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Question: Question about 'The Catcher in the Rye'!?
In the book, 'The Catcher in the Rye', what is the importance of, and what are Holden's feelings/mood at the following locations:

> Pencey Prep
> Central park
> Mr Antolini's house

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Best Answer - Chosen by Asker:
Mr!. Antolini

Mr!. Antolini is the adult who comes closest to reaching Holden!. He manages to avoid alienating Holden, and being labeled a “phony,” because he doesn't behave conventionally!. He doesn't speak to Holden in the persona of a teacher or authority figure, as Mr!. Spencer does!. He doesn't object to Holden's calling him in the middle of the night or to Holden's being drunk or smoking!. Moreover, by opening his door to Holden on the spur of the moment, he shows no reservations about exposing his private self, with his messy apartment, his older wife with her hair in curlers, and his own heavy drinking!.

Mr!. Antolini's advice to Holden about why he should apply himself to his studies is also unconventional!. He recognizes that Holden is different from other students, and he validates Holden's suffering and confusion by suggesting that one day they may be worth writing about!. He represents education not as a path of conformity but as a means for Holden to develop his unique voice and to find the ideas that are most appropriate to him!.

When Mr!. Antolini touches Holden's forehead as he sleeps, he may overstep a boundary in his display of concern and affection!. However, there is little evidence to suggest that he is making a sexual overture, as Holden thinks, and much evidence that Holden misinterprets his action!. Holden indicates in Chapter 19 that he is extremely nervous around possible homosexuals and that he worries about suddenly becoming one!. We also know that he has been thinking about sex constantly since leaving Pencey!. Finally, this is not the only scene in which Holden recoils from a physical approach!. He is made very uncomfortable when Sunny pulls off her dress and sits in his lap!. Even when his beloved sister puts her arms around him, he remarks that she may be a little too affectionate sometimes!.

Holden regrets his hasty judgment of Mr!. Antolini, but this mistake is very important to him, because he finally starts to question his own practice of making snap judgments about people!. Holden realizes that even if Mr!. Antolini is gay, he can't simply be dismissed as a “flit,” since he has also been kind and generous!. Holden begins to acknowledge that Mr!. Antolini is complex and that he has feelings!.


Pencey Prep
Holden's career at Pencey Prep has been marred by his refusal to apply himself, and after failing four of his five subjects—he passed only English—he has been forbidden to return to the school after the fall term!. The Saturday before Christmas vacation begins, Holden stands on Thomsen Hill overlooking the football field, where Pencey plays its annual grudge match against Saxon Hall!. Holden has no interest in the game and hadn't planned to watch it at all!. He is the manager of the school's fencing team and is supposed to be in New York for a meet, but he lost the team's equipment on the subway, forcing everyone to return early!.

Holden is full of contempt for the prep school, but he looks for a way to “say goodbye” to it!.



Central Park
The Ducks in the Central Park Lagoon

Holden's curiosity about where the ducks go during the winter reveals a genuine, more youthful side to his character!. For most of the book, he sounds like a grumpy old man who is angry at the world, but his search for the ducks represents the curiosity of youth and a joyful willingness to encounter the mysteries of the world!. It is a memorable moment, because Holden clearly lacks such willingness in other aspects of his life!.

The ducks and their pond are symbolic in several ways!. Their mysterious perseverance in the face of an inhospitable environment resonates with Holden's understanding of his own situation!. In addition, the ducks prove that some vanishings are only temporary!. Traumatized and made acutely aware of the fragility of life by his brother Allie's death, Holden is terrified by the idea of change and disappearance!. The ducks vanish every winter, but they return every spring, thus symbolizing change that isn't permanent, but cyclical!. Finally, the pond itself becomes a minor metaphor for the world as Holden sees it, because it is “partly frozen and partly not frozen!.” The pond is in transition between two states, just as Holden is in transition between childhood and adulthood!.
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