The Catcher in the Rye, Chapter 14 quiz

Questions and answers

1. 1

   Question 1. What does Holden do after Sunny leaves his hotel room at the beginning of Chapter 14?

   • He returns downstairs to the empty lobby for another drink
   • He packs his bags and checks out of the hotel
   • He calls his sister Phoebe on the phone
   • Correct answer: He sits in a chair smoking and feeling depressed

   After Sunny leaves, Holden sits in a chair smoking cigarettes, feeling deeply depressed and unable to sleep. This solitary moment leads to his one-sided conversation with his dead brother Allie.

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2. 2

   Question 2. Who does Holden talk to out loud when he is depressed?

   • His roommate Stradlater
   • Correct answer: His dead brother Allie
   • His older brother D.B.
   • His sister Phoebe

   Holden talks out loud to his dead younger brother Allie, who died of leukemia. He addresses Allie directly, repeating a request for Allie to get his bike and join him, something he says he does when he gets very depressed.

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3. 3

   Question 3. What memory does Holden keep thinking about when he talks to Allie?

   • Misplacing the fielder's mitt Allie decorated with poems in green ink
   • Smashing every window in the garage with his fist the night Allie died
   • Correct answer: Telling Allie he was too young to come on a BB gun outing with Bobby Fallon
   • Borrowing Allie's bicycle for the Lake Sedebego trip without permission

   Holden remembers a day when he and Bobby Fallon were going to ride their bikes to Lake Sedebego to shoot BB guns, and he told Allie he was too young to come. Allie "never got sore about anything," but Holden says he keeps thinking about it when he gets very depressed.

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4. 4

   Question 4. Who is Holden's favorite biblical character besides Jesus?

   • Correct answer: The lunatic who lived in the tombs and cut himself with stones
   • The Disciples, who stood by Jesus while He was still alive
   • Moses, who led the Israelites out of Egypt
   • Judas, who betrayed Jesus and then committed suicide

   Next to Jesus, Holden says the man he likes best in the Bible is "that lunatic and all," who "lived in the tombs and kept cutting himself with stones"; he likes him "ten times as much as the Disciples."

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5. 5

   Question 5. Why do Maurice and Sunny return to Holden's hotel room?

   • To apologize for the earlier encounter
   • Correct answer: To demand an additional five dollars
   • To return money they overcharged
   • To warn Holden about hotel security

   Maurice and Sunny return claiming the agreed-upon price was ten dollars, not five. They demand the additional five dollars that Holden refuses to pay, leading to a physical confrontation.

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6. 6

   Question 6. What does Holden call Maurice during the confrontation?

   • A yellow-belly
   • A crumb-bum
   • A high-class kid
   • Correct answer: A dirty moron

   Holden calls Maurice a 'dirty moron,' an act of verbal bravado that provokes Maurice to punch him in the stomach. The insult reveals Holden trying to maintain dignity while being physically helpless.

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7. 7

   Question 7. What does Maurice do to Holden?

   • Correct answer: He punches Holden in the stomach
   • He takes Holden's suitcase and throws it in the hall
   • He locks Holden in the bathroom
   • He empties Holden's wallet and keeps every dollar inside

   After Holden calls him a 'dirty moron,' Maurice punches him hard in the stomach and leaves him on the floor. Sunny had already taken five dollars from Holden's wallet before the punch.

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8. 8

   Question 8. What does Holden fantasize about after Maurice and Sunny leave?

   • Contacting the hotel police and having Maurice arrested for robbery
   • Defeating Maurice in a fistfight at their next encounter
   • Correct answer: Taking a gun, finding Maurice at the elevator, and shooting him
   • Telling his parents what happened so they would intervene

   Holden imagines a movie-style revenge scenario in which he has been shot rather than punched and staggers from the bathroom with a gun to track down Maurice at the elevator. He recognizes this as a cinematic fantasy, not reality.

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9. 9

   Question 9. Why does Holden say he does not jump out of the window?

   • He suffers from a terrible fear of heights and dizziness near windows
   • Correct answer: He does not want people staring at him unless someone covers him up at once
   • He imagines how devastated his parents and his sister Phoebe would be
   • He decides to telephone someone who could persuade him to reconsider

   Holden says he probably would have jumped "if I'd been sure somebody'd cover me up as soon as I landed," because "I didn't want a bunch of stupid rubbernecks looking at me." His concern about being seen reveals his deep fear of vulnerability and exposure, even in death.

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10. 10

    Question 10. Which of the following events actually happen in Chapter 14?

    • Holden talks out loud to his dead brother Allie about a BB gun outing.

      Happened

      Feeling "so depressed," Holden tells Allie to get his bike and meet him at Bobby Fallon's house, remembering the day he would not let Allie come along.

    • Holden calls the police to report Maurice for assault.

      Didn't happen

      Holden only threatens that he will wake up "everybody in the hotel"; nobody calls the police.

    • Maurice punches Holden in the stomach.

      Happened

      After Holden calls him a "dirty moron," Maurice hits him, and Holden feels "this terrific punch in my stomach."

    • Sunny takes a five-dollar bill from Holden's wallet.

      Happened

      Sunny gets the wallet and waves the money at him, saying, "All I'm takin' is the five you owe me."

    • Holden actually takes a gun from his suitcase and confronts Maurice.

      Didn't happen

      The gun is only in his imagination; afterward Holden says, "The goddam movies. They can ruin you."

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11. 11

    Question 11. Which of these statements about Holden's thoughts and actions in Chapter 14 are true?

    • Holden describes himself as an atheist.

      Happened

      Holden says, "I'm sort of an atheist," though he also says he likes Jesus.

    • Holden says the Disciples were reliable people who always supported Jesus.

      Didn't happen

      Holden says the Disciples "were about as much use to Him as a hole in the head."

    • Holden fantasizes about shooting Maurice in a movie-style revenge scenario.

      Happened

      Holden pictures shooting Maurice with an automatic, "Six shots right through his fat hairy belly," and then blames the movies.

    • Holden feels like jumping out of the window after the confrontation.

      Happened

      After his bath, back in bed, Holden says, "I felt like jumping out the window."

    • Holden leaves the hotel immediately after Maurice punches him.

      Didn't happen

      Holden lies on the floor for a long time, then spends about an hour in the bathroom and goes back to bed.

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12. 12

    Question 12. What does 'chisel' mean when Holden tells Maurice, "You're trying to chisel me"?

    • Correct answer: To cheat someone, especially out of money
    • To threaten someone with physical harm
    • To flatter someone in order to win a favor
    • To engrave or sculpt material with a sharp blade

    To chisel someone is to cheat him. Holden says he already paid Sunny five dollars and accuses Maurice of trying to get five more out of him; Maurice answers, "Nobody's tryna chisel nobody."

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13. 13

    Question 13. What does 'psychic' mean when Holden says he knew who was knocking because "I'm psychic"?

    • Deeply religious and devoted to daily prayer
    • Physically strong and unusually quick to react to danger
    • Easily frightened by sudden noises in the dark
    • Correct answer: Able to know things without using the ordinary senses

    Psychic means able to know things without being told or shown. Holden claims he knew who was at the door before he opened it: "I knew who it was, too."

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14. 14

    Question 14. What does 'at random' mean when Holden says Jesus "picked them at random"?

    • After long and careful thought about each one
    • Secretly, without anybody else noticing
    • Correct answer: Without any plan, pattern or careful choice
    • In alphabetical order, one after another

    At random means without any plan or method. Holden argues that Jesus picked the Disciples at random because "He didn't have time to go around analyzing everybody."

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