves crying.

Chapter’s nineteen-twentytwo:

*After his date he goes to a bar with Luce this freind he had from columbia (who always treats him like he’s a little kid) Luce leaves and holden rides aroudn in a cab for awhile and decides to go visit phoebe even tho its the middle of the night. He then works his way into his parents appartment and goes into phoebe’s room and wakes her (she’s really happy to see him and questions his being there and he lies to her about why he’s there) he then talks to her about school and people.

Chapter’s twentythree- twentyfive:

*Holden’s parents come home from their party and he almost gets caught but makes it out safely. He ends up at Mr. Antolini’s house where he is given good advice by him even tho he is drunk. Mr. Antolini lets holden spend the night on his couch. Holden spends the next day trying to leave town and head west but because of phoebe he can’t. He writes her a letter telling her to meet him at the museum before he leaves. He waits there then she appears with a suitcase that was his and she tells him she wants to go with him and he tells her no and she cries.

So the go into the museum together and then they go to the zoo and after they cross the street to a carousel where he buys her a ticket with his money for her to ride. He sits there and watches her ride the carousel and she gets off and tells him to ride but he says no he’ll just watch her. Then she asks if he’s going to come home and he tells her he is for real this time and phoebe gets on the carousel and holden sits in the rain and cries out of joy and because he is such a confused boy.

Chapter twentysix:

*Holden says he isn’t gonna tell us anymore, but he could tell us about what school he’s suposed to go to after he gets out of the mental institution. He says the doctors are askin him a million questions and so is his brother DB.

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