Summary Of Chapter 5 Of The Catcher In The Rye

. In chapter five Holden reveals some insight about the death of his brother when he says, “You'd have liked him. He was two years younger than I was, but he was about fifty times as intelligent. He was terrifically intelligent” (Salinger 43). A reader can tell that Holden is inadequate at expressing his feelings but nevertheless feels an urge to vocalize them. When his jock roommate Stradlater asks Holden to write his English assignment, Holden writes about Allie’s baseball old glove covered with poems he would write while sitting aimlessly in the outfield. Of course, Holden ignores the assigned topic of the essay causing Stradlater to rail him for being an imbecile, but Holden is not interested in getting his roommate an acceptable mark
After finishing a discouraging conversation with his old classmate Carl Luce, a downtrodden Holden feels drawn to sneak into his parent’s apartment only to visit with his sister Phoebe for a moment. Although this visit is risky, he knows that with her he can find support and encouragement (Lewis). Holden did not find any great friends at the various boarding schools he attended, although he was friendly with almost everyone. Rather, Holden befriends certain teachers he finds intriguing. For example, when he feels as if he has no place else to stay, Holden calls his old teacher, Mr. Antolini. Antolini welcomes Holden with open arms, potentially crossing the line when Holden wakes up with Antolini petting his head and staring at him with a trance-like gaze. The reader can tell that his interest in Holden is both genuine and perverted, but Holden stays surprisingly calm and gives his old teacher the benefit of the doubt (Baumbach 268). Holden’s compassion may shine brightest for those people whom he will never meet. He is clearly against obscenity as seen when he attempts to rub out all of the Fuck You signs. Though Holden has no problem with the use of vulgar language, blatant disrespect for human life penetrates deep under his skin