Chapter 26

chapter 25 audio The catcher in the rye

Chapter 26

Chapter Twenty-Six:

Holden ends his story there. He refuses to tell what happened after he went home and how he got sick. He says that people are concerned about whether he will apply himself next year. He tells that D.B. visits often, and he often misses Stradlater, Ackley, and even Maurice. However, he advises not to tell anybody anything, because it is this that causes a person to start missing others.

Analysis:

Salinger leaves the actual events of Holden's presumed suicide attempt and hospitalization ambiguous; Holden only uses euphemisms such as "getting sick" to describe what has happened to him, but the implications are clear. Yet even more ambiguous than what happened to Holden is whether or not Holden will recover from his difficulties. Holden seems to harbor some sense of regret over what has happened; he claims that he even misses Stradlater and Ackley, and has used the telling of his story as a form of penitence for his behavior. Nevertheless, while looking back on his situation Holden still harbors some of the same suspicions and deep cynicism that afflicted him throughout the novel, as shown when he dismisses the question whether or not he will apply himself. Salinger ends the novel inconclusively: he gives no strong indication what Holden has learned from his difficulties, if he has learned at all, and allows for a strong possibility that Holden will continue his self-destructive and suicidal behavior.

Chapter 25

We covered this chapter today. We listened to a
portion of the audio and answered some questions
as part of a class discussion.


HOMEWORK:
-do chapters 25-26 Qs
-start reviewing for final exam

FINAL EXAM ON FRIDAY!

Chapter Twenty-Five:

When Holden gets outside, it is getting light out. He walks over to Lexington to take the subway to Grand Central, where he slept that night. He thinks about how Mr. Antolini will explain Holden's departure to his wife. Holden feels some regret that he didn't come back to the Antolini's apartment. Holden starts reading a magazine at Grand Central; when he reads an article about hormones, he begins to worry about hormones, and worries about cancer when he reads about cancer. As Holden walks down Fifth Avenue, he feels that he will not get to the other side of the street each time he comes to the end of a block. He feels that he would just go down. He makes believe that he is with Allie every time he reaches a curb. Holden decides that he will go away, never go home again and never go to another prep school. He thinks he will pretend to be a deaf-mute so that he won't have to deal with stupid conversations. Holden goes to Phoebe's school to find her and say goodbye. At the school he sees "fuck you" written on the wall, and becomes enraged as he tries to scratch it off. He writes her a note asking her to meet him near the Museum of Art so that he can return her money. While waiting for Phoebe at the Museum, Holden chats with two brothers who talk about mummies. He sees another "fuck you" written on the wall, and is convinced that someone will write that below the name on his tombstone. Holden, suffering from diarrhea, goes to the bathroom, and as he exits the bathroom he passes out. When he regains consciousness, he feels better. Phoebe arrives, wearing Holden's hunting hat and dragging Holden's old suitcase. She tells him that she wants to come with him. She begs, but he refuses and causes her to start crying. She throws the red hunting hat back at Holden and starts to walk away. She follows Holden to the zoo, but refuses to talk to him or get near him. He buys Phoebe a ticket for the carousel there, and watches her go around on it as "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes" plays. Afterwards, she takes back the red hunting hat and goes back on the carousel. As it starts to rain, Holden cries while watching Phoebe.

Chapter 24 The catcher in the rye audio

Mr. Antolini

Mr. Antolini is the adult who comes closest to reaching Holden. He manages to avoid alienating Holden, and being labeled a “phony,” because he doesn’t behave conventionally. He doesn’t speak to Holden in the persona of a teacher or authority figure, as Mr. Spencer does. He doesn’t object to Holden’s calling him in the middle of the night or to Holden’s being drunk or smoking. Moreover, by opening his door to Holden on the spur of the moment, he shows no reservations about exposing his private self, with his messy apartment, his older wife with her hair in curlers, and his own heavy drinking.

Mr. Antolini’s advice to Holden about why he should apply himself to his studies is also unconventional. He recognizes that Holden is different from other students, and he validates Holden’s suffering and confusion by suggesting that one day they may be worth writing about. He represents education not as a path of conformity but as a means for Holden to develop his unique voice and to find the ideas that are most appropriate to him.

When Mr. Antolini touches Holden’s forehead as he sleeps, he may overstep a boundary in his display of concern and affection. However, there is little evidence to suggest that he is making a sexual overture, as Holden thinks, and much evidence that Holden misinterprets his action. Holden indicates in Chapter 19 that he is extremely nervous around possible homosexuals and that he worries about suddenly becoming one. We also know that he has been thinking about sex constantly since leaving Pencey. Finally, this is not the only scene in which Holden recoils from a physical approach. He is made very uncomfortable when Sunny pulls off her dress and sits in his lap. Even when his beloved sister puts her arms around him, he remarks that she may be a little too affectionate sometimes.

Holden regrets his hasty judgment of Mr. Antolini, but this mistake is very important to him, because he finally starts to question his own practice of making snap judgments about people. Holden realizes that even if Mr. Antolini is gay, he can’t simply be dismissed as a “flit,” since he has also been kind and generous. Holden begins to acknowledge that Mr. Antolini is complex and that he has feelings.

Chapter 24

We talked about a very important chapter today.
Remember that the advice of how Holden is falling
that Mr. Antolini is taking about is about Holden
falling off the cliff and becoming an adult.

HOMEWORK:
-read chapters 25-26
-do chapter 24 Qs

Chapter Twenty-Four:

Mr. Antolini had married an older woman who shared similar intellectual interests. When he arrives at his apartment, Holden finds Mr. Antolini in a bathrobe and slippers, drinking a highball. Holden and Mr. Antolini discuss Pencey, and Holden tells how he failed Oral Expression (debate). He tells Holden how he had lunch with his father, who told him that Holden was cutting classes and generally unprepared. He warns Holden that he is riding for some kind of terrible fall. He says that it may be the kind where, at the age of thirty, he sits in some bar hating everyone who comes in looking as if he played football in college or hating people who use improper grammar. He tells Holden that the fall that he is riding for is a special and horrible kind, and that he can see Holden dying nobly for some highly unworthy cause. He gives Holden a quote from the psychoanalyst Wilhelm Stekel: "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." He finally tells Holden that once he gets past the things that annoy him, he will be able to find the kind of information that will be dear to his heart. Holden goes to sleep, and wakes up to find Mr. Antolini's hand on his head. He tells Holden that he is "simply sitting here, admiring‹" but Holden interrupts him, gets dressed and leaves, claiming that he has to get his bags from Grand Central Station and he will be back soon.

Chapter 23 the catcher in the rye audio

Chapter 23

We talked about chapter 23 and answered some
questions in a class discussion.

HOMEWORK:
-read chapter 24
-do chapter 23 Qs
-Study for vocab. test ch 16-20

VOCABULARY TEST THURSDAY

Chapter Twenty-Three:

Holden tells that Mr. Antolini was his English teacher at Elkton Hills and was the person who carried James Castle to the infirmary. Holden and Phoebe dance to the radio, but their parents come home and Holden hides in the closet. When he believes that it is safe, Holden asks Phoebe for money and she gives him eight dollars and change. He starts to cry as he prepares to leave, which frightens Phoebe. He gives Phoebe his hunting hat and tells her that he will give her a call.

Chapter 22 the catcher in the rye

Chapter 22

Today we talked about and listened to a bit of chapter 22.
Chapter 22 is a great chapter because we understand
the title of the book here.

HOMEWORK:
-read chapter 23
-do chapter 22 Qs
-finish vocabulary puzzles

*VOCABULARY TEST ON THURSDAY 5 min. TEST

Chapter Twenty-Two:

Phoebe tells Holden that she thinks his scheme to go out to Colorado is foolish, and asks why he failed out of yet another school. He claims that Pencey is full of phonies. He tells her about how everyone excluded Robert Ackley as a sign of how phony the students are. Holden admits that there were a couple of nice teachers, including Mr. Spencer, but then complains about the Veterans' Day ceremonies. Phoebe tells Holden that he doesn't like anything that happens. She asks Holden for one thing that he likes a lot. He thinks of two things. The first is the nuns at Grand Central. The second is a boy at Elkton Hills named James Castle, who had a fight with a conceited guy named Phil Stabile. He threatened James, who responded by jumping out the window, killing himself. However, he tells Phoebe that he likes Allie, and he likes talking to Phoebe right now. Holden tells Phoebe that he would like to be a catcher in the rye: he pictures a lot of children playing in a big field of rye around the edge of a cliff. Holden imagines that he would catch them if they started to go over the cliff. Holden decides to call up Mr. Antolini i, a former teacher at Elkton Hills who now teaches English at NYU.

Chapter 21 the catcher in the rye

Chapter 21

We listened to the audio for the chapter and worked in groups
trying to understand the chapter together.

HOMEWORK:
-read chapter 22
-do chapter 21 Qs
-study for quiz chapters 16-20

TEST PERIOD 1 FRIDAY!

Chapter Twenty-One:

Holden returns home, where he is very quiet as not to awake his parents. Phoebe is asleep in D.B.'s room. He sits down at D.B.'s desk and looks at Phoebe's stuff, such as her math book, where she has the name "Phoebe Weatherfield Caulfield" written on the first page (her middle name is actually Josephine). He wakes up Phoebe and hugs her. She tells about how she is playing Benedict Arnold in her school play. She tells about how she saw a movie called The Doctor, and how their parents are out for the night. Holden shows Phoebe the broken record, and admits that he got kicked out. She tells him that "Daddy's going to kill you," but Holden says that he is going away to a ranch in Colorado. Phoebe places a pillow over her head and refuses to talk to Holden

Chapter 20 audio the catcher in the rye

Chapter 20

We listened to a bit of the chapter and then we worked in groups
and answered some questions.

HOMEWORK:
-read chapter 21
-do chapter 20 Qs

Chapter Twenty:

Holden remains in the Wicker Bar getting drunk. He continues to pretend that he has been shot. Finally, he calls Sally, but her grandmother answers and asks why he is calling so late. Finally, Sally gets on the phone and realizes that Holden is drunk. In the restroom of the Wicker Bar, he talks to the "flitty-looking" guy, asking if he will see the "Valencia babe" who performs there, but he tells Holden to go home. Holden finally leaves. As he walks home, Holden drops Phoebe's record and nearly starts to cry. He goes to Central Park and sits down on a bench. He thinks that he will get pneumonia and imagines his funeral. He is reassured that his parents won't let Phoebe come to his funeral because he is too young. He thinks about what Phoebe would feel if he got pneumonia and died, and figures that he should sneak home and see her, in case he did die.

Chapter 19 audio

Chapter 19

Last Friday was movie day, we watched Igby goes down.

HOMEWORK:
-read chapter 20
-do chapter 19 Qs

Chapter Nineteen:

Holden meets Carl Luce at the Wicker Bar. Carl Luce used to gossip about people who were "flits" (homosexuals) and would tell which actors were actually gay. Holden claims that Carl was a bit "flitty" himself. When Carl arrives, he asks Holden when he is going to grow up, and is not amused by Holden's jokes. Carl is annoyed that he is having a "typical Caulfield conversation" about sex. Carl admits that he is seeing an older woman in the Village who is a sculptress from China. Holden asks questions that are too personal about Carl's sex life with his girlfriend until Carl insists that he drop the subject. Carl reminds him that the last time he saw Holden he told him to see his father, a psychiatrist.

Chapter 18 audio the catcher in the rye

Igby Goes Down

"What's this movie about?"

Everyone keeps asking me that question. Whatever happened to the element of surprise? People are so nosy. All right. I'll throw you a bone. But you're going to have to see the movie to find out the rest.

"Igby Goes Down" Story Synopsis:

Meet IGBY SLOCUMB (Kieran Culkin), an iconoclastic young teenager and hapless product of a deplorable upbringing. Igby is the youngest member of the Slocumb family which, in reality, is four individuals reluctantly sharing familial blood ties, existing under one roof. The father, JASON SLOCUMB (Bill Pullman), is in the midst of a sojourn not just from work but from life in general. Igby's mother, MIMI SLOCUMB (Susan Sarandon), is a battle-hardened, icy-cold matriarch with a long-term dependency on friendly sedatives-her "little peppies." Igby's older brother, OLIVER SLOCUMB (Ryan Phillippe), has set his cruise control for Columbia University and is eager to embrace young Republicanism. Oliver personifies everything that Igby is not; and, though the two brothers are separated by three years, Igby has struggled since day one to emerge from Oliver's persistent shadow.

The Slocumb family's self-destructive curse is cemented when Igby's father's bewildering eccentricity evolves into a nervous breakdown. Igby refuses to follow the well-worn path of the brood, particularly Oliver's path. Since Igby was robbed of his childhood, he will certainly not give them the opportunity to suck the remaining years from him. He needs to escape�somehow. Mimi, ever crafty, counters Igby's rebelliousness with institutionalized academia as he bounces from posh East Coast prep schools, to a fascist military academy, finally landing in a leafy suburban drug camp. Igby's options are indeed dwindling.

Following a hotel spending spree made possible by the fraudulent use of his mother's credit card, Mimi hands Igby off to his godfather, D.H. BANES (Jeff Goldblum), until the next school semester. A pompous tycoon with deep pockets, D.H. sees the world as part of his 'plan,' a philosophy to which he credits his success. With pleasure, he takes Igby under his wing, bringing the lad to New York City for some "guidance."

Manhattan dreams initially fade for Igby as he finds himself on the low end of a construction crew. But hope is renewed when, while renovating a loft/dance studio space, Igby is introduced to the sultry RACHEL (Amanda Peet), the loft's fresh occupant. A dancer/choreographer, Rachel also happens to be D.H.'s mistress, offering a sexual respite from his frequently inebriated wife. The wonderful world of D.H.'s empire expands out to the Hamptons, where Igby first meets SOOKIE SAPPERSTEIN (Claire Danes), an earnest Bennington undergrad/existentialist who shares Igby's outsider status but initially rebuffs him.

Nonetheless, with life suddenly full of interesting and delicious possibility, who needs school? Who needs family�especially Oliver? Not Igby. He goes on the lam in New York and succeeds for awhile in falling off his family radar. After brokering a clandestine arrangement to live in Rachel's loft, Igby begins to enjoy all the delights that Manhattan has to offer-most notably Sookie-whom he encounters by chance on the street where he is attempting to pawn his Tiffany brushes for some fast cash. A mere three years older, Sookie ultimately offers the precocious Igby two critical things: first love, and the realization that maybe he's not all alone in the world.

However, Igby soon discovers life's one absolute: you can never permanently escape your family. Oliver oozes into his life, with orders of retrieval, as his family needs Igby-one last time. Igby will soon understand that painful dark truths cannot lie dormant forever, despite best efforts to bury them. Only by confronting the complexity of his past can Igby face his future unencumbered-a future bright with promise, hope, and delicious possibility.

-igby---;)

Chapter 18

Congratulations to our two comic book winners!

We listened to chapter 18 and then we worked in groups
explaining what happened to each other.

HOMEWORK:
-read ch 19
-do chapter 18 Qs

MOVIE DAY ON FRIDAY!!!! DON'T MISS IT!!!

Chapter Eighteen:

Holden once again considers giving Jane a call to invite her to go dancing. He remembers how she danced with Al Pike from Choate. Although Holden thought that he was "all muscles and no brains," Jane claimed that he had an inferiority complex and felt sorry for him. Holden thinks that girls divide guys into two types, no matter what their personality: a girl will justify bad behavior as part of an inferiority complex for those she likes, while claim those that she doesn't like are conceited. Holden calls Carl Luce, a friend from the Whooton School who goes to Columbia, and plans to meet him that night. He then goes to the movies and is annoyed when a woman beside him becomes too emotional. The movie is a war film, which makes Holden think about D.B.'s experience in the war. He hated the army, but had Holden read A Farewell To Arms, which in Holden's view celebrates soldiers. Holden thinks that if there is a war, he is glad that the atomic bomb has been invented, for he would volunteer to sit right on top of it.

What's in a name anyways?

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Chapter 17 catcher in the rye audio

Chapter 17

We listened to a part of the chapter audio and in groups students
answered some questions about the chapter.

HOMEWORK:
-read chapter 18
-do chapter 17 Qs

Chapter Seventeen:

Holden meets Sally at the Biltmore, and when he sees her he immediately feels like marrying her, even though he doesn't particularly like her. After the play, when Sally keeps mentioning that she thinks she knows people she sees, Holden replies "Why don't you go on over and give him a big soul kiss, if you know him? He'll enjoy it." Finally, Sally does go to talk to the boy she knows, George from Andover. Holden notes how phony the conversation between Sally and George is. Holden and Sally go ice skating at Radio City, then to eat. Sally asks Holden if he is coming over to help her trim the Christmas tree. Holden asks her if she ever gets fed up. He tells her that he hates everything: taxicabs, living in New York, phony guys who call the Lunts angels. Sally tells him not to shout. He tells her that she is the only reason that he is in New York right now. If not for her, he would be in the woods, he claims. He complains about the cliques at boarding schools, and tells her that he's in lousy shape. He suggests that they borrow a car from a friend in Greenwich Village and drive up to New England where they can stay in a cabin camp until their money runs out. They could get married and live in the woods. Sally tells him that the idea is foolish, for they are both practically children who would starve to death. She tells him that they will have a lot of time to do those things after college and marriage, but he claims that there wouldn't be "oodles" of places to go, for it would be entirely different. He calls her a "royal pain in the ass," and she starts to cry. Holden feels somewhat guilty, and realizes that he doesn't even know where he got the idea about going to New England.

Catcher in the rye chapter 16 audio

Chapter 16

We had a double period today. In the first class I showed

a powerpoint slide show about the symbolism in names

of the characters in THE CATCHER IN THE RYE.

In our second class we had a quiz on chapters 11-15.

HOMEWORK:

-read chapter 17

-do chapter 16 Qs

Chapter Sixteen:
Before meeting Sally Hayes, Holden goes to find a record called "Little Shirley Beans" for Phoebe by Estelle Fletcher. As he walks through the city, he hears a poor kid playing with his parents, singing the song "If a body catch a body coming through the rye." Hearing the song makes Holden feel less depressed. Holden buys tickets for I Know My Love, a play starring the Lunts. He knew that Sally would enjoy it, for it was supposed to be very sophisticated. Holden goes to the Mall, where Phoebe usually plays when she is in the park, and sees a couple of kids playing there. He asks if any of them know Phoebe. They do, and claim that she is probably in the Museum of Natural History. He reminisces about going to the Museum when he was in grade school. He remembers how he would go there often with his class, but while the exhibits would be exactly the same, he would be different each time. Holden considers going to the museum to see Phoebe, but instead goes to the Biltmore for his date with Sally.