The Catcher in the Rye

1. Who is Holden Caulfield?

He is the narrator and the main character of the book. Also, he is a freshman in high school.


2. Who is D.B., and why is Holden somewhat contemptuous of him?

He is Holden's brother. Holden is contemptuous of him because he is out in Hollywood, and Holden hated the movies so much.


3. What is the reality of Pencey Prep in contrast to the advertisements, as seen by Holden?

Holden thinks that the school always advertise on something that does not have anything to do with the school. On the advertisements it says, "Since 1888, we have been molding boys into splendid." But they don't do any more moldings and there isn't anyone that is splendid.


4. Why does Holden watch the game from the hill?

Because when Holden and the fencing team were going to meeting, Holden left all the equipments and foils at the subway. So nobody was talking to him. And the other reason was that Holden was on his way to say good-by to his history teacher, Mr. Spencer.


5. Who is Selma Thurmer, and why did Holden like her?

She was the headmaster's daughter. Holden was thinking that she was a pretty nice girl. Holden liked her because she didn't tell a lot about what a great man her father was.


6. Who is Mr. Spencer, and why was Holden going to visit him?

He is Holden's history teacher. Holden was going to visit him because they kicked him out of the school, so he wasn't coming back after Christmas vacation. So, before he leaves, Mr. Spencer told him that he wanted to see him. That's why he was going to visit him.


7. Why was Holden trying to “feel” some kind of good-bye?

He wanted people to say him good-bye when he was leaving, so that he can know there were people who cares about him. Because when nobody says you anything when you are leaving them, you feel bad about nobody caring about you. He wanted to know he was leaving.


8. What does Holden think about the other students who attend Pencey?

There were some guys that came from very wealthy families. But he thinks Pencey was full of crooks. Also, he thinks that when a school is more expensive, the more crooks it has.


9. How popular was the sport of polo at Pencey Prep?

In the advertisements, they always showed that a guy on a horse jumping over a fence. But it wasn't really like that, because Holden says that he never saw a horse around the place. So ,there wasn't any polo at Pencey Prep.


10. Does Holden blame others for his flunking out of school?

No, he doesn't blame others for flunking out.