1. Who does Holden make a date with? Why does he call her up if he thinks she's a phony?
2. How does Holden treat little kids? Give an example.
3. Does Holden know his way around the city? What does this tell us about him?
Chapter 17
1. How do Holden's feelings for women compare to his feelings for men?
2. How does Holden feel about actors? How does he feel about The Lunts?
3. What is Holden's point about the difference between men owning a car and men owning a horse?
4. How does Holden describe a boy's school when talking to Sally?
5. Why does Holden want to take off with Sally now instead of after college? What’s the difference
in his eyes?
Chapter 18
1. What is Holden's opinion of the Christmas show at Radio City?
2. Why did Holden think the woman who cried through the movie was a phony?
Chapter 19
1. Why did Holden get mad at Luce for calling his (Luce's) old girlfriend the "Whore of New Hampshire"?
2. Who was Luce to Holden?
Chapter 20
1. How does Holden "act" again in this chapter?
2. What happens to Holden at the Wicker Bar?
3. What happens to Phoebe's record?
4. Where does Holden go right after he leaves the bar?
5. What information does Holden finally tell us about Allie's funeral?
6. What does Holden say about Allie that contradicts all his other statements about being an atheist?
7. After he leaves the park, where does Holden go?
Chapter 21
1. What does Holden find so intriguing about Phoebe's note- book?
Chapter 22
1. Why did it depress Holden when an "old guy" told him that his days at Pencey were the happiest
days of his life?
2. What does it tell us about Holden when Phoebe states, "You don't like anything that's happening"?
3. Why does Holden think about James Castle when Phoebe asks him to name one thing that he likes
a lot? Why does
he deny really knowing James? What does it tell us about Holden when he says, "Just because somebody's
dead, you
don't just stop liking them, for God's sake---especially if they were a thousand times nicer than
the people you know
that’re alive and all"?
4. What does Holden tell Phoebe he'd like to be?
Chapter 23
1. Who is Mr. Antolini?
2. How does Phoebe cover for Holden when their parents come home?
3. In talking with her parents how does Phoebe "sound" like Holden?
4. What does Phoebe do that makes Holden cry?
5. What does Holden give to Phoebe?
Chapter 24
1. Why did Holden fail his speech class?
2. How does Holden feel physically while he talks to Mr. Antolini?
3. What does Holden say about him hating people, such as Ackley and Stradlater?
4. What does Antolini's quote mean, "The mark of the immature man is that he wants to die nobly
for a cause, while the
mark of the mature man is that he wants to live humbly for one"?
5. How does Antolini upset and scare Holden?
Chapter 24
1. Later, after he has had time to think about it, what does Holden think about Antolini?
2. Why does the article on hormones upset Holden?
3. What strange feeling does Holden start to have when he steps off of curbs?
4. Why does he keep repeating, "Allie, don't let me disappear"?
5. What does Holden decide he must do next? Where does he first go?
6. With all the bad language that Holden uses, why was he so upset that curse words were written
on a school wall?
7. How does Holden treat the two small boys in the museum?
8. Why is it so important to Holden that Phoebe not be mad at him? Relate this to his past, and
Allie.
9. What does Holden mean when he states, "The thing with kids is, if they want to grab for the
gold ring, you have to let
them do it, and not say anything. If they fall off, they fall off, but it's bad if you say anything
to them"?
10. What is the carrousel symbolic of?
Chapter 25
1. At the conclusion, where is Holden?
2. What was the past relationship like between Holden and Jane?
Chapter 26
1. What does Holden mean when he says, “Don’t ever tell anybody anything. If you do, you start missing everybody.”?