The Catcher in the Rye – Help with Homework – Chapter 7

Why is Holden thinking of joining a monastery?

Holden worries that Stradlater had sex with Jane during their date, because he knew that Stradlater was capable of seducing girls quickly. Holden asks Ackley whether or not one has to be Catholic to join a monastery.

Holden follows his thoughts on Jane Gallagher by musing about joining a monastery and thus becoming celibate. Holden seems to harbor a disgust for any type of sexuality, whether Ackley’s obviously false boasts or Stradlater’s successful seductions. At this point Salinger leaves ambiguous the actual reason why Holden would be concerned about Jane Gallagher in particular, for the only information Holden gives about Jane is that they would often play checkers together.

Explain Holden’s reaction to packing the ice skates.

Holden gets depressed when he packs the ice skates his mother gave him because it reminds him of how his mother will feel when she finds out he got kicked out of school. He almost feels disappointed in himself because this is the third school that he has gotten flunked out of. “I could see my mother going into Spaulding’s and asking the salesman a million dopey questions-and here I was getting the ax again.”(p. 52) Holden pictures his mom making the effort to go out and buy her son some skates that he asked for, and now he will not even be able to use them because he is leaving the school. He imagines his parents being very disappointed, and Holden feels that he has let himself down, as well as his parents.

Getting a present in general makes Holden sad because he does not always feel like he deserved it. People usually give presents to those who have accomplished something or it is a special occasion on their behalf. Whenever Holden gets a present, he does not feel as though he has earned it. He feels as though he has let himself down many times because he flunks out of school and does careless mistakes such as leave the fencing equipment on the subway. Because of this, whenever Holden gets a present it ends up making him sad rather than happy. He feels as though he should have earned the gift for doing something that makes him great.

Holden makes frequent references to his emotional state in this chapter. Find at least five examples of what he feels.

Holden reveals more of his psychology during this chapter. His greatest concern seems to be whether Stradlater seduced Jane Gallagher, revealing an unhealthy, if predictable, view on sexuality. Holden follows his thoughts on Jane Gallagher by musing about joining a monastery and thus becoming celibate. Holden seems to harbor a disgust for any type of sexuality, whether Ackley’s obviously false boasts or Stradlater’s successful seductions.

Holden finally reaches a breaking point in this chapter by leaving Pencey early, with no concrete plan for what he will do. In many ways this is typical of Holden’s established patterns of behavior: impulsive, selfish and aimless. His final insult to his fellow students shows that an innate sense of superiority, however unfounded, separates Holden from the other students, for he believes himself to be more honorable and ‘deep’ than the vapid and self-centered Stradlater and more refined than the piggish Ackley. Yet Holden demonstrates qualities similar to those of his peers; he suffers from a self-imposed delusion that he is different and misunderstood and chooses to leave Pencey for an uncertain future. At this point, then, we’re not quite sure whether Holden is a protagonist or antagonist in terms of how we should relate to him. Perhaps the better term for him is ‘anti-hero,’ meaning we sympathize with him because of his failures as a protagonist.

“To give a girl the time” is an example of euphemism. What does its use indicate about Holden’s attitudes toward sex? Toward Jane?

Holden’s enemy is the adult world and the cruelty and artificiality that it entails. The people he admires all represent or protect innocence. He thinks of Jane Gallagher, for example, not as a maturing young woman but as the girl with whom he used to play checkers. He goes out of his way to tell us that he and Jane had no sexual relationship. Quite sweetly, they usually just held hands. Holden comforted Jane when she was distressed, and it bothers him that Jane may have been subjected to sexual advances from her drunken stepfather or from her date, Holden’s roommate, Stradlater.

Holden exlpains his posture toward sex as something that he reaaly doesn’t understand, although. he consideres himself the “biggest sex maniac you ever saw.” He also tells us that he tends to imagine cruby stuff that he wouldn’t mid doing if the opportunity came up. Holden says “Sex is something I really don’t understand too hot.” He never knows where he is in a sexy situation. “Sex is something I just don’t understand. I swear to God I don’t.”separates Holden from the other students, for he believes himself to be more honorable and ‘deep’ than the vapid and self-centered Stradlater and more refined than the piggish Ackley. Yet Holden demonstrates qualities similar to those of his peers.