Catcher in the Rye Litblog Ch. 25-26

Mary Ann MacDonald
Period 5
5/13/13

 

Chapters 25-26

 

Summary: Holden starts to regret leaving Mr. Antolini's house and has second thoughts if Mr. Antolini was in fact making a pass at him. Holden gets his bags and walks up Fifth Avenue and decides that he wants to go out to the mid-west and pretend to be a deaf-mute. He gives a note to Phoebe's school and she meets him by the museum. She wants to go with Holden, but he refuses and to please her he takes her to the zoo and watches her ride the carousel and he promises Phoebe that he isn't leaving after all. In the last chapter of the book, Holden expresses that he misses everyone on his journey and tells people to never tell anyone anything or else you start missing them.

Quotation: "Every time I came to the end of a block and stepped off the goddam curb, I had this feeling that I'd never get to the other side of the street. I thought I'd just go down, down, down, and nobody'd ever see me again"(197).

Quotation Significance: Holden is walking up Fifth Avenue and every time he leaves a curb he feels like he is sinking and dying, like he is escaping his life and his loneliness. This is important because he is telling us that he almost wants to escape from his life and his loneliness.

Reflection: In the last two chapters of the book, Holden considers leaving New York to go to the mid-west and work on a ranch pretending to be a deaf-mute so he doesn't have to talk to anyone and he can live in peace. But when he sees Phoebe on the carousel he realizes how much he would miss his family and how lonely he would be and he decides to abandon this plan and stay in New York after all. Earlier, Holden is walking up Fifth Avenue and every time he leaves a curb he feels like he is sinking and dying, like he is escaping his life and his loneliness. This is important because he is telling us that he almost wants to escape from his life and his loneliness. In the last chapter of the book Holden expresses that when you tell people things you start to miss them. This means that he admits to missing Ackley, Stradlater, Sally, and even Maurice. No matter how lonely Holden is and how much he hates most of the people on his journey he has started to miss them. Overall, this is a good book and it teaches people a lot about what is truly important and how others perceive each other.

Discussion Question: Why does Holden decide not to run away? Why is the curb scene in the book important?