Catcher in the Rye

1 Pages 255 Words

"She was ostracizing the hell out of me," Holden says. "Just like the fencing
team at Pencey when I left all the goddam foils on the subway."

This reference brings you back to the very beginning of the story, the fifth
paragraph of the novel, when he talked about the fencing foils. Maybe it's an
indication that Holden has come full circle, that he hasn't accomplished
anything, that he's right back where he started. There's another full-circle
reference later in this chapter, when Holden says he's going to visit a former
teacher of his. Its likely that Salinger is trying to direct our attention to the
beginning of the story.

Phoebe talks to Holden "like a goddam schoolteacher," and he responds as he
might to an older person, in a petulant and whining manner. When she asks
him why he's being expelled again, he tries to explain what a terrible place
Pencey is.

The trouble is, his description could fit any school, or almost any group
situation that any of us will ever be in. Holden may think he's complaining
about Pencey; in fact, he's complaining about the world.

Phoebe really becomes the adult character when she presses him to name
something he really likes. She won't accept either of the answers he gives,
and she presses the issue by asking him what he wants to be.

Holden's response contains the source of the book's title. He wants to be the
catcher in the rye because he wants to prevent small children from getting
hurt....