Take The Novel Quiz On The Catcher In The Rye!

1. "This is a people shooting hat," Holden tells a classmate in reference to:

His Pencey Prep uniform cap

His high school baseball cap

A deer-hunting cap

A stocking cap knitted by his sister, Phoebe

Holden bought the bright red hunting cap for a dollar while accompanying the fencing team on a trip into the city.

Explanation

Holden bought the bright red hunting cap for a dollar while accompanying the fencing team on a trip into the city.

2. After his younger brother's death from leukemia, Holden:

Went up on the roof and wouldn't come down

Broke his hand smashing windows

Stole his grandmother's car and drove to Manhattan

Let his neighbor's sheep out of their pen

He slept in the garage the night his brother Allie died, and smashed the windows "just for the hell of it."

Explanation

He slept in the garage the night his brother Allie died, and smashed the windows "just for the hell of it."

3. The prostitute who comes to Holden's hotel room is named:

Sunny

Trixie

Magdalena

Jane

Holden doesn't have sex with Sunny, but he pays her anyway. Later, he is threatened by the elevator operator Maurice over the agreed-upon price.

Explanation

Holden doesn't have sex with Sunny, but he pays her anyway. Later, he is threatened by the elevator operator Maurice over the agreed-upon price.

4. Holden's classmate James Castle killed himself by what method?

He slit his wrists in an empty locker room.

He jumped from a school window.

He stepped in front of an express train.

He overdosed on pills stolen from his mother.

Castle leaped out a window at Elkton Hills School after being tormented by classmates. "Nobody would even go near" the body until the teacher Mr. Antolini stepped up.

Explanation

Castle leaped out a window at Elkton Hills School after being tormented by classmates. "Nobody would even go near" the body until the teacher Mr. Antolini stepped up.

5. From his room at the Edmont Hotel, Holden sees a man in a nearby building:

Smoking marijuana

Setting the curtains on fire

Playing a violin in the nude

Wearing women's lingerie

The "very distinguished-looking guy" then puts on a tight dress and "started walking up and down the room, taking these very small steps, the way a woman does, and smoking a cigarette and looking at himself in the mirror. He was all alone, too."

Explanation

The "very distinguished-looking guy" then puts on a tight dress and "started walking up and down the room, taking these very small steps, the way a woman does, and smoking a cigarette and looking at himself in the mirror. He was all alone, too."

6. Holden describes as "being perverty" the unwanted attention of:

Former teacher Mr. Antolini

Teacher Mr. Spencer

Fellow student Robert Ackley

Cab driver Horwitz

Mr. Antolini was "sort of petting" Holden's head as he slept on the couch in Antolini's apartment. Holden makes an excuse and rushes out, though it's the middle of the night.

Explanation

Mr. Antolini was "sort of petting" Holden's head as he slept on the couch in Antolini's apartment. Holden makes an excuse and rushes out, though it's the middle of the night.

7. Narrator Holden Caulfield frequently refers to sex as:

Trotting her out

Feeling her fabric

Giving her the time

Giving her the business

Holden tries to punch his roommate Stradlater because he won't say whether he "gave the time" to Holden's former neighbor Jane Gallagher.

Explanation

Holden tries to punch his roommate Stradlater because he won't say whether he "gave the time" to Holden's former neighbor Jane Gallagher.

8. Former classmate Carl Luce is seen by his peers as an authority on homosexual celebrities, whom Holden calls:

Poofs

Twinks

Flits

Woots

"All you had to do was mention somebody -- anybody -- and old Luce'd tell you if he was a flit or not. ... Some of the ones he said were flits were even married."

Explanation

"All you had to do was mention somebody -- anybody -- and old Luce'd tell you if he was a flit or not. ... Some of the ones he said were flits were even married."

9. Holden says "Jesus probably would've puked" if he were to see:

The living nativity in Central Park

The FAO Schwarz Christmas display

The Rockefeller Center Christmas tree

The Radio City Music Hall Christmas show

He expresses this opinion to his date, Sally Hayes, who calls him a "sacriligeous atheist."

Explanation

He expresses this opinion to his date, Sally Hayes, who calls him a "sacriligeous atheist."

10. Though he drinks several Scotch and sodas in the course of the story, Holden says he prefers:

Rum and coke

Frozen daiquiris

Harvey's Bristol Cream

Chocolate milk

Holden mentions that he drinks several Scotch and sodas throughout the story, but he states a preference for frozen daiquiris. This indicates that frozen daiquiris are his preferred choice of drink over the other options listed.

Explanation

Holden mentions that he drinks several Scotch and sodas throughout the story, but he states a preference for frozen daiquiris. This indicates that frozen daiquiris are his preferred choice of drink over the other options listed.