Chapter Ten

1. Chapter Ten

2. Chapter Ten 1. Who is Phoebe? Describe her. • Phoebe Caulfield = Holden’s 10-year-old sister • Personality: • “Somebody with sense”; perceptive and intelligent • Sometimes “too affectionate” and over-emotional • Physical: Red hair like Allie did; “Rollerskate skinny” • Writes books but never finishes them • Follows in Holden’s footsteps

3. Chapter Ten 2. What happens at the Lavender Room? • Lavender Room = nightclub on the first floor of the Edmont Hotel • Holden is denied being served alcohol • Holden, acting as “Jim Steele” tries to engage the “three witches” in conversation and dancing • He is annoyed by them to the point of fascination/intrigue • He picks up their tab despite secretly hating them • He lives outside his true life by relentlessly lying: • Fake name; celebrity sighting

4. Chapter Ten 3. What evidence is there that shows us that Holden probably doesn’t look as old as he says he looks? • Although Holden claims to be experiencing a rapid growth spurt and growing gray hair (impending adulthood)… • Holden is denied being served alcohol at the Lavender Room • One of the girls who Holden is dancing with (“Bernice something- Crabs or Krebs”) at the Lavender Room questions his age

5. Chapter Ten Discussion: Based on Holden’s treatment of these girls, coupled with what you already know about him, how does he feel about females generally? • Reverie? • Holden’s favorite person is a female, his sister Phoebe • Sexist/Chauvinistic? • Holden refers to the “ugly” girls at the Lavender room as “witches,” “grools,” and “dopes.” • Falls in love too easily? • Holden is impressed with girls’ “pretty” actions and falls “half in love” with them

6. Chapter Eleven

7. Chapter Eleven 1. What is Holden worried about in terms of Jane and Stradlater? Why? • Aside from jealous rage, Holden seems agitated that a guy like Stradlater would never really get to know Jane like he does. • “You don’t always have to get too sexy to know a girl.” (76) • Holden as caring; courteous; mindful; respectful? • Sentiment: “Nice guys always finish last”

8. Chapter Eleven 2. Why is Jane so special to Holden? (1) • Holden’s family owns a summer home next to Jane’s family, in Maine. • Jane’s dog was “relieving himself” on his lawn • Holden and Jane played games (golf, checkers) together

9. Chapter Eleven 2. Why is Jane so special to Holden? (2) • Jane is Holden’s type: • Not typically beautiful • “muckle-mouthed” • Literate/intelligent • The only person Holden ever showed Allie’s mitt to • “Terrific to hold hands with” • Quote 76-80

10. Chapter Eleven 2. Why is Jane so special to Holden? (3) • Jane’s step-father is a “booze hound” who is seemingly abusive • Jane, crying for an unknown reason, is consoled by Holden • Tear drop on the checkerboard • Holden wishes to protect her

11. Chapter Twelve

12. Chapter Twelve 1. Why is Holden feeling lonesome and depressed at the beginning of Ch. 12? • Holden, like the very city withholding him, is “lonesome and depressed.” • Hardly anybody seems to be out on a Saturday night; NYC is usually more vibrant • Holden feels insignificant, as a loner within a huge city

13. Chapter Twelve 2. What do you make of Holden’s fascination with the Central Park ducks? • Holden’s conversation centers around where the ducks of Central Park go during the winter • He is wondering where his life is heading this winter • Horowitz counters Holden’s question by asking him what happens with the fish in the lagoon.

14. Chapter Twelve 3. Why does Holden ask the cab driver to “stop off and have a drink”…? • Holden is seeking companionship/friendship, even if from the most unlikely person • He is oddly intrigued by Horowitz and believes he is genuine/honest • “If you was a fish, Mother Nature’d take care of you, wouldn’t she?” (Horowitz, 83)

15. Chapter Twelve 4. Based on Holden’s description, what is his perception of Ernie? • Ernie is full of himself; uses a mirror to make sure the audience sees his face when he plays • Gives very phony, show-off bows when he is done playing • His audience, believing him to be so good at what he does, makes him out to be better than he is • Quote: 83-84

16. Chapter Twelve 5. Describe the “characters” that surround Holden at Ernie’s. He is “surrounded by jerks” having awful conversations, refusing to move to let people by • One guy is telling his uninterested date about sports, but she was too “funny looking” to stop him • Another “Joe Yale looking” guy is giving a girl a feel under the table while telling her about a near-suicide at his dorm

17. Chapter Twelve 6. Who is Lillian Simmons? • DB’s ex-girlfriend who had “very big knockers,” is on a date with “some Navy officer…that looked like he had a poker up his ass.” • She treats Holden like a best friend, but Holden knows she just wants to ask questions about DB

18. Chapter Twelve 7. Why does Holden leave after his encounter with Lillian and her date? • Holden leaves in order to escape having to hang out with Lillian and “Commander Blop” • Lies his way out of conversation and so has to leave • “I couldn’t even stick around to hear Old Ernie play something halfway decent… It made me mad… people are always ruining things for you.” (87)

19. Chapter Thirteen

20. Chapter Thirteen 1. What does Holden mean when he says he is a “yellow guy”? • While walking back to his hotel from Ernie’s Holden comments on his pacifism and cowardice • His memory involves the hypothetical situation of what he would do if he found out who stole his gloves at Pencey Prep • He would confront the person but not do anything about it

21. Chapter Thirteen 2. Does Holden’s description of how he would deal with the ‘glove thief’ support Holden as a pacifist? Discuss! • “It’s no fun to be yellow. Maybe I’m not all yellow…I’m just partly yellow and partly the type that doesn’t give a damn if they lose their gloves… What you should be is not yellow at all. If you’re supposed to sock somebody in the jaw, and you sort of feel like doing it, you should do it. I’m just no good at it, though.” (89)

22. Chapter Thirteen 4. Holden says he would rather push a guy out a window…than look at a guy’s face after a fist fight. What do these comments suggest about him? • “I can’t stand looking at the guy’s face, is my trouble.” • Holden cannot accept the aftermath/consequence of violence, but understands the necessity of violence • “It’s a funny kind of yellowness… but it’s yellowness, all right.” (90)

23. Chapter Thirteen 3. Why does Holden stop when girls tell him to? • Holden, out of courtesy, does not want to do something that a girl will regret or blame him for later • “The trouble with me is, I stop. Most guys don’t. I can’t help it. You never know whether they really want you to stop, or whether they’re just scared as hell, or whether they’re just telling you to stop so that if you do go through with it, the blame’ll be on you, not them.” (92)

24. Chapter Thirteen 5. How is Holden feeling in this chapter? • Holden is feeling increasingly lonesome and depressed; he has suicidal thoughts • “I wasn’t sleepy or anything, but I was feeling sort of lousy. Depressed and all. I almost wished I was dead.” (90)

25. Chapter Thirteen 6. What is the “big mess” Holden gets himself into? • Holden meets Maurice, the elevator operator at his hotel, who doubles as a pimp • Holden agrees to have a prostitute, “a little tail,” sent to his room • Discuss: Why did Holden agree to do this despite knowing it was a bad idea?

26. Chapter Thirteen 7. What is Holden’s opinion of sex? • Holden admits to his virginity • He’s had opportunities but has never seized them • He is confused as to what to do when a girl says, “Stop.” • Girls “lose their brains” in the heat of the moment; Holden feels bad for them

27. Chapter Thirteen 8. Describe Holden’s experience with Sunny. • Holden is taken back by how young and nervous she seems • She abruptly removes her dress; Holden hangs it up in the closet and feels sad thinking of her purchasing the dress with nobody in the store knowing she was a prostitute • Holden turns down her sexual advances as wishes to talk instead • Sunny calls Holden “crum-bum,” and Holden refuses to thank her when she leaves

28. Chapter Thirteen 9. What are some of the lies Holden tells Sunny? • Alias Jim Steele • Sophisticated, mature, older identity for Holden • Age 22 • Holden tried to match how old he thought she might be • Excuse to avoid Sunny’s sexual gestures Holden is recovering from surgery on his “clavichord” • Clavichord: musical instrument!

29. Chapter Fourteen

30. Chapter Fourteen 1. What specific memory does Holden describe at the beginning of the chapter? • Holden recalls a time when he did not let Allie tag along with him and a friend of his, when they were shooting BB guns • Holden was protecting him by not allowing him to come • “Go and get your bike and meet me in front of Bobby’s house…” (99)

31. Chapter Fourteen 2. Does Holden have any guilty feelings about Allie? Do you feel this is abnormal in any way, or normal? • Holden talks out loud to Allie, as if Allie is actually there. • “I do that sometimes when I get really depressed.” (98) Is it “crazy” or “normal” to talk out loud to our deceased loved ones?

32. Chapter Fourteen 3. What evidence shows us that Holden might have made a good actor? • Refer to Holden’s fantasy (#6)

33. Chapter Fourteen 4. What does Holden claim his religious belief to be? Explain. • Holden claims to be “sort of an Atheist” • Atheism = belief that no God exists • Holden dislikes Jesus’ Disciples but appreciates the lunatic who lived in the tombs and kept cutting himself with stones • Believes that “Holy Joe” ministers are phony and only act religious

34. Chapter Fourteen 5. Describe what happens between Holden and Maurice. • Maurice comes to collect the money he thinks Holden owes; Holden refuses to give him the extra $5 • Holden calls Maurice a “dirty, chiseling moron” • Maurice physically threatens and later punches Holden while Sunny takes $5 from his wallet • Holden, supposedly “partly yellow,” takes a stand and pays the price

35. Chapter Fourteen 6. After Maurice punches Holden, describe the fantasy Holden has. • Holden imagines himself as a Hollywood gangster enacting revenge on Maurice by plugging him with “six shots right through his fat hairy belly” • He imagines Jane bandaging up his guts, holding a cigarette to his mouth • “The goddam movies. They can ruin you.” (104)

36. Chapter Fourteen 7. By the end of the chapter, what is Holden’s state of mind? • Holden appears increasingly suicidal, but fears the events of his suicide and hopes for the quick, painless resolution of death • “What I really felt like doing, though, was committing suicide. I felt like jumping out the window. I probably would’ve done it, too, if I’d been sure somebody’d cover me up as soon as I landed. I didn’t want a bunch of rubbernecks looking at me when I was all gory.” (104)

37. Chapter Fourteen 8. Does Holden seem to be in a downward spiral? Explain. • [Discuss: Answers may vary] • Downward spiral = perpetual state of depression which, as events occur, makes one feel increasingly isolated and hopeless