CHAPTER 15

Holden is still alone and still lonely. For the third time he thinks of calling Jane Gallagher and decides not to. "I wasn't in the mood," is the reason he gives to himself.

Maybe you can think of one or more explanations that come closer to the truth. Why would he keep hesitating to call her, when she's one of the few bright lights in his depressing world? What is he afraid might happen? What might he find when he talks to her?

Holden is trying to avoid having to face something about Jane that he finds threatening. He knows very well that Jane has grown up since he knew her. If she were still the same girl, it's unlikely that she would have gone on a date with Stradlater. If he calls her, he'll have to face the real Jane, not the innocent girl he once knew. And he isn't ready for the real Jane.

So he calls Sally Hayes instead. She's a beautiful girl, but a phony, at least by Holden's standards. He arranges to take her to a play that afternoon, and he quickly leaves the hotel. He takes a cab to Grand Central Station, where he leaves his suitcases in a rented locker.

Then he goes to a coffee shop, where he sees two nuns having trouble with their suitcases. He helps them and has a very unusual experience-a pleasant conversation with someone he genuinely likes.

Notice that even though this is an upbeat scene, Holden is depressed. He feels badly about the nuns' inexpensive suitcases and about the meager meal they're having.

He says several times that he doesn't like having things that are better than other people's. While he seems to take his father's wealth for granted, something about having money bothers him. The last thing he says in this chapter is a good summary of his attitude: "Goddam money," he says. "It always ends up making you feel blue as hell."

NOTE:

When Holden thinks that someone is vulnerable, he wants to shield him or her from sorrow and pain. Rather than compromise with life and accept the existence of suffering, he dreams of making the world over in his own youthful image. He is too young to accept the fact that there are things in life he cannot control. In this chapter, Holden is afraid of being too specific about Romeo and Juliet because it concerns a love affair, and the nuns might be embarrassed. He considers these nuns vulnerable, in need of protection. Of course, he's wrong about that. They're grown women, college graduates, professional teachers. But he sees them as creatures who have to be protected from the realities of the world.

That's the way he felt about Jane Gallagher when he fought with Stradlater. He was probably just as wrong about her needing his protection, but that doesn't matter. When Holden perceives someone as vulnerable, he wants to shield him or her from the world.

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