The Catcher in the Rye - Reference Guides
Document Summary
Background: holden caulfield, a 16-year-old new yorker, is telling a psychoanalyst in. The quest: at first, it is a search for absolutes (i. e. , something is either phony or authentic, various minor characters: Mr. spencer, robert ackley: establishment of themes. Chapters 9-25: take place on the way to and in. Chapter 26: acts as an epilogue (four paragraphs long); it indicates that. Chapters 1-8: describe holden"s departure from (and feelings about) pencey prep. Holden, allie (younger brother who died of leukemia in 1946), ward. Innocence & authenticity: holden"s quest for truth involves an active search for innocence, if his quest for truth fails, then he will not be a fulfilled person (ch. 10, 21: also present in more transitory meetings, as found in the scene with the nuns (ch. 15: he wants to be the catcher in the rye (i. e. , to save children who play too close to the edge of the cliff) (ch.