The Catcher in the Rye Discussion Guide Chapter 13

Name: ______________________________________________________ Hour:____ Group Members: ______________________________________________________________________ Discussion: The Catcher in the Rye Ch. 13-end 1) Holden comes from a family with money. He admits to being well off. Why does he make such a big deal about the five dollars in Chapter 14? ___________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________ 2) Addressing someone as “chief” usually conveys a tone of _________________________________________. Notice that Maurice repeatedly refers to Holden as chief in Chapter 14. How is Maurice using this title? What is his attitude toward Holden? How do you know? ___________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________ 3) Commercialism refers to an emphasis on industry profit above all other else. How might Salinger be using the Sunny and Maurice’s characters to express his views on commercialism? What is being sacrificed in the interest of profit in this scene? ___________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________ 4) In Chapter 15, Holden discusses how students can tell the social class of other students by looking at their suitcases. Today, we still have objects that mark social class, especially at school. What are some objects that indicate students’ social class now? If Salinger were alive today, what would he say about this? ___________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________ 5) In his mind, how is Holden’s donation to the nuns different from Mr. Ossenburger’s donation to the school that is discussed earlier in the novel? ___________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________ 6) Examine Holden’s request for Sally to run off with him in chapter 17. In what ways is this request very mature? In what ways is this request childish? ___________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________ 7) Annotate and discuss the following excerpt from Chapter 20: …Anyway, I kept worrying that I was getting pneumonia, with all those hunks of ice in my hair, and that I was going to die. I felt sorry as hell for my mother and father. Especially my mother, because she still isn't over my brother Allie yet. I kept picturing her not knowing what to do with all my suits and athletic equipment and all. The only good thing, I knew she wouldn't let old Phoebe come to my goddam funeral because she was only a little kid. That was the only good part. Then I thought about the whole bunch of them sticking me in a goddam cemetery and all, with my name on this tombstone and all. Surrounded by dead guys. Boy, when you're dead, they really fix you up. I hope to hell when I do die somebody has sense enough to just dump me in the river or something. Anything except sticking me in a goddam cemetery. People coming and putting a bunch of flowers on your stomach on Sunday, and all that crap. Who wants flowers when you're dead? Nobody. When the weather's nice, my parents go out quite frequently and stick a bunch of flowers on old Allie's grave. I went with them a couple of times, but I cut it out. In the first place, I certainly don't enjoy seeing him in that crazy cemetery. Surrounded by dead guys and tombstones and all. It wasn't too bad when the sun was out, but twice--twice--we were there when it started to rain. It was awful. It rained on his lousy tombstone, and it rained on the grass on his stomach. It rained all over the place. All the visitors that were visiting the cemetery started running like hell over to their cars. That's what nearly drove me crazy. All the visitors could get in their cars and turn on their radios and all and then go someplace nice for dinner--everybody except Allie. I couldn't stand it. I know it's only his body and all that's in the cemetery, and his soul's in Heaven and all that crap, but I couldn't stand it anyway. I just wish he wasn't there. You didn't know him. If you'd known him, you'd know what I mean. It's not too bad when the sun's out, but the sun only comes out when it feels like coming out. Did you annotate (mark up the text/record your comments during your discussion)? You will earn points for doing so. Notice Salinger’s use of syntax (sentence structure). Underline the short, simple sentences used in the passage. What effect do they create for the reader? ___________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________ 8) What does Holden mean when he says he wants to be the Catcher in the Rye (Chapter 22)? How is his getting the lyrics wrong significant? ___________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________ 9) We meet Holden and Phoebe’s mother in chapter 23. What two things does she scold Phoebe for doing? What does this scolding reveal about her parenting and priorities? ___________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________ 10) We only get Holden’s side of the story about what happened with Mr. Antolini in Chapter 24. Given everything that you know about Holden and what Holden has shared about Mr. Antolini, why do you think Mr. Antolini touched Holden on the head? Explain your answer. ___________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________ 11) Who does Holden assume wrote the obscene language on the wall in Chapter 25? Realistically, who probably wrote it? ___________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________ 12) What does Holden worry will happen if a child from Phoebe’s school were to see the word on the wall? Realistically, what will happen? ___________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________ 13) How does Holden’s concern about the language on the wall reflect one of Holden’s major fears? ___________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________ 14) The Catcher in the Rye is one of the most frequently banned and/or challenged books. The obscene term that Holden finds on the wall has certainly contributed to people’s objections to the novel. Was Salinger justified with his choice of language? Would this episode in the novel carry the same meaning if Holden had found a “lighter” swear word on the wall? ___________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________ 15) In one of the most powerful scenes in the novel, Holden takes his sister Phoebe for a ride on the carousel in Central Park. Why is this scene so important? How does it make you feel? Many people believe that Holden makes a breakthrough in this scene. What does he come to realize? How do you know? ___________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________ 16) Salinger creates Holden as a wealthy character. If Holden had been from a middle or lower class family, how would that change some of the themes in the book? What kinds of issues might Holden have been focused on then? ___________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________