Ch. 17 Questions and Answers

• How do Holden’s feelings for women compare to his feelings for men? – Holden believes most men are phony and

essentially bad. He seems to think that women are either victims of bad men or feel sorry for them/end up with them.

• How does Holden feel about actors? – As with everyone, Holden thinks they are also

phony, especially if they act like real humans – as if they know they are good.

Ch. 17 Questions and Answers

• What is Holden’s point about the difference between men owning a car and men owning a horse? – A horse, he thinks, has feelings and can return the

feelings of love and/or appreciation. It doesn’t represent the phoniness and corruption of the adult world. A horse would also set him apart from the rest of society.

Ch. 17 Questions and Answers

• How does Holden describe a boy’s school when talking to Sally?– He explains that it is full of cliques – everyone

sticks to the same group based on their interests and no one branches out. The conversations always stay the same and no one seems to think beyond surface-level material.

Ch. 17 Questions and Answers

• Why does Holden want to take off with Sally now instead of after college? What is the difference in his eyes? – If they waited until after college, then they’ll be

full adults and feel the need to participate fully in the adult world. Doing this now would be going against the grain and doing something unexpected. Sally’s reaction is reasonable – she tells him to wait.