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Comprehension Exercises 1. Read the conversation between Holden and Mr Antolini (pp. 193-8) • What does Mr Antolini mean by ‘some kind of terrible fall’? The ‘some kind of terrible fall’ meant that Holden was falling because he thought the world couldn’t provide what he needed, Holden needed love, but in a world full of corruption and phonies, love was non-existent. • Is Mr Antolini able to help Holden? Mr Antolini was unable to help Holden because Holden didn’t really listen to what Mr Antolini was saying. Mostly because he was very tired. ‘Boy, I felt so damn tired all of a sudden.’ pp. 169 • Where else in the novel does the theme of ‘falling’ occur? The theme of ‘falling’ occurred in the part where Holden was talking to his sister, Phoebe, about what he really wanted to do. Holden wanted to be a catcher in the rye. He wanted to catch the little kids playing in the rye and stop them falling off the cliff. This symbolised Holden’s belief that children should be protected from losing their innocence. This meant keeping them away from the adults’ world. ‘What I have to do, I have to catch everybody if they start to go over the cliff…’ pp. 156 2. Read from ‘Anyway, I kept walking’ to ‘another school again’ (pp. 204-5) • Try to imagine Holden’s experience as he is walking up 5th Avenue. When Holden was walking up 5th Avenue, he must have felt very lonely and sad. And then, all of a sudden, he got this feeling of falling every time he stepped off the curb at the end of each block. Holden was really scared, and every time he got to the end of each block, he would pray to his dead brother Allie not to let him disappear. And he actually thanked Allie when he didn’t disappear. Holden kept on going and going until he was out of breath. • Can you identify with this feeling? I can’t personally identify with this feeling but I think Holden’s mind was very unstable. Holden was having a mental breakdown. • What is the significance of his fear of disappearing? I think the significance of Holden fearing that he would disappear was that he was afraid to leave this world, a world which he despise because it was full of imperfections. Holden wanted to stay so he could be a catcher in the rye and save the little kids from falling of the cliff and losing their innocence when they come into contact with the adult world.
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