The Catcher in the Rye, Chapter 17 quiz

Questions and answers

1. 1

   Question 1. Where does Holden wait for Sally Hayes at the beginning of Chapter 17?

   • At the entrance to Central Park
   • Outside Radio City Music Hall
   • In front of the Museum of Natural History
   • Correct answer: On a leather couch near the lobby clock

   Holden arrives way early and sits on one of the leather couches near the clock in the lobby, watching the girls who are waiting for their dates and wondering what will happen to them after school.

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2. 2

   Question 2. What does Holden tell Sally in the cab on the way to the theater?

   • That he wants to break up with her
   • Correct answer: That he loves her
   • That he does not want to see the play
   • That he has been expelled from Pencey Prep

   Holden tells Sally he loves her in the cab. He acknowledges to the reader that he meant it in the moment, even though he also knows he does not really like her -- a revealing contradiction.

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3. 3

   Question 3. Who does Sally run into during intermission at the theater?

   • D.B., Holden's older brother
   • Stradlater, Holden's former roommate
   • Correct answer: A boy named George (Holden cannot remember his surname) from Andover
   • Harris Mackim, Holden's old roommate from Elkton Hills

   Sally spots a boy from Andover named George (Salinger's narrator Holden cannot recall his surname) and engages in a conversation that Holden finds agonizingly phony, full of exaggerated enthusiasm and empty compliments.

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4. 4

   Question 4. Where do Holden and Sally go after the Broadway matinee?

   • Correct answer: Ice skating at Radio City
   • To a nightclub in the Village
   • To dinner at a restaurant in Midtown
   • To the Museum of Modern Art

   Holden and Sally go ice skating at the rink at Radio City, though neither of them skates well. Sally's ankles keep bending in, and finally they give up and sit at a table in the bar.

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5. 5

   Question 5. What does Holden propose to Sally while sitting at the skating rink?

   • Correct answer: That they drive to Massachusetts and Vermont and stay in cabin camps
   • That they move to California and start over
   • That they get engaged immediately
   • That they drop out of school and get jobs in New York

   Holden suggests they borrow a car from a guy he knows in Greenwich Village, drive up to Massachusetts and Vermont, and stay in cabin camps until the money runs out; then he could get a job, they could live somewhere with a brook, and later they could get married.

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6. 6

   Question 6. How does Sally respond to Holden's escape plan?

   • She enthusiastically agrees and wants to leave immediately
   • She says she will consider it seriously after discussing it with her parents
   • Correct answer: She rejects it as impractical, saying they should wait until after college
   • She laughs and assumes he is joking

   Sally dismisses the plan as unrealistic, pointing out they are practically children and would starve if the money ran out. She says there will be oodles of time for such things after Holden goes to college and if they get married.

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7. 7

   Question 7. What insult does Holden hurl at Sally, ending their date?

   • He calls her a 'phony'
   • Correct answer: He calls her 'a royal pain in the ass'
   • He calls her 'very boring' and 'childish'
   • He calls her 'dopey' and 'very mean'

   In a burst of frustration, Holden calls Sally 'a royal pain in the ass.' Sally begins to cry, Holden's apology is rejected, and she refuses to let him take her home. The date ends in complete disaster.

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8. 8

   Question 8. What is the primary reason Holden is frustrated by Sally's response to his plan?

   • She reveals that she is already engaged to someone else, an Ivy League boy she knows
   • She tells other people at the rink about his plan
   • She does not find him attractive enough to run away with
   • Correct answer: She responds with practical objections rather than hearing his emotional desperation

   Sally responds with sensible, practical counterarguments, but she misses the emotional core of what Holden is saying. He is not presenting a rational plan -- he is expressing deep anguish about the world, and her pragmatic response dismisses his pain.

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9. 9

   Question 9. While complaining to Sally about cars, what does Holden say he would rather have?

   • A Cadillac, which he says is very dependable
   • A taxicab, which he says is convenient
   • A bicycle, which he says is economical
   • Correct answer: A horse, which he says is at least human

   Holden tells Sally that most people are crazy about cars but cars do not even interest him; he would rather have a horse, because "A horse is at least human."

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10. 10

    Question 10. Which of the following events actually happen in Chapter 17?

    • Holden tells Sally he loves her in the cab to the theater.

      Happened

      In the cab Holden tells Sally he loves her; he admits to the reader it was a lie, though he meant it when he said it.

    • Sally runs into an Andover boy named George during intermission and chats with him about people they both know.

      Happened

      At the end of the first act Sally spots George, who went to Andover, and the two of them talk about a lot of people they both know; Holden calls it the phoniest conversation he ever heard.

    • Holden and Sally go ice skating at Radio City after the matinee.

      Happened

      After the play Sally suggests ice-skating at Radio City, and they go, though Holden says they were the worst skaters on the whole rink.

    • Sally agrees to run away with Holden to a cabin in New England.

      Didn't happen

      Sally refuses: she says they are both practically children and asks what they would do if the money ran out.

    • Holden calls Sally 'a royal pain in the ass,' making her cry.

      Happened

      Holden tells Sally she gives him a royal pain in the ass; she hits the ceiling, will not accept his apology, and even cries.

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11. 11

    Question 11. Which of these statements about Holden's behavior in Chapter 17 are true?

    • Holden waits for Sally on a leather couch near the clock in the lobby.

      Happened

      Holden gets there way early, sits on a leather couch near the clock in the lobby, and watches the girls waiting for their dates.

    • Holden gets very interested in the play and cares when its characters die.

      Didn't happen

      Holden says he could not get very interested in the play and did not care much when anybody in the family died.

    • Holden rants about how boys' schools exist only to prepare students to buy Cadillacs.

      Happened

      Holden tells Sally that at a boys' school all you do is study so you can be smart enough to buy a Cadillac some day.

    • Holden successfully apologizes to Sally and they reconcile.

      Didn't happen

      Holden apologizes again and again, but Sally will not excuse him and tells him to go away, so he leaves without her.

    • Holden proposes they drive to Massachusetts and Vermont to escape New York.

      Happened

      Holden asks Sally to get out of New York with him, borrow a car from a guy he knows in Greenwich Village, and drive up to Massachusetts and Vermont the next morning.

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12. 12

    Question 12. What does 'blasé' mean when Holden says the movie actor and the blonde with him were trying to be very blasé?

    • Correct answer: Acting bored or unimpressed, as if nothing could excite one
    • Shy and nervous about appearing in front of a large crowd
    • Rude and openly hostile toward curious strangers nearby
    • Thrilled, and openly eager to be noticed by everyone around

    Blasé means unimpressed or indifferent, usually because one has seen it all before. Holden says the actor and the blonde were trying to act blasé, as if he did not even know people were looking at him.

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13. 13

    Question 13. What does 'fantastic' mean when Sally says Holden's whole plan is so fantastic?

    • Wonderful, exciting, and better than anything else
    • Correct answer: Wildly unrealistic, more like a daydream than a real plan
    • Carefully thought out and sensible in every single detail
    • Extremely large in size, amount, or degree

    Here fantastic means wildly unrealistic or based on fantasy, not its everyday sense of wonderful. Sally calls the plan fantastic because they are practically children and would starve if the money ran out; Holden insists it isn't fantastic.

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14. 14

    Question 14. What does 'cliques' mean as Holden uses it in his complaint about boys' schools?

    • Sharp, repeated clicking noises made by machinery
    • Overused expressions repeated so often they lose their original meaning
    • Correct answer: Small, exclusive groups of people who stick together and shut others out
    • Official organizations a school establishes for every student to join

    A clique is a small, exclusive group whose members stick together and keep others out. Holden complains that at boys' schools the basketball players, the Catholics, the intellectuals, and the bridge players all stick together in their own cliques.

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