The Catcher In The Rye - Character List

Holden - the main character. He has a big problem with "phonies" and fake people. He is extremely judgemental and thinks that everyone is fake. He wants to be the catcher in the rye and save children, especially protecting them from losing their innocence.

Phoebe - Holden's younger sister. She is intelligent and knows that Holden doesn't apply himself at school. She gets him to stay home and be with his family.

Allie - Holden's younger brother who died. Holden describes him as the smartest of the family. He wrote poems in his baseball glove.

DB - Holden's older brother who was in the war and is a writer for hollywood. Holden describes him as a once good writer who ruined himself by going to hollywood.

Jane - A girl that Holden really liked. They played checkers and she seemed different from all the other girls.

Stradlater - A cocky guy who was Holden's roommate at Pencey. Holden says that he was clean, but kept all his things "crumby."

Mr. Antolini - An old teacher of Holden's who tries to get him to change his ways. Holden thinks that the man is gay and ends up leaving his house.

The Catcher In The Rye Chapter 21-26 Response

Holden's breakdown is in full force in the last chapters. He calls out for Allie and says he feels like he's dissappearing into the street when he tries to cross it. He finally realized what going away would do to his family, and shows compassion for them by staying. He is getting better and realizes that he needs to change in chapter 26. He has goals for his future and seems to be trying to make a change.

The Catcher In The Rye - Chapter 26

Holden describes his present situation in a hospital and how he plans to go to a new school in the fall. He wants to apply himself this time and actually change. He talks about how talking about people makes you miss them, and that you should never do it.

The Catcher In The Rye - Chapter 25

Holden sleeps on a bench that night, and the next day goes to Phoebe's school. He sees obscenities written in random places and tries to rub them off. Phoebe comes with her suitcases and says she's going with Holden. He refuses her and she gives his hat back. She gives him the silent treatment until he takes her to the zoo. They are back on good terms and Holden decides he has to stay to protect Phoebe.

The Catcher In The Rye - Chapter 24

Holden arrives at Mr. Antolini's house and it looks like they just had a party. He can tell that Mr. Antolini had been drinking, and says he's concerned that he may be an alcoholic. Mr. Antolini expresses his concern for the way Holden is living, and gives him advice. They all go to bed, and Holden wakes up to Mr. Antolini rubbing his head. He gets freaked out and leaves the apartment.

The Catcher In The Rye - Chapter 23

Holden calls Mr. Antolini, an old teacher of his, and asks to stay with him for the night. He and Phoebe dance for a while, and they hear their parents come in the front door. Holden hides in the closet and waits for them to go to bed. He leaves after Phoebe gives him her Christmas money. On his way out he gives Phoebe his hat.

The Catcher In The Rye - Chapter 22

Holden comes back into Phoebe's room with cigarettes and gets her to listen to why he always gets kicked out of school. She says that he hates everything and he tells her that he likes Allie. She tells him that Allie's dead, and he tells her about his dream to be the catcher in the rye.

The Catcher In The Rye - Chapter 21

Holden sneaks into his family's apartment and takes his time getting to Phoebe's room. He sits and watches her sleep for a while, then wakes her up. She's overjoyed to see him until she realizes that he's home early and probably got kicked out of school. She worries about what his parents will say when they find out, and doesn't listen when he tries to explain himself.

The Catcher In The Rye Chapter 16-20 Response

Holden's true hypocracy has started to come out even more in these chapters. He went to the movies a couple times, and claims to hate them. He hung out with Luce, a classmate he didn't even like. I think that he has realized that he needs to see his family, though, because he went home to talk to Phoebe. He's very close to her and I think talking to her will bring him down to reality.

The Catcher In The Rye - Chapter 20

Holden stays at the bar and gets drunk. He calls Sally and tries to get her to come see him, but she won't. He decides to walk to Central Park to see the ducks that he used to watch. On his way he gets lost and ends up breaking the record he bought for Phoebe. His hair was wet and he was afraid he'd get pnemonia, so he decides to go home and talk to Phoebe.

The Catcher In The Rye - Chapter 19

Holden meets up with Luce, his classmate, at the bar. He thinks about how Luce always used to talk about sex with younger guys at school, and how phony he thought Luce was, even if he was entertaining. He questions Luce about sex, but Luce doesn't want to talk about it and says that Holden should go to a phsyciatrist. Holden asks if Luce's dad, who was a phsycoanalyst, ever treated him. Luce gets annoyed and leaves.

The Catcher In The Rye - Chapter 18

Holden goes out to eat, thinks about calling Jane, and eventually does. Nobody answers, so he calls a former classmate of his that he didn't even like. The guy is busy, but says he can do drinks later so Holden agrees. He goes to a movie to kill time and thinks about Allie when he sees a man in the orchestra that they used to like. Then, Holden walks to the bar to meet his classmate.

The Catcher In The Rye Chapter 11-15 Response

I think Holden is starting to become a little crazier now. He just told Sally that he wanted to run away with her and expressed his dream to get away from society. He constantly judges people and talks about "phonies." I think that he's fully engulfed in himself and can't imagine that he's anything similar to the people around him. His once sense of normalcy comes from Phoebe, his sister, but he doesn't go home to see his family. I think that his family would be the most helpful for him.

The Catcher In The Rye - Chapter 17

Sally and Holden go on their date in chapter 17. Holden is annoyed by the actors and says that they're just like Ernie and that they're almost too good at what they do. He gets mad at Sally when she flirts with another guy on their date, but takes her skating anyway. He tells Sally that they should run away together and they get into a fight because she thinks he's crazy. He leaves her there alone.

The Catcher In The Rye - Chapter 16

In chapter 16, Holden buys Phoebe a record. As he's thinking about her, he hears a kid singing "If a body catch a body coming through the rye." He's happy and decides to call Jane, but hangs up when they pick up. Then, he buys movie tickets for his date with Sally. After that he goes and looks for Phoebe around a place he knows she used to hang out. He sees a girl that knows Phoebe, but says she isn't there.

The Catcher In The Rye - Chapter 15

In this chapter, Holden calls Sally Hayes and sets up a date with her later on. He puts his stuff in a locker and goes out to eat, where he sees a couple nuns collecting money from people on the street. He thinks about his parents and feels guilty about leaving school because his mother hasn't been the same since Allie died and he knows he'll be putting more stress on her when she finds out. He gives the nuns some money, and at the end is guilty that he didn't give more.

The Catcher In The Rye - Chapter 14

Holden is sitting in his room thinking about Allie when someone knocks on his door. He opens it and sees the man who offered him the prostitute. The prostitute is with him and they are back to get another $5 from Holden. He refuses, and the man punches him in the stomach while the prostitue gets the money from his pants. They leave and Holden gets the strength to go to his bed and he falls asleep.

The Catcher In The Rye - Chapter 13

Holden leaves Ernie's and walks back to the hotel. He thinks about some gloves of his that somebody stole back at Pencey and imagines confronting whoever took them, but knows that he wouldn't really do it because he isn't brave enough. When he gets to the hotel, a man offers to send a prostitute to his room. He says he'll pay the $5 for her, and when she comes he doesn't want to do anything with her. She leaves, mad at him for wasting her time.

The Catcher In The Rye - Chapter 12

In chapter twelve, Holden is at Ernies, the club his brother took him to. He sits by himself and thinks about the people surrounding him and how rude or boring they are. A girl that used to date his brother comes up and they talk for a while. He gets bored of her and says he has to meet someone elsewhere. He leaves, thinking about how people always ruin things for you.

The Catcher In The Rye - Chapter 11

In chapter eleven, Holden is sitting in the hotel lobby thinking about Jane. He thinks about how they used to play checkers and about one time when her stepfather made her cry. He remembers going to the movies with her and holding hands. He tries to avoid thinking about her with Stradlater because it makes him angry. Then he talks about a club his brother used to take him to and goes there. 

The Catcher In The Rye... Chapter 6-10 Response

Another thing I've noticed about Holden is that he always tries to act older than he is. He thinks that because he's tall and has grey hair that people will think he's old, but most of them see through it. He drinks and smokes to try to be more mature and get away from the pain and annoyance of being young, but in the end it doesn't really help because he can't escape who he is.

The Catcher In The Rye - Chapter 10

Holden goes down to the Lavender Room, a club that was in the hotel. He asked for alcohol, but was turned down because they asked for his driver's license. He saw three women sitting at the table next to him and asked them to dance. He lied and said his name was Jim Steele, just for fun. When he told them he thought he saw a celebrity, one of them said she thought she saw him, too. he was dissappointed to find out that they were crazy for hollywood just like everyone else.

The Catcher In The Rye - Chapter 9

Once Holden got to New York, he thought about calling a few people, but realized that it was too late and most of them would end up calling his mother and he didn't want her to know he was in town yet. He called a cab and rented a hotel room. He thought about a number of this girl that a friend of his had given to him a while back, and decided to call her. She said that it was too late and she needed her beauty sleep, so she couldn't go out for cocktails with him, so Holden told her goodbye. 

The Catcher In The Rye - Chapter 8

Holden walked to the train station to catch a train to New York. A lady sits next to him on the train, and eventually he finds out she's a mother to one of the boys from Pencey. She asks who he is and if he knows her son, and he tells her his name is Rudolf Schmidt, the janitor of their dorm. After they talked about her son for a while, she asked him why he was going home that night. He told her that he had to have an operation for a brain tumor.

The Catcher In The Rye - Chapter 7

Once he's in Ackley's room, Holden wakes him up and Ackley asked what happened. He was woken up by Stradlater and Holden's fight and once he sees Holden all bloody, he wants to know why they were fighting. Holden asks if he can stay in Ackley's roommate's bed since he was at home for the weekend. Ackley says that he doesn't want to speak for his roommate and doesn't know if he'll be home that night and get angry that someone else is in his bed. Ackley went to sleep, and after a while Holden woke him up again to ask if you had to be catholic to join a monastery. Ackley thinks he's joking around and is insulted. He goes back to sleep and Holden decides to leave Pencey that night. Before he leaves he yells, "Sleep tight, ya morons!"

The Catcher In The Rye - Chapter 6

In the beginning of chapter six, Stradlater returns from his date. He gets undressed and asks Holden about the paper he asked him to write. When he reads it, he gets angry at Holden and questions why he can't do anything the way he's supposed to. Holden rips up the paper and lays down on his bed. Later, he asks Stradlater what went on during his date and eventually tried to hit him in the face, but he missed and Stradlater pinned him to the ground. He kept calling him a moron, so Stradlater hit him so hard his head slammed against the floor. Stradlater told Holden to go clean up and Holden waited for him to leave before going to Ackley's room.

The Catcher In The Rye... Chapter 1-5 Response

So far, Holden seems like a pretty judgemental person. I think that he focuses too much on the flaws in other people that he doesn't think about the fact that he is the same as they are. He criticizes the people around him, but has similar faults to them. He lies all the time, but says he hates phonies. He talks about how smart his siblings were, but doesn't try hard enough in school for people to realize that he is smart. His siblings are the only people that he spoke highly of, outside of Jane. I think that when he cares for people he tries harder to see the good side of them and forget about their flaws. 

The Catcher In The Rye - Chapter 5

Holden, Brossard, and Ackley go to see a movie and go out to eat since none of them had dates or anything to do. They end up skipping the movie and playing pinball instead. When they back home, Holden makes Ackley leave so he can write a paper for Stradlater. He tries to think of something descriptive to write about and comes up with his dead brother's baseball glove. His brother was extremely smart and wrote poems all over the glove so he could read them when he got bored on the field. When he was done writing the paper, he looked out the window and listened to Ackley snore, and felt sorry for him.

The Catcher In The Rye - Chapter 4

Holden goes with Stradlater to the bathroom while he shaved. He started joking around and wrestling with Stradlater. Stradlater gets annoyed and tells him to stop horsing around. They start talking about the date Stradlater was going on and who he was going with. Holden knew the girl from a couple summers ago and was excited she was around. Stradlaer went off on his date with Jane, leaving Holden to think about her and worry about what they were doing on their date.

The Catcher In The Rye - Chapter 3

In chapter three, Holden talks about how good of a liar he was. He describes a guy that goes to Pencey that nobody likes and his roommate. The guy nobody likes, Ackley, stays in Holden's room until Holden's roommate comes back. Holden tried to get rid of Ackley all night, but he couldn't take hints or didn't care enough to leave. Ackley and Stradlater, Holden's roommate, don't get along and once Stradlater gets back, Ackley finally leaves.

The Catcher In The Rye - Chapter 2

Holden goes to see Mr. Spencer, his history teacher. That was his way of getting closure from Pencey. When he first gets to the Spencers' home, he talks to Mrs. Spencer and asks if Mr. Spencer had gotten over the flu yet. When he sees Mr. Spencer, he looks old, sick, and tired. Mr. Spencer asks Holden to get his final paper so he can read it to him. He describes why he failed Holden and how big of a joke his paper was. He tries to convince Holden he needs to take life more seriously and think of his future, but Holden just ends up leaving and feeling bitterness towards Mr. Spencer for making him face the reality of his life.

The Catcher In The Rye - Chapter 1

In the first chapter, Holden talks about his experience at a private school near New York. He in in a hospital of some sort at this point, thinking back about his past. He thinks about his school and how he was failing most of his classes. He dropped out of a few other schools before flunking out of the most recent one. At the end of the chapter, he talks about how he always has to say goodbye to the places he is before he leaves. He has to achieve a sense of closure before he goes.