Catcher in the Rye Quiz 2
Holden digresses into a conversation about not understanding women, explain?
- At first, Holden is talking about not understanding girls, then it slowly transitions into boys, and then Harris
In the confrontation with Maurice and Sunny, why do you suppose Holden still refuses to give up the extra money?
- Doesn't want to pay because it wasn't what Holden agreed to pay Maurice - Prostitute + 16 year old kid in the city alone = not going to end up good - Holden will get beat up - Story about a kid who has a mental breakdown and he wants to be more miserable - "Misery loves Company" - He doesn't want to lose his virginity to a prostitute - Not innocent - Corruption - Hypocritical: likes innocence and not being corrupted and then losing virginity to a prostitute, which is corrupted
What bothers him about the movie he sees at Radio City?
- For one, Holden is most likely some sort of atheist, and the movie that he watched had a lot to do with religion - He also thinks that everything about the movie was overdone
What does Holden do when he gets to the Museum?
- He didn't end up going inside, and took a cab to go to his date with Sally
What does Holden find "phony?
- He finds the boys that he used to go to private school with
Where does Holden go to kill time?
- He goes ice skating with Sally at Radio City
At the end of this chapter, he says, "I swear to God I'm a madman." Is he using this as an expression, or does he believe himself to be emotionally troubled?
- He is just using it as an expression, but he does feel that he went a little over the top with the idea of running away from everyone with Sally
How does the song the young boy sings, connect to the title of this novel?
- He is singing, "if a body catch a body coming through the rye".
Holden's thought of suicide is now highly exaggerated. What is it?
- He said that he would sit on top of the atomic bomb right before it went off
What is Holden's last thought in this chapter?
- He thinks about committing suicide
What does Holden think about the woman weeping?
- He thinks that there is no reason for her to be crying, and that she is overreacting
Why does Holden cry in front of Maurice and Sunny?
- He was "mad and nervous"
Who is Harris Macklin?
- He was a guy that Holden roomed with while at Elkton Hills
Who does Holden meet at 10 pm in a bar? Who is he?
- He was supposed to meet Carl Luce at the bar
Want to get a drink?
- He's lonely - Wants to talk to someone - Human connection
Holden's anxieties start to build at the time he begins talking about school, which he says he hates. What else does Holden claim to hate in this chapter? How is he expressing himself to Sally?
- Holden claims that he is beginning to hate Sally at a certain point in their date - While talking to Sally, he tells her that they should go live somewhere together alone and maybe get married - When she says that this is a crazy idea, he gets mad at her and shuts down.
Jane cries over checkerboard
- Holden kisses her everywhere except her mouth - Not about hooking up or lust - Comforting and protective way
What new observation does Holden make about girls?
- Holden says that no matter what a girl thinks of a boy, they will either think of them as conceited or that they have an inferiority complex
Ducks Question
- In the winter the ducks are going somewhere else to survive - Ducks aren't "home" - They're going to a different environment to survive - Correlates where Holden is in his life - Transitory - Migratory - Influx
Holden sees women in 2 ways
- Jane is one way - Sally is the other way
What does Holden like the most about the Museum of Natural History?
- Liked the exhibits - He liked looking at the exhibits about the ancient indians, animals, and pottery - The glass cases with the people inside - Witch doctor - The birds hanging from the ceiling and the people in the glass cases - Liked the idea of them not moving - Thought of his old visits of visiting the museum
Little children loom large in Holden's life, especially in this chapter. Who is Little Shirley Bean? Why does the sight of the six-year-old boy with his parents raise Holden's spirit?
- Little Shirley Beans is a record that Holden wants to buy for his younger sister, Phoebe. - The sight of the little boy raised his spirits because even though the boy seemed poor, he was happily singing and having fun.
Motifs
- Loneliness - Anti-social - Girl trouble - Broken - Insanity - Depression - Immature - School problems - Family problems - death of Allie - losing a loved one - Alcohol - Running away - Creep
Does the fantasizing about the bullet wound seem out of character for Holden?
- Not really out of character, as much as mad and violent. He seems to overreact about certain things, and got mad when Maurice lied to him
What does Holden ask Sally to do with him?
- Run away with him and get married - Pretty terrible idea - Sally would never want to leave society forever - City girl - Materialistic - NYC social scene
What does Holden's week-long involvement with Boy Scouts indicate?
- The reader can tell that Holden is not very motivated, and that he does not really care about something for more than a few weeks at most
Talking about Catholics, Holden says, "It's just like those suitcases I was telling you about, in a way." (p. 113) In what way are Catholics like suitcases?
- These two ideas connect on the idea of judgement - With the suitcases, people will think they know who you are just by looking at the things you own, rather than trying to get to know you - Then with the Catholics, Holden believes that if the people knew of his religion, then they will immediately judge him and this would ruin their friendly conversation - Holden believes that people will judge him without even trying to get to know him
What one incident with Allie does Holden keep going back to when he is depressed?
- When he didn't invite Allie to go somewhere with his friends. He constantly feels guilty for not inviting him
What does Holden buy for his sister Phoebe?
- a record
What conclusion does Holden arrive at about suitcases, wealth and relationships? Does his conclusion about Dick Slagle ceasing to be his roommate seem accurate?
- if you have nice suitcases, then this means that you are very fancy and rich - very sophisticated - If you have a cheap, ugly suitcase, this makes you look very bad as a person - very sloppy and poor.
Things Holden likes
- the innocence of children - His siblings
Why did Dick Slagle put Holden's suitcases back on the storage rack at school?
- wanted people to think that holden's suitcase was his own - thought that this would make him look nicer.
Where does Holden go to "kill time?"
He went to see a movie at Radio City
Jane vs Sally
Jane: checker scene - Protective - Comfort - Has feelings for her - Not just a hookup - Madonna - Pure - Mother - Nurturer Sally: Ice skating - Wants to wear a mini skirt because her butt looks good in it - More of a hookup than a gf - Madonna wh*re complex - Wh*re - Hook up - sexual way - City girl - Materialistic - NYC social scene