Catcher in the Rye: Final Chapters Analysis

To start, Holden’s interactions with Sally Hayes and Old Luce in Chapters 16-19 contribute to the building of the story’s arc and Holden’s character. Sally Hayes is essential to the development of Holden’s character and his gradual descent into an even deeper depression and isolation. Sally’s inability to understand Holden’s thinking and her refusal of his offer to escape to Massachusetts and Vermont makes Holden feel even more isolated from society. Sally does not sympathize with Holden like he ideally expects from female companionship. Holden views women as sources of comfort and outlets to relieve his frustration at his masculinity and society’s wrongs against him. Instead of playing the role that Holden expects her to, Sally offers him the opposite of comfort, refuting his criticisms of society and focusing on the conventional standards of life. As such, Holden’s idealistic view of the world is further distorted. This progresses the story arc by pushing Holden into further isolation, forcing him to confront his insecurities and worries. Thus, Holden looks to other ways to quell his loneliness: Old Luce. Even though Holden did not particularly like Luce, he wanted comfort and direction. As such, he looked toward people in the past who gave him direction and helped him feel protected. However, Holden’s disordered behavior around Luce and his sexual questions made him feel uncomfortable, resulting in him being abandoned yet again. Old Luce’s character, albeit important in conveying Holden’s descent into madness, is not extremely vital in the development of the story. Old Luce’s interactions with Holden were conveyed as a plot line meant to emphasize Holden’s growing madness and was not vital, as Salinger could have used other ways to advance the plot through a highlight of Holden’s increasing insanity.

Holden speculates that the family he sees walking home from church is probably poor as a result of the dad’s attire, a pearl-gray hat often adorned by those financially worse off. Holden sees the family immediately following his encounter with the nuns to show Holden’s view of religion and happiness. Holden is not extremely religious in the novel. However, his respect for those who are religious is evident. Holden may want to feel direction and faith in life in the same way as those who are religious feel. At this point in the story, Holden is extremely lost and unable to find his path. As such, Salinger uses the family after his encounter with the nuns to show what Holden is seeking: purpose. Holden wants to feel faith and be useful in the same way those who are religious have faith, hope, and service. Additionally, Holden tends to be biased towards people who are different from him. Holden’s privilege makes him blind to the troubles around him. He romanticizes simple, crude depictions of happiness because of his reasoning that “phoniness,” or wealth, brings to it misery and suffocation. Holden’s positive view of the family adds to his speculation that they are poor. Because the family is seemingly happy and whole, with a carefree little boy, Holden predicts that they are most likely poor to support his own worldview of phonies and how wealth contributes to suffering. Furthermore, it’s also likely that Holden thought the family to be poor because, like the nuns, they were religious. Holden has a very biased and linear way of thinking. After interacting with the nuns, who were financially burdened, Holden most likely thought that religious people were likely to be poor. His prejudice thus translated to the family walking back home from church. 

Additionally, Holden’s reaction to the religious family walking home from church is ironic as his judgment of the family’s financial situation reflects how biased and narcissistic he is, even though he despises those traits in other individuals. Previously, Holden vehemently recalled an instance back at his old school, with his roommate who had judged him based on his wealth. However, like the roommate, Holden held similar judgment to individuals by speculating about their financial status. Holden displays irony in his hypocrisy. He hates phony individuals who judge others based on financial circumstances, however, Holden is like the phony people he despises so much, as he’s biased towards people as a result of past experiences. In addition, Holden’s blinding privilege contributes to the irony of his reaction to the family walking home from church. Holden’s view of the world is very linear. That is, wealth corrupts people, popularity is fake, and conventional standards of society are meant to stifle you. However, Holden’s privilege prevents him from truly seeing the reality of life and results in him romanticizing individuals based on what they don’t have: privilege. Holden loves to praise the underdogs. This is seen when he analyzes the family’s financial status and comes out happier because of it. Holden romanticizes the family, specifically their son, because of the perceived freedom they hold in society as a result of their non-idealized standard of living. In actuality, Holden has no idea what life is like for these individuals, adding to the irony of his romanticized reaction to them. Moreover, the family’s six-year-old boy’s situation parallels Holdens. The boy is carelessly singing, prancing along the sidewalk while his mother and father pay no attention to him. Like Holden, the boy does not receive adequate attention from his parents and adult figures. He lives his life on the line, as the dangers of the street, such as cars, zoom by him. Conversely, as opposed to Holden’s lost innocence, the boy is very carefree and innocent. His inner freedom and childlike innocence are something Holden craves to protect and to have for himself. As such, the boy is an inherent parallel to Holden as a result of his lack of parental guidance, carelessness, and innocence.

Further, Holden likely hates Sally as a result of the resentment he feels towards the rejection he faced from various women in his life. In addition, Holden makes various claims throughout Chapter 17 on Sally’s appearance, often describing her as looking “terrific” and extremely attractive. Holden’s attraction to Sally contrasts with the repulsion he feels from her personality and likes. Sally is a direct representation of the phoniness Holden so hates, yet is often the recipient of his affection regardless. As such, Holden feels hatred for Sally because his innate attraction to her appearance opposes her characteristics as a person. This is evident on Holden’s date with Sally after they watch the Lunts. Holden emphasizes his hatred for her after she gets back in the cab following a conversation with “that phony Andover bastard.” Sally’s extroverted, optimistic, and inclination towards popularity juxtaposes Holden’s expectant values of innocence in society. As the date continues, Sally’s personality further pushes Holden to the climax of the novel. By rejecting his proposal to run away to Massachusetts and Vermont, Sally forces Holden to confront his immense loneliness, masculinity, as well as his fear of rejection. Holden is clearly depicted as an insecure character throughout the entirety of this novel. His insecurity is especially highlighted in Chapter 17 after Sally rejects him. Holden’s inability to deal with rejection stems from his lack of identity and his lack of confidence surrounding his masculinity. Holden often felt ashamed of his inadequate experience with women and looked to his past experiences with the women he’s familiar with as a way to feel safe, as he knew that he was able to be with them in the past. However, Sally is unable to provide this reassurance, which results in Holden thus looking to different methods to quell his isolation, which results in him running to Phoebe later in the novel.
The pessimistic language and critical narrative style of Chapter 18 mirror Holden’s worsening condition as a result of his growing insecurities and unease surrounding his identity. Holden is evidently unhappy and judgmental after being rejected on his date with Sally. Holden’s pessimism and frustration translate into the way he describes the characters he interacts with as well as his experiences in Chapter 18. Holden even realizes his pessimism by stating that he just wasn’t in the right mood for the stage show, remarking that the skating guy’s performance was so stupid to him. Holden’s reaction to Jane’s old boyfriend also reflects the insecurity he feels surrounding rejection and women, brought up as a result of his experience with Sally. Additionally, Holden’s response to the movie is extremely clear in conveying his growing madness and mental instability. His negativity surrounding the movie playing, using terms such as “putrid” to describe the story, reflects his perspective on life: putrid and miserable. Because Holden feels so rejected and depressed, he now fails to have empathy for the others around him and faces his experiences with a stark, negative outlook regardless of what he expects the outcome to be. Holden’s vulnerable masculinity also contributes to his worsening condition and pessimistic view of life. Throughout Chapter 18, his disdain towards love and affection is clearly displayed. Holden begins the chapter by commenting on Jane’s old love and Holden’s perceived inadequacy of him in serving as a love interest for Jane. Furthermore, Holden is now beginning to hate other men who could be a threat to his masculinity. The performer was seen as someone impressive and eye-catching. Likewise, the actor was clearly conveyed as a character meant to thrill the women watching the movie through his role as a romantic, courageous love interest. As such, Holden’s hatred of society is no longer linear towards those who had wronged him. It’s now come to include a wide scope of individuals, any who Holden perceives to be a threat or feels insecure next to.

Moreover, Carl Luce can be interpreted as a foil to Holden as a result of his evident maturity, intelligence, and experience with women. As such, Holden’s immaturity, childish antics, and lack of experience with women are highlighted through Carl Luce. In Chapter 19, Carl and Holden meet at a bar to catch up and talk. Carl is unimpressed by Holden’s probing questions, trying his best to avoid answering the intimate, sexual inquiries about his personal life. Holden uses Carl as a way to feel better about his own lack of intimacy and tries to gain advice from him. However, his lack of social skills, paired with his growing insanity, instead makes Carl extremely uncomfortable in answering any questions whatsoever. Instead of blowing his fuse on Holden, Carl is mature and collected in his responses. This contrasts greatly with Holden’s direct, rude questions to Carl and his disregard for Carl’s boundaries. Additionally, Carl acts as a foil to Holden not only for his maturity but also for his copious experiences with women. In the boys’ school, Carl was an advisor not only for academic troubles but for sexual inquiries as well. Holden went so far as to describe Carl as a know-it-all about sex, perverts and all. Holden’s inexperience with sex and women, when compared to Carl, is thus quite evident. Carl’s composure and maturity are a driving reason behind why Holden felt so comfortable disrespecting his boundaries. Holden is envious of Carl’s evident pubescence and wishes to have that for himself. Holden’s frustration translates to his growing madness and childishness in his interactions with Carl, who acts as a foil by counteracting his immaturity with great composure, intelligence, and experience.  

Finally, the absence of ducks in the pond works as a symbol in Chapters 16-26, especially in relation to Holden’s thoughts about Allie as they reflect Holden’s growing pessimism and his loss of life’s zeal. Allie represents what Holden believes to be everything right with life: compassion, intelligence, and innocence. Allie’s childlike wonder is something Holden wishes to protect and mimic. Holden’s curiosity about the ducks in the pond is a symbol of his attempt to reach the same childlike wonder, intelligence, and innocence that Allie had. However, because of Holden’s crude experiences in Chapters 16-26, from experiencing his rejection with Sally to his growing loneliness and confusion around his identity, Holden is losing what’s left of his motivations to pursue wonder and innocence. Moreover, in Chapter 20, Holden ruminates on Allie’s death and his regret of being not able to enjoy life’s simple pleasures. Allie is stuck in the cemetery forever with no umbrella to protect him from the rain and no ability to go about life, such as attending nice dinners. Holden’s thoughts about Allie’s death distract him from what Allie was like when he was alive and prevent him from living in the moment as well. In Chapters 16-26, Holden spends a great deal of his time stuck inside his own mind. He is trapped in an inescapable prison of negativity and misery and is therefore unable to reflect on the ducks in the pond, who represent simple innocence and wonder. As such, the absence of the ducks in the pond works as a symbol in Chapters 16-26, especially in relation to Holden’s thoughts about Allie, as a result of the ducks’ reflection of childlike innocence and Holden’s growing pessimism when ruminating on Allie’s death.