RE: The Catcher in the Rye help with homework Chapter 9
Chapter 9
- What Holden sees the couple at the Edmont Hotel squirting water at each other, what does he think?
- Holden is very aware of the way he acts and of his own identity. Cite two examples of explanations he gives for his behavior.
- What does Holden have against bald men?
- Why does Holden want to give Faith Cavendish a phony name over the phone?
What Holden sees the couple at the Edmont Hotel squirting water at each other, what does he think?
The hotel doesn’t do much to lift Holden’s spirits. The bellboy is an old man with a comb-over, “a gorgeous job for a guy around sixty-five years old.” (pg. 61) And the other hotel guests, who Holden can see through his window, he dismisses as a bunch of “perverts and losers.” Among those he can see are a man dressing up in women’s clothes, and a couple spitting water, in delight, at each other.
Holden does, however, find these strange behaviors fascinating; he thinks that squirting water at a girl might be fun, though he’d feel “crumby” doing it. This speaks to his more general trouble with girls, his trouble reconciling his heart, his body and his head. As well these things reinforce that Holden isn’t wrong: there is phoniness in the adult world. And Holden actually finds himself aroused by it. That may be part of why he hates.
