Chapters 17-19

Chapter 17

While waiting for Sally at the Biltmore (a famous Broadway theatre), Holden notices the girls waiting for their dates, admires the pretty ones and wonders what will happen to them. He remembers a boy, Harris Macklin, who, although a 'bore' was a terrific whistler. When he sees Sally, his past contempt for her disappears and Holden admits to feeling like he wanted to marry her. Holden's good mood disappears as he criticises the play and the friend Sally meets at interval. He finds their interaction 'nauseating' (p114).

After the play, Sally is keen to go ice-skating at Radio City (the largest indoor theatre complex in the world), mostly so that she can wear one of 'those darling little skating skirts' (p116). Holden admits that she 'did look pretty cute' (p116). Holden and Sally find that they were the 'worst skaters on the goddam rink' (p116) and go to have a drink.

Here Holden's unpredictability hits a high point. In an unprecedented display of honesty to another person, he explains to Sally that he hates everything, in particular boys schools and that he is in 'lousy shape' (p118). When Sally rejects his offer of moving to the woods he calls her a 'royal pain in the ass' (p120) and Sally begins to cry. At the end of the chapter Holden admits that he does not know why he asked her but that he meant it when he said it.

Analysis

One of the major features of this chapter is that the reader becomes very aware of the erratic nature of Holden's mindset. Initially he is over-awed with emotion when he first sees Sally, to the point where he tells her he 'loved her and all' (p113). He soon changes his tune when she meets her friend from Andover and says that he 'sort of hated Sally by the time we got in the cab' (p115). He still continues his date, probably because he has nowhere else to be (p115) and at the cafe in Radio City asks her to go to Vermont or Massachusetts, to get married and settle there. Following her sensible rejection of this idea, he calls her a 'royal pain in the ass'(p120) and then ponders why he started 'all that stuff with her' (p121). Holden clearly cannot make up his mind.

It is possible to look deeper into Holden's motives here. Sally is the first person he has met in the novel who truly knows him. His initial reaction of love might stem from his craving for intimacy. Up to this point he has been completely alone. This is further supported by the fact that he is bluntly honest with Sally as he tells her exactly how he feels and expresses his desire to disappear.

Salinger partly overcomes the unreliability of his narrator by introducing a third-person perspective. On page 117 Sally tells Holden to stop shouting. Holden is unaware that he is shouting and his distance from reality is emphasised as he remarks that he 'wasn't even shouting.' (p117). The reader is thus further disinclined to trust the narrator, but at least, in amongst Holden's wild rants, we are given a third-person perspective through which to view his actions. This may leave you to question the accuracy of his description of his behaviour thus far.

Chapter 18

Holden thinks about Jane again. This leads him to consider what it is that interests girls about boys. Holden makes a time for drinks with Carl Luce, an ex-school-mate of his from Whooton. He is three years older than Holden and has a very high I.Q. The remainder of the chapter involves Holden attending a Christmas show and a movie. He criticises a woman for being overly emotional about the movie. The war theme of the movie prompts him to think about D.B. and then death. He sees himself riding on top of an atomic bomb.

Analysis

Holden has very quickly forgotten about Sally Hayes. This is an indication of the trouble that he is having retaining his emotions. His thoughts of Jane prompt him to consider some surprisingly insightful points about human nature and the 'phony' nature of judgements. Consider yourself, are there situations where you judge people differently according to whether you like them or not? This is the point of Holden's comments about girls judging people as having inferiority complexes if they like them or being conceited if they do not. This type of insight develops the idea that, despite Holden's current situation, he is clearly intelligent and was at one point, perhaps, more coherent.

Holden mentioned suicide explicitly in Chapter 14 and here makes two references. He claims that the army 'wouldn't be too bad if they if they'd just take you out and shoot you or something, but you have to stay in the Army so goddam long' (p126). This might be an indication both of the lack of value he sees in life and also of his lack of commitment. This is because he would rather die than have to persist with something for a long time. The second reference is perhaps more shocking. Holden tells the reader that 'if there's ever another war, I'm going to sit right the hell on top of it [the atomic bomb]' (p127). Consider the implications that not only does he want to die but in dying he will also be killing tens of thousands of other people. Do you think that this fits in with his general perception of people? Does he value any person other than Jane, who is merely symbolic, Phoebe, who is merely a child, or Allie who is dead?

Chapter 19

Holden goes to the Wicker Bar to meet Carl Luce. Holden tells the reader that it is the kind of place where 'you got to hate everybody in the world' (p128). Holden remembers Carl as a senior student who always talked about sex. The conversation between Carl and Holden consists of Holden trying to coax him into a similar conversation. Towards the end of the chapter it is revealed that Carl's father is a psychoanalyst and that he has previously advised Holden to see him about his problems.

Analysis

Holden's sexual naivety is exposed cruelly. Carl Luce has grown up but Holden has not. It is Holden's relentless questioning about Carl's personal life that leads to Carl leaving. It is interesting to note that Carl had previously advised Holden to see his psychoanalyst father. This along with Carl's assertion that this is a 'typical Caulfield conversation' (p131), informs the reader that Holden's current behaviour is not out of the ordinary. Consider this in relation to the fact that he has been expelled from four schools.

Holden's obsession with sex also reveals his immaturity. Further, there is a vast difference between the behaviour of Carl and Holden. As with Sally's influence of the responder's interpretation of the text, Carl's comments to Holden illuminate our understanding of Holden. The reader has been positioned to read Holden's narration as unreliable. As such, comments made by other characters, in the third person, are much more reliable. Carl tells Holden that his 'mind is immature' (p133) and it is possible that the reader is supposed to empathise with Carl as Holden pesters him about his private life.

It is important to note that Holden has seen two of his friends and neither of them has provided him with comfort. In the case of Sally, this is entirely Holden's fault and in the case of Carl, he has failed to mature enough to have a serious conversation and thus Carl leaves.