Adventures in Literature: The Catcher in the Rye, Chapters 4 & 5

Chapter 4

      Holden trails Stradlater to the bathroom as Stradlater preps for a date. Stradlater is in love with himself, and at this point we've had a few references to Holden agreeing. A bromance, perhaps? Stradlater gets Holden to vaguely commit to doing his English homework for him while he's out with his lady friend. We learn that Stradlater's date is one Jane Gallagher, who used to be a neighbor of Holden's. This chapter could be subtitled "Everyone's Vaguely In Love With Each Other" because it looks like Holden is harboring some feelings for Jane. Stradlater, ever the lunkhead, can't even keep her name straight. "Not Remembering My Name" is definitely an item on my personal Oh-No-No list, but Jane is either unaware of this or less picky than I am. Oh well. Holden feels too awkward about the situation to go say hello to Jane, so he makes Stradlater promise not to tell her that he's been kicked out of school. 

      A noteworthy part of this chapter is Holden's hat, of all things. It's a red hunting cap, purchased that morning in New York. Ackley and Stradlater have both remarked about it at this point in the story, and I bet it's a symbol for something. I haven't a guess as to what, but hopefully that will soon become clear. If this is not the case, Salinger is really into discussing this hat and it's getting a bit bizarre.

Chapter 5

      It's Saturday night at Pencey Prep. Holden is getting a little stir-crazy, so he recruits his pal Mal Brossard into taking the bus into Agerstown with him. Their wild night on the town consists of eating hamburgers, playing pinball, and then returning to their dorms early. That is my kind of party.

      Back in his room, Holden gets to work on Stradlater's English composition, writing about his brother's baseball mitt. This turns into quite the scene of exposition for the readers, as we learn Holden used to have a younger brother. Allie was two years younger than him and fifty times as intelligent, but he died of leukemia. Ouch. File that under "Maybe There Are Good Reasons For Holden To Be Cynical About Everything."