Plot Points
Where does Holden invite Sally Hayes to go with him?
What is the matinee (a play)?
Holden buys this item for Phoebe, which keeps showing his desire to protect innocence.
What is the “Little Shirley Beans” record?
In what city do these chapters take place?
What is New York City?
What theme is strongest when Holden admires the museum’s unchanging exhibits?
What is the fear of change or the desire to maintain innocence?
What day of the week do Chapters 15–16 mostly take place on?
What is Sunday?
What donation does Holden give the nuns?
What is ten dollars?
Holden worries about what could happen to the record.
What is that it might break?
Where does Holden eat breakfast before meeting the nuns?
What is a small sandwich bar/diner?
Holden’s kindness to the nuns shows what about his character?
What is he has genuine compassion despite his disbelief?
What personal item does Holden accidentally leave behind when he checks out of the hotel?
What is his typewriter?
Which two nuns does Holden meet, and what do they discuss?
Who are the two Catholic nuns, and they talk about literature like Romeo and Juliet?
What recurring symbol represents Holden’s comfort and individuality?
What is his red hunting hat?
Where is Holden headed when he buys Phoebe’s record?
What is the record store on Broadway?
What does Holden’s gift for Phoebe symbolize?
What is his wish to protect her childhood innocence?
How much money does Holden say his parents paid for his typewriter originally?
What is about ninety bucks?
What reason does Holden give for liking the nuns?
What is they aren’t “phony” and care about people?
The museum Holden visits stands for what ideas about life and change?
What is persistence, or the wish that things never change?
What is the Name of the museum Holden visits?
What is the Museum of Natural History?
Holden keeps saying people are “phony,” yet he sometimes acts fake himself. What bigger idea about human nature does this show?
What is that everyone has flaws and it’s easy to judge others while ignoring your own mistakes?
What specific Broadway show does Holden think about seeing but decides against?
What is I Know My Love?
What interrupts Holden’s walk when he feels depressed?
He imagines disappearing every time he steps off the curb.
Why does Holden say he likes the museum even though people change?
What is the display stays exactly the same?
Why does Holden decide not to go inside the museum?
What is he feels he’s changed and it wouldn’t be the same.
Holden’s reaction to the museum demonstrates what about his own growth?
What is he recognizes he can’t stop time or stay a child.
Which piece of street entertainment catches Holden’s attention near the record store?
What is a little boy singing “If a body catch a body coming through the rye”?