Summary: Chapter 1
Holden Caulfield writes his story from a rest home to which he has been sent for therapy. He
refuses to talk about his early life, mentioning only that his brother D. B. is a Hollywood
writer. He hints that he is bitter because D. B. has sold out to Hollywood, forsaking a career
in serious literature for the wealth and fame of the movies. He then begins to tell the story of
his breakdown, beginning with his departure from Pencey Prep, a famous school he
attended in Agerstown, Pennsylvania.
Holden’s career at Pencey Prep has been marred by his refusal to apply himself, and after
failing four of his five subjects—he passed only English—he has been forbidden to return to
the school after the fall term. The Saturday before Christmas vacation begins, Holden stands
on Thomsen Hill overlooking the football field, where Pencey plays its annual grudge match
against Saxon Hall. Holden has no interest in the game and hadn’t planned to watch it at all.
He is the manager of the school’s fencing team and is supposed to be in New York for a
meet, but he lost the team’s equipment on the subway, forcing everyone to return early.
Holden is full of contempt for the prep school, but he looks for a way to “say goodbye” to it.
He fondly remembers throwing a football with friends even after it grew dark outside. Holden
walks away from the game to go say goodbye to Mr. Spencer, a former history teacher who
is very old and ill with the flu. He sprints to Spencer’s house, but since he is a heavy smoker,
he has to stop to catch his breath at the main gate. At the door, Spencer’s wife greets
Holden warmly, and he goes in to see his teacher.
Summary: Chapter 2
Holden greets Mr. Spencer and his wife in a manner that suggests he is close to them. He is
put off by his teacher’s rather decrepit condition but seems otherwise to respect him. In his
sickroom, Spencer tries to lecture Holden about his academic failures. He confirms Pencey’s
headmaster’s assertion that “[l]ife is a game” and tells Holden that he must learn to play by
the rules. Although Spencer clearly feels affection for Holden, he bluntly reminds the boy that
he flunked him, and he even forces Holden to listen to the terrible essay he handed in about
the ancient Egyptians. Finally, Spencer tries to convince Holden to think about his future. Not
wanting to be lectured, Holden interrupts Spencer and leaves, returning to his dorm room
before dinner.
,Holden lives in Ossenburger Hall, which is named after a wealthy Pencey graduate who
made a fortune in the discount funeral home business. In his room, Holden sits and reads
Isak Dinesen’s Out of Africa while wearing his new hunting hat, a flamboyant red cap with a
long peaked brim and earflaps. He is interrupted by Ackley, a pimply student who lives next
door. According to Holden, Ackley is a supremely irritating classmate who constantly barges
into the room, exhibits disgusting personal habits and poor hygiene, and always acts as if
he’s doing others a favor by spending time with them. Ackley does not seem to have many
friends. He prevents Holden from reading by puttering around the room and pestering him
with annoying questions. Ackley further aggravates Holden by cutting his fingernails on the
floor, despite Holden’s repeated requests that he stop. He refuses to take Holden’s hints that
he ought to leave. When Holden’s handsome and popular roommate, Stradlater, enters,
Ackley, who hates Stradlater, quickly returns to his own room. Stradlater mentions that he
has a date waiting for him but wants to shave.
Summary: Chapter 4
Holden goes to the bathroom with Stradlater and talks to him while he shaves. Holden
contrasts Stradlater’s personal habits with Ackley’s: whereas Ackley is ugly and has poor
dental hygiene, Stradlater is outwardly attractive but does not keep his razor or other
toiletries clean. He decides that while Ackley is an obvious slob, Stradlater is a “secret slob.”
The two joke around, then Stradlater asks Holden to write an English composition for him
because his date won’t leave him with time to do it on his own. Holden asks about the date
and learns that Stradlater is taking out a girl Holden knows, Jane Gallagher. (Stradlater
carelessly calls her “Jean.”) Holden clearly has strong feelings for Jane and remembers her
vividly. He tells Stradlater that when she played checkers, she used to keep all of her kings
in the back row because she liked the way they looked there. Stradlater is uninterested.
Holden is displeased that Stradlater, one of the few sexually experienced boys at Pencey, is
taking Jane on a date. He wants to say hello to her while she waits for Stradlater, but
decides he isn’t in the mood. Before he leaves for his date, Stradlater borrows Holden’s
hound’s-tooth jacket. After Stradlater leaves, Holden is tormented by thoughts of Jane and
, Stradlater. Ackley barges in again and sits in Holden’s room, squeezing pimples until
dinnertime.
Summary: Chapter 5
After a dry and unappetizing steak dinner in the dining hall, Holden gets into a snowball fight
with some of the other Pencey boys. He and his friend Mal Brossard decide to take a bus
into Agerstown to see a movie—though Holden hates movies—and Holden convinces Mal to
let Ackley go with them. As it turns out, Ackley and Brossard have already seen the film, so
the trio simply eats some burgers, plays a little pinball, and heads back to Pencey.
After the excursion, Mal goes off to look for a bridge game, and Ackley sits on Holden’s bed
squeezing pimples and concocting stories about a girl he claims to have had sex with the
summer before. Holden finally gets him to leave by beginning to work on the English
assignment for Stradlater. Stradlater had said the composition was supposed to be a simple
description of a room, a house, or something similarly straightforward. But Holden cannot
think of anything to say about a house or a room, so he writes about a baseball glove that
his brother Allie used to copy poems onto in green ink. Several years before, Allie died of
leukemia. Though he was two years younger than Holden, Holden says that Allie was the
most intelligent member of his family. He also says that Allie was an incredibly nice, innocent
child. Holden clearly still feels Allie’s loss strongly. He gives a brief description of Allie,
mentioning his bright red hair. He also recounts that the night Allie died, he slept in the
garage and broke all the windows with his bare hands. After he finishes the composition for
Stradlater, he stares out the window and listens to Ackley snore in the next room.
Summary: Chapter 6
Home from his date, Stradlater barges into the room. He reads Holden’s composition and
becomes visibly annoyed, asserting that it has nothing to do with the assignment and that it’s
no wonder Holden is being expelled. Holden tears the composition up and throws it away
angrily. Afterward, he smokes a cigarette in the room just to annoy Stradlater. The tension
between the two increases when Holden asks Stradlater about his date with Jane. When
Stradlater nonchalantly refuses to tell Holden any of the details, Holden attacks him, but
Holden Caulfield writes his story from a rest home to which he has been sent for therapy. He
refuses to talk about his early life, mentioning only that his brother D. B. is a Hollywood
writer. He hints that he is bitter because D. B. has sold out to Hollywood, forsaking a career
in serious literature for the wealth and fame of the movies. He then begins to tell the story of
his breakdown, beginning with his departure from Pencey Prep, a famous school he
attended in Agerstown, Pennsylvania.
Holden’s career at Pencey Prep has been marred by his refusal to apply himself, and after
failing four of his five subjects—he passed only English—he has been forbidden to return to
the school after the fall term. The Saturday before Christmas vacation begins, Holden stands
on Thomsen Hill overlooking the football field, where Pencey plays its annual grudge match
against Saxon Hall. Holden has no interest in the game and hadn’t planned to watch it at all.
He is the manager of the school’s fencing team and is supposed to be in New York for a
meet, but he lost the team’s equipment on the subway, forcing everyone to return early.
Holden is full of contempt for the prep school, but he looks for a way to “say goodbye” to it.
He fondly remembers throwing a football with friends even after it grew dark outside. Holden
walks away from the game to go say goodbye to Mr. Spencer, a former history teacher who
is very old and ill with the flu. He sprints to Spencer’s house, but since he is a heavy smoker,
he has to stop to catch his breath at the main gate. At the door, Spencer’s wife greets
Holden warmly, and he goes in to see his teacher.
Summary: Chapter 2
Holden greets Mr. Spencer and his wife in a manner that suggests he is close to them. He is
put off by his teacher’s rather decrepit condition but seems otherwise to respect him. In his
sickroom, Spencer tries to lecture Holden about his academic failures. He confirms Pencey’s
headmaster’s assertion that “[l]ife is a game” and tells Holden that he must learn to play by
the rules. Although Spencer clearly feels affection for Holden, he bluntly reminds the boy that
he flunked him, and he even forces Holden to listen to the terrible essay he handed in about
the ancient Egyptians. Finally, Spencer tries to convince Holden to think about his future. Not
wanting to be lectured, Holden interrupts Spencer and leaves, returning to his dorm room
before dinner.
,Holden lives in Ossenburger Hall, which is named after a wealthy Pencey graduate who
made a fortune in the discount funeral home business. In his room, Holden sits and reads
Isak Dinesen’s Out of Africa while wearing his new hunting hat, a flamboyant red cap with a
long peaked brim and earflaps. He is interrupted by Ackley, a pimply student who lives next
door. According to Holden, Ackley is a supremely irritating classmate who constantly barges
into the room, exhibits disgusting personal habits and poor hygiene, and always acts as if
he’s doing others a favor by spending time with them. Ackley does not seem to have many
friends. He prevents Holden from reading by puttering around the room and pestering him
with annoying questions. Ackley further aggravates Holden by cutting his fingernails on the
floor, despite Holden’s repeated requests that he stop. He refuses to take Holden’s hints that
he ought to leave. When Holden’s handsome and popular roommate, Stradlater, enters,
Ackley, who hates Stradlater, quickly returns to his own room. Stradlater mentions that he
has a date waiting for him but wants to shave.
Summary: Chapter 4
Holden goes to the bathroom with Stradlater and talks to him while he shaves. Holden
contrasts Stradlater’s personal habits with Ackley’s: whereas Ackley is ugly and has poor
dental hygiene, Stradlater is outwardly attractive but does not keep his razor or other
toiletries clean. He decides that while Ackley is an obvious slob, Stradlater is a “secret slob.”
The two joke around, then Stradlater asks Holden to write an English composition for him
because his date won’t leave him with time to do it on his own. Holden asks about the date
and learns that Stradlater is taking out a girl Holden knows, Jane Gallagher. (Stradlater
carelessly calls her “Jean.”) Holden clearly has strong feelings for Jane and remembers her
vividly. He tells Stradlater that when she played checkers, she used to keep all of her kings
in the back row because she liked the way they looked there. Stradlater is uninterested.
Holden is displeased that Stradlater, one of the few sexually experienced boys at Pencey, is
taking Jane on a date. He wants to say hello to her while she waits for Stradlater, but
decides he isn’t in the mood. Before he leaves for his date, Stradlater borrows Holden’s
hound’s-tooth jacket. After Stradlater leaves, Holden is tormented by thoughts of Jane and
, Stradlater. Ackley barges in again and sits in Holden’s room, squeezing pimples until
dinnertime.
Summary: Chapter 5
After a dry and unappetizing steak dinner in the dining hall, Holden gets into a snowball fight
with some of the other Pencey boys. He and his friend Mal Brossard decide to take a bus
into Agerstown to see a movie—though Holden hates movies—and Holden convinces Mal to
let Ackley go with them. As it turns out, Ackley and Brossard have already seen the film, so
the trio simply eats some burgers, plays a little pinball, and heads back to Pencey.
After the excursion, Mal goes off to look for a bridge game, and Ackley sits on Holden’s bed
squeezing pimples and concocting stories about a girl he claims to have had sex with the
summer before. Holden finally gets him to leave by beginning to work on the English
assignment for Stradlater. Stradlater had said the composition was supposed to be a simple
description of a room, a house, or something similarly straightforward. But Holden cannot
think of anything to say about a house or a room, so he writes about a baseball glove that
his brother Allie used to copy poems onto in green ink. Several years before, Allie died of
leukemia. Though he was two years younger than Holden, Holden says that Allie was the
most intelligent member of his family. He also says that Allie was an incredibly nice, innocent
child. Holden clearly still feels Allie’s loss strongly. He gives a brief description of Allie,
mentioning his bright red hair. He also recounts that the night Allie died, he slept in the
garage and broke all the windows with his bare hands. After he finishes the composition for
Stradlater, he stares out the window and listens to Ackley snore in the next room.
Summary: Chapter 6
Home from his date, Stradlater barges into the room. He reads Holden’s composition and
becomes visibly annoyed, asserting that it has nothing to do with the assignment and that it’s
no wonder Holden is being expelled. Holden tears the composition up and throws it away
angrily. Afterward, he smokes a cigarette in the room just to annoy Stradlater. The tension
between the two increases when Holden asks Stradlater about his date with Jane. When
Stradlater nonchalantly refuses to tell Holden any of the details, Holden attacks him, but
