Catcher In The Rye Timeline

Whitney Brumley

Christine Baik

Rachel Ko

Amy McElroy

Saturday Afternoon

3 p.m. 4 p.m. 5 p.m.2 p.m.1 p.m.

•Fencing equipment goes missing

Thomsen Hill

Mr. Spencer

Meet Ackley

Meet Stradlater

Earlier in the day, New York

"I was the goddam manager of the fencing team. Very big deal" (3).

His sarcasm conveys his apathy about the fencing team and even about his schoolwork. He does not care about his responsibilities to both the fencing team and Pencey Prep.

3:00, Thomsen Hill

"...you were supposed to commit suicide or something if old Pencey didn't win" (2).

Holden's depressed state of mind is shown in this sentence when he mentions suicide, which he treats facetiously. Committing suicide is something that most people don't consider, but Holden's passing thoughts about suicide may suggest that he has depressing thoughts.

A little after 3:00

Mr. Spencer's, Anthony Wayne Avenue

"All of a sudden then, I wanted to get the hell out of the room" (10).

Holden is very moody and somewhat bipolar. He constantly changes his mind about things, proposes crazy getaway schemes, and contradicts himself often. He didn't mind visiting Mr. Spencer's until Holden thought he was going to be lectured.

Later, Pencey Prep, Holden's room

"'Stop calling me 'Ackley kid,' God damn it'" (25).

Holden Caufield has a condescending and slightly sadistic attitude sometimes. He likes to push people's buttons and does not think much about the consequences.

Robert Ackley is the type of boy that likes to build himself up to be more that what he is, which is why Holden's condescending name of "Ackley kid" is not appreciated.

Halfway through the game

Pencey Prep, the restroom

"Suspense is good for some bastards like Stradlater" (28).

Not only is Holden's sadistic tendencies evidently at work, Holden also contradicts himself and changes his mind about Stradlater.

Earlier, he had defended Stradlater against Ackley and mentioned the decent kind of things Stradlater did. Now, Holden has decided that Stradlater is a "bastard" and continues to think negatively about Stradlater.

Saturday Night

9 p.m. 10 p.m. 11 p.m. 12 p.m.

Holden’s Room

Holden’s Room

Ackley’s Room

9:30 pm, Holden’s Room

Pencey Prep, Holden's room

"I slept in the garage the night he died, and I broke the goddam windows with my fist, just for the hell of it" (39).

Holden is very depressed and angry about his brother, Allie's, death. Though his anger is more apparent the night of Allie's death through his violent actions, Holden's negativity still exists in his vulgar words and violent and depressing thoughts.

11:00(ish)

Pencey Prep, Holden's room

"'You don't do one damn thing the way you're supposed to'" (41).

Holden does not like to do things the way he is supposed to. He enjoys being different.

His nonconformity is one of the major themes of the novel and his composition about Allie's mitt, which was supposed to be of a room, is an example of his nonconformity.

11:30(ish)

Pencey Prep, Ackley's room

"'What's the routine on joining a monastery?'" (50).

Holden is extremely impulsive. He considers very outrageous schemes that involve running away and starting a new life that does not involve schoolwork. Later in the book, he considers another scheme involving running away with Sally.

Late Saturday Night

12 p.m. 1 a.m. 2 a.m. 3 a.m. 4 a.m.

Leaves Pencey Meets

Mrs. Morrow

Ask Cabbie about ducks

Lavender Room

Sunny

Leaves Pencey

Holden decides to leave Pencey early

Before he goes he sells his typewriter and takes the money he has gotten from his grandmother

“Sleep tight ya morons!” (52).

He yells this as he is walking out the front doors

Boards Train

He boards the train to New York and meets Mrs. Morrow who is Earnest mother

“He adapts himself very well to things. He really does mean he knows how to adapt himself” (55).

Holden lies to her about her son because he feels bad

Ducks in Central Park

Once in New York, Holden ask his cab driver if he knew where the duck in Central Park went

“By any chance, do you happen to know where they go, the ducks, when it gets frozen over?” (60).

Holden is thinking of those who are innocent and cant help but wonder what they do

Lavender Room

Holden goes to the Lavender Room and meets Marty, Laverne and Bernice

“I danced with them all- the whole three of them” (73).

He dances with them because he feels sorry for how stupid they are and because he doesn’t have anything to do

Sunny the Prostitute

He had a prostitute come to his room after the elevator guy ask if he wants one for $5 dollars

They both come back and demand more money saying that it was $10 and that’s what he was told

“’Who’s hurtin’ anybody?’ he said, innocent as hell” (101).

This annoys Holden because he was the one who got hurt.

Meeting the Nuns

Holden goes into a sandwich bar to have his Swiss cheese sandwich and a malted milk and he sits next to two nuns.

They talk about the book Romeo and Juliet

“They let me give them 10-bucks for a contribution” (110).

Holden presses the money to them and thinks about all those who stand on street corners trying to get money.

Sunday

12 p.m. 1 p.m. 2 p.m. 3 p.m. 4 p.m.

Purchases “Little Shirley Beans”

Holden looks for Phoebe

Meets with Sally

Talks about running away

Meets Nuns

Noon

Holden leaves the sandwich bar and walks down Broadway. There, he encounters a father, mother, and little boy walking down the street. The little boy is singing "If a body catch a body coming through the rye". (abt. noon)

Stops into a record store and buys recording of "Little Shirley Beans" for Phoebe.

Goes to the theater and buys two tickets for the play "I Know My Love" for his date with Sally Hayes.

Travels to Central park to see if Phoebe is there.

12:45(ish) - 1:30(ish)

Still looking for Phoebe, Holden walks across the park to the Museum of Natural History. He decides not to go into the museum.

"If Phoebe had been there, I probably would have, but she wasn't" (Salinger 122).

This is when he is looking for Phoebe and decides to go to the museum but decide not to because she wasn’t there.

Holden takes a taxi to the Biltmore and meets Sally Hayes.

2:00pm

Holden goes to Biltmore Hotel to meet Sally, who is late, arriving at 2:10 pm

They go to the theater to see the play which is starring the Lunts. During intermission Sally meets an old friend, George “something.”

After the play, Sally and Holden go ice skating at Rockefeller Center. They have an argument over different sodas.

4:00(ish)

Holden begins to rant about “phonies” and how he and Sally should run away together, leaves without Sally. 

"You never saw so many phonies in all your life, everybody smoking their ears off and talking about the play so that everybody could hear and know how sharp they were" (Salinger 126).

Sunday Evening

5 p.m. 6 p.m. 7 p.m. 8 p.m.

Goes to the drugstore

Watches a movie at Radio City

5:30(ish)

After his date with Sally, Holden is hungry so he goes to the drugstore and has a Swiss cheese sandwich and malted milk.

He then tries calling Jane Gallagher but there is no answer so he gives up

6:30(ish)

Holden calls Carl Luce. They make plans for drinks later that night

Holden goes to the movies at Radio City. He watches the Christmas pagent and the movie. He notices a women crying next to him, who is ignoring her son.

The movie was him passing time

“The Part that got me was, there was a lady sitting next to me that cried all through the goddam picture. The phonier it got, the more she cried. You’d have thought she was kindhearted as hell, but I was sitting right next to her, and she wasn’t. she had this little kid with her. . .” (139).

Sunday Night

10 p.m. 11 p.m. 12 p.m.

The Wicker Bar

Carl Luce leaves While drunk

he calls Sally

10:00

Holden meet with Carl Luce

They meet at the Wicker Bar on 54th Street. They have an argument because Holden pesters him about subjects Carl does not want to bring up, and Carl gets annoyed with these questions

Carl then begins to question Holden’s mental health

11:00

“You still going around with that same babe you used to at Whooton? The one with the -”(144).

This is when Holden and Carl are catching up.

They are talking about the girls that Carl has dated in his personal life, which Carl gets annoyed of.

Holden then continues to stay at the bar after Carl Luce leaves for he has a date

11:30(ish)

He calls Sally, insisting on speaking to her when her family says she is asleep

This leaves a bad impression on her family after they are unable to understand his slurred speech.

“Boy was I drunk! I was still even holding onto my guys. ‘They got me. Rocky’s mob got me. You know that Sally? You know that?’“(152).

Monday Morning

1 a.m. 2 a.m. 3 a.m.

Drops the record

Goes to the apartment

Phoebe guess the truth

Wants to be Catcher

Calls Mr. Antolini

Parents come back

Borrows $

1:00

While in the bathroom, a “flitty” guy cautions Holden to go home

Holden then leaves The Wicker Bar

He goes to the lagoon in Central Park. He drops the record “Little Shirley Beans” and decides to sneak into his home to see Phoebe.

2:00

Holden walks home and sneaks into the apartment. He wakes up Phoebe, who is sleeping in D.B’s room.

Holden gives her the pieces of the broken record.

They have a long conversation and Phoebe guesses that Holden’s been kicked out of school.

3:00

Holden leaves and get cigarettes from the box on the table in the living room before he goes

This is before Holden leaves and both are crying. Phoebe does not want him to go; she wants him to stay for her play.

“She’s very affectionate. I mean she’s quite affectionate, for a child. Sometimes she’s even too affectionate. I sort of gave her a kiss” (161).

Phoebe finds out that Holden dropped out

Pg. 217 Beginning of Chapter 22 Significance: Phoebe gets mad and Holden admits that he hates

school because of phonies and reveals that he still thinks about Allie. This is important because it proves that Holden is depressed and cynical.

“‘Just because somebody’s dead, you just don’t stop liking them, for God’s sake - especially if they were about a thousand times nicer than the people you know that’re alive and all”’(223).

Holden says that he just wants to be the catcher in the rye. Pg. 225 End of Chapter 22. Significance:It is the theme of

book and it’s title. Catcher in the rye is a poem by Robert Burns and when it is sung, Holden imagines a cliff on a field of rye, which represents the edge of childhood onto adulthood, and Holden wishes to catch everyone before they go over the cliff. Holden’s wish, symbolizes the of the saving the innocent.

“‘What I have to do , I have to catch everybody if they start to go over the cliff - I mean if they’re running and they don’t look where they’re going I have to come out from somewhere and catch them”’(224,225).

Holden calls up Mr. Antolini

Pg.225 End of chapter 22 & beginning 23. Significance: Holden has no place to sleep and he’s lonely.Mr.

Antolini was his best teacher and Holden remembers that Mr. Antolini was the first person to touch the dead body of James Castle. Holden actually respects this person.

“I said I’d flunked out of Pencey, though. I thought I might as well tell him”(226).

Holden’s parents come back from their party and he hides in her closet. Pg. 229 Middle of chapter 23. Significance: Rebellious towards

parents. Loyalty to Phoebe, who is not ‘phony’ to Holden.

“I grabbed my shoes and got in the closet and shut the door”(229).

Holden borrows money from Phoebe and gives his hunting hat to her

Pg. 232 End of chapter 23. Significance: Holden is

dependent on Phoebe. When Holden give his hunting hat to Phoebe, it symbolizes that he is less rebellious around Phoebe.

“She put the dough in my hand”(232).

Later Monday Morning

4 a.m. 5 a.m. 6 a.m. 7 a.m. 8 a.m.

Goes to Mr. Antolini’s

Wakes to Mr. Antolini’s petting

Leaves to go to Grand Central

Holden falls asleep on Mr. Antolini’s couch, while they were having a conversation about Holden’s situation.

Pg. 235-248 Begin. & mid. of Chapter 24 Significance: While Mr. Antolini deeply

discusses Holden’s life, Holden still does not feel like talking about his future and becomes sleepy. This is the effect of Holden’s depression and cynical attitude.

“‘I have a terrible feeling that you’re riding for some kind of a terrible, terrible fall. But I don’t honestly know what kind . . . Are you listening to me?’”(242).

Holden wakes up to the petting of Mr. Antolini and leaves.

Pg.249 End of chapter 24 Significance: Displays the distrust

of people in Holden’s attitude. Holden is pessimistic.

“What he was doing was, he sitting on the floor right next to the couch, in the dark and all, and he was sort of petting me or patting me on the goddam head”(249).

Holden goes to Grand Central Subway and sleeps in the waiting room

Pg. 252 Beginning of Chapter 25 around 9:00 am, Monday. Significance: Adds to the fact that Holden and his

thoughts wander around. He is too depressed to think straight or act reasonably.

Monday

9 a.m. 10 a.m. 11 a.m. 12 p.m.

Goes to eat and has a breakdown

Decides to go west and writes to Phoebe

Phoebe meets him and wants to go with

Phoebe rides the carousel

Holden goes to a cheap restaurant and has a breakdown on 5th avenue.

Pg. 256 Begin. & mid. Chapter 25 Significance: At the restaurant Holden

finds that he cannot sallow the doughnuts. When he walks down fifth avenue, Holden feels as if he was disappearing into nothing. His mental illness is affecting his physical health and behavior.

“I thought I’d just go down, down, down, and nobody’d would ever see me again. Boy, did it scare me”(256).

Holden decides to go west and writes Phoebe a note to meet him at the Museum.

Pg.260 Middle of Chapter 25 Significance: Holden is making irrational

decisions to cope with his loneliness from recently being with Phoebe and Mr. Antolini. He is trying to run away from his cynical and depressing view of the world.

“Dear Phoebe, I can’t wait around till Wednesday any more so I will probably hitch hike out west this afternoon”(260).

Phoebe meets Holden, intending to go with him. She also chucks the hunting hat at Holden.

Pg. 268 End of chapter 25. Around lunchtime. Significance: The hunting hat

symbolizes rebellious individuality. When Holden tells her that she can’t come, she throws the hat in anger. Holden is left alone to be the rebel.

“All she did was, she took off my red hunting hat - the one I gave her - and practically chucked it right in my face”(269).

Phoebe rides the carousel two times and Holden nearly cries.

Pg. 274 End of chapter 26. Significance: The carousel symbolizes the

continuance of innocence, because it is a part of childhood that goes round and round and never changes. Holden even mentions that they played the same song they played when he was young. As Phoebe rides the carousel, he accepts that his dream of “saving the innocent” is a childish dream and nearly cries as Phoebe rides for the second time.

“I felt so damn happy all of the sudden, the way old Phoebe kept going around and around. I was damn near bawling”(275).

Work Cited

"The Catcher in the Rye: Chronology." GeoCities: easy-to-use site ﾊ tools. 26 Jan. 2009 <http://www.geocities.com/deadcaulfields/CatcherChronology.html>.

"Catcher in the Rye." Welcome to Masconomet.org. 26 Jan. 2009 <http://www.masconomet.org/teachers/trevenen/catcher.html#Key%20Characters%20and>.

Lemonlight. 26 Jan. 2009 <http://www.lemonlight.org/photos/uncategorized/2007/11/28/carousel.jpg>.

Work Cited Continued

"Lagoon - Central Park on Flickr - Photo Sharing!" Welcome to Flickr - Photo Sharing. 26 Jan. 2009 <http://flickr.com/photos/scrunt/296118647/>.

"NYC - Radio City Christmas Spectacular - New Yorkled." New Yorkled - New York City Informational / Pictorial Magazine - NYC. 26 Jan. 2009 <http://www.newyorkled.com/moreNYseasonal_Christmas-Spectacular.htm>.Salinger, J. D. The Catcher in the Rye. Boston: Little Brown & Company, 1951.

..:: Welcome to WHS Online ::.. 26 Jan. 2009 <http://whs.wsd.wednet.edu/Faculty/schafercloke/images/Rye5.jpg>.

??QUESTIONS??