The Catcher in the Rye is a chronicle of Holden Caulfield’s emotional breakdown, but Holden never comments ____ it directly. At no point in the story ____ he say that he is undergoing an emotional strain; he ____ describes his increasingly desperate behavior without ____ explanation. Salinger cleverly manipulates Holden’s narrative ____ signal to the reader that ____ is more to the story than what Holden admits or describes. In the previous sections, Holden exhibited a number of behaviors that ____ indicate a troubled mind: running through the snow to Mr. Spencer’s house, writing Stradlater’s English composition about Allie’s baseball glove, attacking Stradlater ____ joking about Jane, leaving his dorm forever in the middle of the night, and yelling an insult ____ the hallway on his way out. In this section, Holden’s frantic loneliness and constant lying ____ the implication that he is not well mentally ____ emotionally. As soon as he gets ____ the train in New York in Chapter 9, Holden wants to call ____ and seems especially to want to call Jane, but he is apparently ____ nervous. This seems particularly strange ____ Holden’s cynicism and evident dislike for ____ people. His desire for human contact becomes even more intense as the section progresses: he begins to feel sexually aroused and tries to make a date with a stranger ____ number he was given at a party, ____ goes to a nightclub to flirt with older women. Holden’s constant lying, in this section and ____ the novel, is a mark of immaturity and imbalance. As soon as he meets Mrs. Morrow ____ the train, Holden begins telling ridiculous lies, ____ to be named Rudolph Schmidt and ____ be going to New York for a brain tumor operation. He feels guilty for lying, but the only way he can stop is to stop talking altogether. His intentions ____ her may be kind, or cruel, or simply careless. What ____ seem clear is that he lies to deflect attention ____ himself and what he is doing. In his reactions to the other guests in the hotel, whom he refers to as “perverts,” Holden reveals a ____ deal about his attitudes toward sex and toward what makes him uncomfortable ____ sexuality. He admits that he is aroused by the idea of spitting in someone’s face and that the couple ____ the courtyard seems to be having fun. But he thinks that people ____ only have sex if they care deeply for one ____, and “crumby” behavior ____ as this seems disrespectful. What bothers him is his perception that sexual attraction can be separate ____ respect and intimacy, and that sex can be casual ____ kinky. He knows this from his own experience with a former girlfriend, from observing Stradlater’s mating habits, and from watching his new neighbors. ____ he tells his story, Holden ____ seems particularly concerned about his own behavior or that of those around him. He ____ seems angry, but he ____ discusses his feelings. By combining what we know about Holden from his narration with his actions in the story, we can piece ____ the desperation, the pressure, and the trauma he ____ during this difficult time in his life.

The Catcher 7-9

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