The Catcher in the Rye: Chapters 1 and 2
Summary
* Holden Caulfield, tells this story from his point of view, and he starts it off by telling us where he goes to school and his brother, D.B. * Pencey Prep is the school that Holden goes to, but he is kicked out because he failed 4 subjects. * There’s a big football game going on, but instead, he goes to Mr. Spencer’s house, his former history teacher, to say goodbye because Holden is kicked out of school again. * Mr. Spencer gives Holden a lecture about life and he tries to convince Holden to think about his future
Important Quotations
* “Life is a game, boy. Life is a game that one plays according to the rules.” (pg. 8). Mr. Spencer tells Holden this when he lectures him about life and his future. I think this is an important quote because we learn that Holden does not like adults, which is shown when he silently curses Mr. Spencer. He feels that it’s unfair because there are the “hot shots” which makes the “game” unfair, but he just feels alienated and lonely.
* “I forgot to tell you about that. They kicked me out. I wasn’t supposed to come back after Christmas vacation, on account of I was flunking four subjects and not applying myself and all.” (pg. 4) This shows that Holden is not very good at school, and he is flunking 4 subjects. He goes to a school with a good academic rating, but he does not have a very god academic mark. One of the reasons is that Holden thinks school is boring and everyone there is weird and he doesn’t get along with them.
* “Anyway, it was the Saturday of the football game with Saxon Hall…You could see the whole field from there, and you could see the two teams bashing each other all over the place.” (pg.2). This shows that Holden is shafted, isolated from the others because instead of being down there at the game watching it with the rest of the others, he stands on a hill watching them from a distance. He doesn’t seem to be like a social type of person and he is very alone.
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