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Holden Caulfield Uncertainty

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The Catcher in the Rye, a fictional story written by J.D. Salinger, is about a 16-year-old boy named Holden Caulfield. Holden is narrating the story from a hospital. He has just been informed that he is being expelled from his school Pencey Prep for failing most of his classes, the fourth time this has happened to him. When he goes back to his room he gets in a fight with his roommate Stradlater because he his going out with his ex girlfriend Jane. After seeing this, he decides that it is time to leave Pency and go home to New York, but because he is a few days early, he stays in a hotel rather than going home to see his parents. He doesn’t have much remorse about leaving because he never made any good friends at the school. Holden reveals …show more content…

However, he brings Allie’s baseball glove everywhere with him, as it is a constant reminder of his younger brother. During two cab rides in Holden’s time in New York, he asks the drivers where they think the ducks go when the pond freezes over, symbolizing his own life and what people do when they are faced with uncertainty. At one of the hotels, Holden is confronted by the elevator operator asking him if he would like a prostitute to come up to his room. He accepts, but when she (Sunny) arrives, he ultimately decides that he is not interested and pays her $5 to leave, but soon after is confronted by Sunny and Maurice the elevator and after physical contact, they are able to get the other half of the money out of his wallet. After sneaking into his house to see his sister Phoebe, Holden goes to visit one of his former teachers, Mr. Antolini, where the former teacher tells him that he is worried about him and the direction that his life is headed because of his inability to face challenges and deal with life’s problems. Holden ends up sleeping the night there, but leaves in the middle of the night after being uncomfortably witnessing the teacher touch his head. Holden then plans to move out west where he can live out his life and never be

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