The Catcher in the Rye: Summary and Analysis

The Catcher in the Rye summary and analysis. Plot summary, chapters 1-3.

The novel opens with 16-year-old Holden Caulfield narrating from a mental rest home,

bannedbooks.library.cmu.edu. He has just been expelled from Pencey Prep, his fourth prep

school expulsion, bannedbooks.library.cmu.edubritannica.com. Feeling alienated by what he perceives as the phoniness

of his peers, Holden clashes with his roommate, Stradlater, and others.

After an altercation, which leaves Holden physically hurt, he decides to leave school early and

head to New York City before the Christmas break, britannica.com. Chapters 4-7.

In New York, Holden checks into the dilapidated Edmont Hotel. Lonely and anxious,