The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger

It is too late to get a taxi in Agerstown so Holden walks to the train station. He lowers the earflaps on his hunting cap to protect against the cold. En route to New York City, he is joined at Trenton by an attractive woman who turns out to be the mother of a classmate, Ernest Morrow. Holden introduces himself as Rudolf Schmidt, actually the name of the custodian at his dorm, and invents several flattering stories about the woman’s son, “Old Ernie.” When Mrs. Morrow asks why he’s leaving school before the end of the semester, he tells her that he has to return home because he has a brain tumor and that he must have surgery.

When he arrives at New York’s Penn Station, Holden considers telephoning several people but ends up calling no one. He takes a cab to the Edmont Hotel where he observes unusual happenings from the window of his shabby room. His phone call to Miss Faith Cavendish, a young lady whose sexual reputation precedes her, ends without any plans to meet.

Commentary

As he begins the train ride to New York, Holden makes one of his many observations on “phony” art and literature. This time the target is the kind of slick magazine that features stories of romance or adventure, with girls named Linda or Marcia lighting pipes for guys named David. Sometimes, he confesses, he can actually read such tripe without puking, but not tonight. He puts his hunting cap in his pocket and just sits there until a lady boards at Trenton, choosing the front seat next to his because she is carrying a large bag.

Mrs. Morrow is the mother of Ernest, whom Holden immediately recognizes as “doubtless the biggest bastard that ever went to Pencey.” Ernie is the kind of jerk who enjoys snapping his soggy towel at the other boys’ butts. He really likes hurting people, and Holden suspects that Ernie will continue to be a “rat” for the rest of his life. Although he despises her son, that is not what Holden tells Mrs. Morrow, who sees her son as a “sensitive” boy who perhaps takes life too seriously.

Holden has warned us that he loves to lie. He confirms that on the ride to Penn Station. First, he introduces himself to Mrs. Morrow as Rudolf Schmidt, using the name of his dorm’s janitor. Then he describes her son to Mrs. Morrow in glowing, grown-up terms. Old Ernie “adapts” very well, something that anyone who has been away at school will recognize as a universal adult virtue. Her son is a complex guy, according to Holden, the sort of fellow who is a little difficult to get to know at first but only because he is an original, one of a kind. Ernie is enormously “popular,” another adult virtue that most of us fail to achieve. He should have been president of the class but is so modest that he refused to accept the nomination and run for office. Holden understands how mothers love to hear good things about their sons and wonders if Mrs. Morrow will always think of Ernie as the shy fellow who refused his class’ nomination, even as the despicable boy becomes a despicable man.

Critics disagree about Holden’s motivation. In The Catcher in the Rye: Innocence Under Pressure (published by Simon & Schuster), Sanford Pinsker appreciates the humor of the encounter but sees “disguised hostility” in Holden. Is Caulfield mean-spirited here, or is he merely trying to make Mrs. Morrow feel good? We know that Holden can be cruel, as evidenced, for example, by his fascination with Ackley’s physical shortcomings (his problems with acne, his round-shouldered homeliness). On the surface, Holden seems to be kind to Mrs. Morrow, telling us that he likes her. We might fast forward, however, to the conversation that soon may take place between Mrs. Morrow and Ernest. She most likely will learn that Rudolf Schmidt is the janitor, and she will know that she has been tricked by the boy she met on the train. Is Holden sufficiently aware to realize this, or is he just careless?

Because of his situation and his view of the world, Holden is lonely. When he arrives at Penn Station, he enters a phone booth to call someone but can’t think of anyone he can reach out to at that time of night. (It must be well after l:00 a.m.) He takes a cab to the Edmont Hotel but initially and, it seems, inadvertently, gives the driver his parents’ address. Psychoanalytical critics jump on this as a Freudian slip (a mistake made in speaking, by which, it is thought, a person inadvertently reveals unconscious motives or desires) that reveals Holden’s subconscious yearning for home. That may be. Or it could be just what he says it is: habit.

At the Edmont, Holden is assigned to a “very crumby” room with a view of nothing but the other side of the hotel. The view, however, proves somewhat interesting. In one room is a transvestite, a distinguished-looking older gentleman enjoying himself as he dons silk stockings, high heels, a bra, a corset, and a black evening dress. In another, a couple laughingly spits some kind of liquid—perhaps water or alcohol—all over each other. Although Holden decides that the hotel is filled with “perverts,” he likes to watch. He is concerned about his own sexuality and confesses that he has certain yearnings but doesn’t understand sex very well. Like many young people, he has made rules (apparently of limitation or abstinence) for himself but usually breaks them, sometimes soon after they are made.

Having been reminded of sex, Holden recalls that a Princeton student gave him the number of a girl in New York who reportedly is very friendly and, though not a prostitute, is casual sexually. Holden calls Miss Faith Cavendish, probably waking her up, and fails to convince her that she should see him that night. She does offer to meet him the next day, but Holden declines and ends the conversation; he immediately regrets the lost opportunity—a terribly lame attempt at intimacy.

Glossary