Catcher in the Rye: Middle Chapters Analysis

Holden’s interactions with Sunny and Maurice contribute to the intensity of the atmosphere, implementing elements of the real world into the setting and mood. In addition, Holden’s traumatized and immature character is further developed through his exchanges with prostitution. Salinger’s use of Sunny and Maurice plays an integral part in developing an authentic perspective in The Catcher in the Rye. By interlacing the motif of childhood innocence into the dark realities of the real world, Sunny and Maurice progress the story and allow Holden’s experiences to seem more real. Sunny’s young age contrasts with her experience in prostitution. Her seemingly lost innocence highlights the corruption within society and develops the dark mood of the novel. Maurice and Sunny’s deceit also contributes to the dismal atmosphere. By taking advantage of Holden’s immaturity and money, Holden’s depression escalates, helping bring the novel to its climax. Although it’s possible that Salinger could have conveyed elements of realism and corruption in a different way, whether it be through encounters with homeless people or violence, Holden’s character was dependent on his interactions with rejection, sexuality, and adulthood. Holden’s desperation for experiences with women, and then a change in mind by rejecting the prostitute, is a symbol of his constant endeavor for acceptance and maturity. Furthermore, at the time this novel was published, in 1951, prostitution was a taboo topic. By presenting Sunny as a humane and nuanced character, a victim of the economic circumstances of society, Salinger uses prostitution to talk about significant issues and helps form Holden’s humanity through his interactions with her. Salinger also uses the prostitution scenes to showcase the ridiculousness of the situation. Readers see outside of Holden’s perspective. By showing these scenes, Salinger portrays the exaggerated thinking of Holden. Thus, the scenes with Sunny and Maurice translate the atmosphere, mood, and characterization of the novel by introducing nuanced, corrupt elements of life.

Holden’s encounters with the nuns and Sally Hayes challenge his bifurcated way of thinking by introducing the characters’ intense nuance. Holden’s first impression of the nuns was immediately negative: he hated their suitcases. The readers are then brought back into a flashback of Holden’s unpleasant experience with an individual who had a cheap suitcase. Moreover, Holden’s one-way thinking is further reflected through his view of the nun’s breakfast: a meager toast and coffee in comparison to his bacon and eggs. Holden’s impression of the nuns is entirely based on their financial situation. However, as Holden continues to get to know the nuns more, he discovers their generosity and kindness. The nuns’ kindness in contrast with Holden’s initial negative bias towards them contributes to the challenges he faces in his thinking through his interactions with them. In addition, Holden’s way of thinking is further challenged by the nun’s literary preferences. Holden questions whether or not the nun is genuine when she states her love for Romeo and Juliet, which further reflects his inability to accept complex concepts such as a nun enjoying a romance play. To Holden, things are very black and white. The nun, whose entire identity revolves around devotion to God and the abstinence of romance, is a great proponent of a very romantic play. As such, the nun serves as a contradictory character to what Holden believes a nun should be, provoking his way of thinking. Additionally, Sally Hayes’ character challenges Holden’s bifurcated way of thinking in the same way as the nuns. Holden evidently feels affection for Sally Hayes. However, he contradicts himself through his obvious disdain for her perceived phoniness and unintelligence. Holden’s relationship with Sally challenges his thinking by forcing him to feel affection for someone who represents the very thing he hates: being phony. Sally enjoys what Holden considers to be “fake” in society: theater, popularity, and mainstream trends. Sally is a typical teenager. However, even though Holden’s character is in direct opposition to Sally’s, Holden still enjoys her companionship and feels attraction to her, even bringing up running away together.

Holden’s interactions with women after leaving the school are a crucial component of the novel, conveying his desperation for companionship, love, attention, and acceptance. Holden’s first experience with a woman after his leave was with Mrs. Morrow, who he had an evident propensity for. Mrs. Morrow is symbolic of Holden’s gateway into adulthood. Her older age and maturity contrast in comparison with Holden’s childish nature. Moreover, Holden’s obvious inclination towards pleasing Mrs. Morrow highlights his need for attention and acceptance. As the novel progresses further, Holden’s experiences with the women at the bar and the prostitute contribute to the reader’s understanding of Holden’s inner motives. His extremely desperate attitude is reflected in the way he treats and behaves around women. In the hotel bar, Holden’s desperation is seen from the way his inner monologue contradicts his actions with the three women from Seattle. Holden obviously disdains the women, yet still tries his best to please them and convince them to dance with him in a despairing attempt to heal his loneliness. Furthermore, his vain disposition towards women reflects much of the stereotypes surrounding women during the time of the novel and highlights a significant issue of misogyny and disrespect. By interacting with the women, Holden is also conveying his eagerness to grow up and become a man, as well as his ever-increasing feelings of loneliness. Holden feels as though no one in society understands and empathizes with him. He navigates through a majority of his inner turmoil alone, afraid to share his personal experiences. To alleviate this sensation, Holden interacts with a variety of women in order to feel better about his isolation. Further, Holden often ruminates on his sexuality and believes that by having intercourse with a woman, he will become fully mature. Holden’s wish to grow up, but still protect childhood innocence, is ironic in the novel and is further emphasized through his interactions with women.

By placing the exposition about Jane Gallagher immediately after Holden’s encounter with the women from Seattle, Salinger effectively uses juxtaposition to show Jane’s role in Holden’s mind. Although the reader is never formally introduced to Jane in the novel, Holden mentions her numerous times. In the novel, Jane acts as an anchor for Holden. Her existence is praised as uncorrupted and heavenly, in comparison to Holden’s view of the women from Seattle, who are old, phony, and unintelligent. In addition, Salinger cleverly illustrates the workings of human nature by placing Jane Gallagher’s exposition immediately after Holden’s encounter with the women from Seattle: people will always desire what they don’t have. In Holden's case, even though he had the company of three women, he did not bother to get to know them more because of his romanticization of Jane. Jane is Holden’s first crush, someone he never gets over. Holden’s various interactions with women in these chapters further illustrate this point, as Jane is constantly used as a point of comparison for the women he meets. Additionally, Holden’s romanticization of Jane highlights his unrealistic worldview. Jane’s innocence and purity are something Holden never gets over and serve as a rubric for every woman he meets thereafter. Regardless, Holden’s unreasonable expectations set him up for disappointment and contribute to his resentment of society. Holden lacks self-awareness, blaming others for the fact that they fail to live up to what he holds to be a pure, uncorrupted individual and attributes their phoniness to unrelated characteristics, such as their sexuality. Due to Holden’s unreasonable expectations, showcased through Jane Gallagher’s exposition following his encounter with the Seattle women, Salinger further progresses the characterization of Holden and the overall theme of the novel as the reader advances on his journey of self-discovery.

Holden’s conversation with Horwitz is comical to reflect his young age and naivety. In Holden’s eyes, his inquiry about the ducks by the lagoon in Central Park is comparatively normal. However, because Horwitz is so conditioned to act by the boundaries of what is deemed socially acceptable, he is opposed to answering questions that challenge his way of thinking and contradict previous notions of his worldview. In this way, the strangeness of their conversation and Horwitz’s exasperated response to Holden’s question is extremely comical. Horwitz even goes further than needed in his answer, expanding on the notion that the ducks and fish conform to the same rules in the lake. Moreover, by introducing humor at this point in the story, Salinger lightens the mood and balances the atmosphere of the novel. At this point in the story’s timeline, only dark humor has ever been utilized to change the intense setting, such as Ackley’s reaction to Holden’s bruises. As such, Holden’s conversation with Horwitz serves as a much-needed intermission from the typical dark elements of this novel, such as prostitution, depression, and suicide. Through this, Salinger is able to generate a more realistic illustration of Holden’s world and helps progress the novel to its climax. Holden’s conversation with Horwitz is a resting period. It helps pace the novel and creates a smoother transition to the darker experiences Holden faces in the latter portion of the story. Additionally, this conversation serves as a way for the reader to gain a deeper understanding of Holden's immaturity and the importance of the ducks in his characterization.

Holden’s view of women is very linear. To Holden, women are either very promiscuous and corrupted, like Sunny’s career as a prostitute, or chaste and innocent, like Phoebe. However, Sunny’s childlike characteristics contradict her profession, contributing to Holden’s psychological turmoil surrounding his worldview. Sunny is very young and still retains habits that reflect her teenage age. For instance, Sunny’s youthful appearance as well as her nonsmoking habits are a representation of the corruption she faced, as they directly contrast her line of work. Holden evidently is extremely depressed about Sunny’s degradation, struggling with the juxtaposing social ideas of what she represents. Holden often views women who display themselves more sexually as objects rather than people, justifying his views of them as a result of their subpar intelligence and phonies. Conversely, not only does Sunny display evident intelligence and have the childlike innocence that Holden so strives to protect in others, but she is also a prostitute.  Sunny’s intelligence and career make Holden uncomfortable. As a result, he is unable to bed with her. Holden feels respect towards women with intelligence, and due to Sunny’s contradictory character, Holden is unable to have intercourse with her as a result of his psychological afflictions. Furthermore, Holden’s inability to accept her contradicting existence is ironic. While Holden despises phony people and constantly calls out the people around him as fake, in his interaction with Sunny, Holden clearly depicts the same characteristics he so hates. By blowing Sunny off and confusing her on what he wants, when he was the one who hired her, Holden highlights the irony of his character.

Salinger follows Holden’s encounter with Sunny and Maurice with his encounter with the two nuns to show juxtaposition in Holden’s worldview and interactions. Holden is extremely bothered by the nuns’ suitcases because their appearance signifies the nuns’ poor financial status. As a result of Holden’s past experiences with a roommate who had poorer items, suitcase included, Holden feels biased towards those who are worse off than him. Holden is uncomfortable around people who have less money than him, feeling a sense of responsibility over the conveyance of their financial well-being. Further, by adding his encounter with Sunny and Maurice right after his experience with the two nuns, Salinger shows Holden’s problem with not knowing how to handle his money. With the nuns, Holden was extremely gracious in providing them with a sum of ten dollars. Similarly, Holden did not think twice about agreeing to spend a night with a prostitute, even if he did particularly want to, he was still willing to pay a sum of 5 dollars. Holden constantly attempts to separate himself from his money and dislikes associating himself with wealth. Holden’s aversion to money contributes to his characterization and conveys his hatred for mainstream culture and his disgust for conformity. Likewise, Holden’s issue with the nuns’ suitcases also emphasizes his God complex. In the novel, Holden views himself as a protector of the weak. This is illustrated in his interactions with the nuns and his roommate. Holden feels as though he has an advantage over them. As such, he feels responsible for their well-being. Holden’s obvious dislike of phoniness, as well as his God complex, is thus translated by his encounter with the nuns followed by his interactions with Sunny and Maurice.