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Synopsis of the Catcher and the Rye

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Synopsis of the Catcher and the Rye

The catcher and the Rye was set in 1950 and narrated by Holden Caulfield. Caulfield, in

his narration, was not specific about the location but cleared that he was under medication in a

mental hospital. The narrated events took place when Holden was sixteen years of age between

the school term end and Christmas. The story begun in Pency prep school in Agerston on a

Saturday after finishing the classes (Salinger, 2001). After failing in five classes, Holden was

noticed of his expulsion but did not get home to Manhattan until Wednesday. In this period,

Holden visited Spencer, his history teacher, to say goodbye but in his attempts to talk to Holden

about his poor performance, which greatly annoys Holden.

In the school dormitory, Holden was also irritated by his neighbour Ackley who was

unhygienic and Stradlater, his roommate. Stradlater spent his evening hours with his date, a girl

Holden used to date and still admired. One evening Holden constantly questioned Stradlater

about whether he had slept with her due to his increasing tension because his roommate took

Jane out (Salinger, 2001). Stradlater ignored Holden, and in this time, Holden caught up with his

anger and attacked Stradlater. After the fight, Holden decides to go to Manhattan three days

earlier, rent a hotel room and keep his expulsion a secret from his parents.

When Holden arrived in Penn, he decided to call some of his friends but later took a cab

to Edmont hotel, where he took a room for himself. Holden saw a man put on a woman's clothes

and another couple spitting drinks into each other's face from his room and was irritated by this

behavior (Salinger, 2001). After smoking a couple of cigarettes, Holden decided to call Faith, a

woman whose number he got from an acquaintance at Princeton. Holden believed that he could

seduce her to have sex with him because Faith used to be a stripper. At first, Faith is annoyed
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because of the late hour call by a stranger but then accepted to place a meeting with Holden the

following day, but Holden hanged up without arranging a meeting with Faith.

Holden then decided to go to the Lavender room, where he flirted with three older

women. After a dance with all three women, Holden then felt that he had fallen in love with the

blonde woman after seeing how good she was in dancing (Salinger, 2001). When Holden was

done dancing, memories of him with Jane haunted him—remembering how they met on a

summer vacation in Maine and held hands while watching movies. Later, Holden left Edmont

and came across Lilian, his brother's ex-girlfriend, who asked him to join her, but Holden

dropped the idea and claimed that he had to meet someone.

One day, Maurice, the elevator operator in Edmont, sent a prostitute to Holden's room for

five dollars. Holden claimed to have undergone a spinal operation and claimed that he had not

yet recovered enough to have sex but offered to pay her (Salinger, 2001). After a long dirty chat

with the woman, Holden insisted on paying her five dollars so that she could leave. Later,

Maurice returned to Holden demanding another five dollars from him, but when Holden refused

to give Maurice the five dollars, he punches him and takes the money from his wallet.

In his conclusion, Holden decided not to share the story of how he got sick after getting

home but later decided to get another school in the fall, be positive in his life, and take his living

and studies seriously.

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References

Salinger, J. D. (2001). The Catcher in the Rye [1951]. Boston, MA et al.