Catcher in the Rye Summary

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Summary: The book centers around the events in the life of the narrator, a 15 year-old teenager named Holden Caulfield, a few days between the end of the school term and just before the break for Christmas. The book begins on a Saturday, the end of classes at the Pencey prep school in Agerstown, Pennsylvania. Holden has just come to know that, due to failing four out of his five classes, he is being expelled from the school but is not scheduled to leave for home till Wednesday. After an altercation in his dormitory with his roommate, who is dating the girl Holden still likes, he leaves early for Manhattan and decides not to inform his parents that he's back three days early. He goes to New York and stays in the Edmont hotel where he observes all sorts of people. Being free from any sort of restriction, he decides to take advantage of it and attempts to engage in sexual experiences which do not go off very well. Feeling lonely and alone in the big city, he contacts old acquaintances and meets with his former English teacher Mr Antolini, who advises him on his choice of philosophy and the much memorable lines: the wise man seeks to live on for a cause rather than die heroically for it. At last, he finds his way to the only person whom he thinks understands him: his younger sister Phoebe. Together they discuss plans for the future and Holden's dream: to be a 'Catcher in the Rye' and how to fulfill

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