The Catcher in the Rye, Chapter 21 quiz

Questions and answers

1. 1

   Question 1. How does Holden get past the elevator operator to reach his family's apartment?

   • He waits until the elevator operator disappears on a break and quietly climbs the emergency stairs
   • Correct answer: He tells the new operator (the regular man Pete is off duty) that he is the Dicksteins' nephew
   • He telephones ahead from a booth and persuades Phoebe to admit him through the service entrance
   • He offers the doorman a generous tip to escort him upstairs without announcing him to anybody

   Holden lies to the new elevator operator — the regular operator, Pete, is off duty — claiming to be the Dicksteins' nephew rather than a Caulfield. He also says he has a bad leg so that he can wait in a chair outside their door.

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2. 2

   Question 2. Why is Holden more concerned about waking his mother than the maid?

   • Correct answer: The maid is partially deaf, while his mother hears everything and is often up all night
   • His mother already suspects difficulties at school and is determined to catch him in a lie
   • The maid is away on holiday vacation, while his mother is expecting him to arrive tonight
   • The maid sleeps at the opposite end of the apartment, while his mother is anxiously waiting up

   The maid has only one eardrum and is partially deaf, so she is unlikely to hear Holden. His mother, Holden says, has ears like a bloodhound, is nervous, and is often up all night smoking cigarettes, which makes her a much greater risk of catching him.

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3. 3

   Question 3. Why is Phoebe sleeping in D.B.'s room?

   • Their parents permanently gave her D.B.'s room after he moved to Hollywood
   • She had a frightening nightmare and refused to sleep alone in her bedroom
   • Correct answer: She likes to sleep in D.B.'s room whenever he is away in Hollywood
   • She is avoiding their parents after misbehaving at school with a classmate

   Phoebe regularly sleeps in D.B.'s room when their older brother is in Hollywood. The room is larger, and she spreads out with her notebooks and belongings.

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4. 4

   Question 4. What fake middle name does Phoebe use in her schoolbooks?

   • Phoebe Charlotte Caulfield
   • Phoebe Elizabeth Caulfield
   • Phoebe Margaret Caulfield
   • Correct answer: Phoebe Weatherfield Caulfield

   Phoebe writes her name as 'Phoebe Weatherfield Caulfield' on her arithmetic book and over and over on a page of the notebook Holden reads, using the invented name Weatherfield instead of her real middle name, Josephine.

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5. 5

   Question 5. What role is Phoebe playing in her school's Christmas pageant?

   • Martha Washington
   • George Washington
   • Betsy Ross
   • Correct answer: Benedict Arnold

   Phoebe is playing Benedict Arnold in 'A Christmas Pageant for Americans.' She tells Holden the play starts when she is dying and a ghost asks if she is ashamed of betraying her country, and she insists she has practically the biggest part.

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6. 6

   Question 6. What does Phoebe's role as Benedict Arnold ironically parallel?

   • The elevator operator's deception of the building management
   • Phoebe's mischief with the ink on Curtis Weintraub's windbreaker
   • Correct answer: Holden hiding from his family that he has been kicked out of Pencey
   • Alice Holmborg's mother asking Alice over and over if she felt grippy

   Benedict Arnold is America's most famous traitor, and in Phoebe's play a ghost asks him if he is ashamed of betraying his country. The irony is that Holden, who has been kicked out of Pencey, is hiding that news from his family — until Phoebe guesses the truth.

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7. 7

   Question 7. How does Phoebe initially react when Holden wakes her?

   • Correct answer: She is immediately overjoyed, throws her arms around him, and begins chattering excitedly
   • She is groggy and irritated at being awakened, and begs him to let her go back to sleep
   • She whispers a warning to keep his voice down so their parents will not discover them
   • She is terrified and screams loudly before recognizing the intruder as her brother Holden

   Phoebe's reaction to seeing Holden is pure, immediate joy. She embraces him and floods him with news about school, a boy named Curtis Weintraub, a movie she saw, and her role in the school play.

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8. 8

   Question 8. How does Phoebe figure out that Holden has been expelled?

   • She discovers an expulsion letter while he is showing her the broken record
   • Correct answer: She notices he is home before Wednesday, the day their mother said he would come
   • Holden confesses immediately, without her needing to guess anything at all
   • She overheard their parents discussing his expulsion on the telephone

   Their mother told Phoebe that Holden would be home Wednesday, so she asks him how come he is not home Wednesday — and when he says they let everyone out early, she guesses the truth and cries that he did get kicked out.

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9. 9

   Question 9. What does Phoebe do after learning Holden has been expelled?

   • Correct answer: She says 'Daddy'll kill you!', pulls the pillow over her head, and won't come out
   • She gets angry and orders him to leave D.B.'s room immediately
   • She makes him promise to tell their parents the entire truth the moment they return
   • She cries quietly and begs him to explain exactly what happened at Pencey

   Phoebe hits Holden on the leg, cries 'Daddy'll kill you!' and puts the pillow over her head; under it she keeps saying 'Daddy's gonna kill you,' and she won't come out however Holden pleads. Holden says she gets very emotional.

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10. 10

    Question 10. How does Holden answer when Phoebe insists that their father will kill him?

    • He says he will enroll in another school in New York after vacation
    • He says he will explain everything to their father personally on Wednesday
    • He says he will relocate to Hollywood and stay with D.B. temporarily
    • Correct answer: He says he is going away and may get a job on a ranch in Colorado

    Holden tells Phoebe nobody is going to kill him because he is going away: he may get a job on a ranch in Colorado that belongs to the grandfather of a guy he knows, and he promises to keep in touch if he goes.

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11. 11

    Question 11. Which of the following events actually happen in Chapter 21?

    • Holden tells the elevator operator he is visiting the Dicksteins.

      Happened

      Holden tells the new elevator boy to take him up to the Dicksteins', who have the other apartment on his floor, and claims to be their nephew.

    • Holden finds Phoebe asleep in her own room.

      Didn't happen

      Phoebe is not in her own room; she is asleep in D.B.'s room, where she always sleeps when D.B. is away in Hollywood.

    • Holden looks through Phoebe's schoolbooks and a notebook and finds her invented middle name.

      Happened

      Holden finds the name Phoebe Weatherfield Caulfield written in her arithmetic book and then reads her whole notebook, where one page has it written over and over.

    • Phoebe tells Holden about her role as Benedict Arnold in a school play.

      Happened

      Phoebe says she is Benedict Arnold in a Christmas pageant at school and has practically the biggest part.

    • Holden's parents come home and catch him in the apartment.

      Didn't happen

      His parents are at a party in Norwalk, Connecticut, and won't be home until very late; they do not come home during this chapter.

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12. 12

    Question 12. Which of these statements about Phoebe in Chapter 21 are true?

    • Phoebe is initially overjoyed to see Holden and throws her arms around him.

      Happened

      Phoebe says his name right away and puts her arms around his neck; Holden can tell she is very glad to see him.

    • Phoebe's real middle name is Josephine, but she uses Weatherfield.

      Happened

      Holden says her middle name is Josephine, not Weatherfield, and that every time he sees her she has a new middle name.

    • Phoebe calmly accepts Holden's explanation about being expelled.

      Didn't happen

      Phoebe does not accept it: she cries that he did get kicked out, hits him on the leg, and says their father will kill him.

    • Phoebe puts the pillow over her head and won't take it off.

      Happened

      Phoebe flops on the bed with the pillow over her head and won't come out, even when Holden pleads and tries to pull it off.

    • Phoebe calls their parents to tell them Holden is home.

      Didn't happen

      Phoebe calls no one; she stays under the pillow, and their parents are still out at a party in Norwalk.

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13. 13

    Question 13. What does 'foyer' mean in the context of Holden's entry into his family's apartment?

    • A spacious closet for storing coats, hats and umbrellas
    • Correct answer: An entrance hall just inside the front door of a home
    • A narrow staircase reserved for servants and deliveries
    • A private bedroom set aside for a live-in housekeeper

    A foyer is the entrance hall of a home. Holden creeps through the dark foyer, keeps his coat on because the foyer closet is full of rattling hangers, and says the foyer has a funny smell that tells him he is home.

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14. 14

    Question 14. What does 'affectionate' mean as it relates to Holden's view of Phoebe?

    • Quick-tempered and inclined to lash out at other people
    • Intelligent and quick to grasp complicated situations
    • Correct answer: Showing fondness and love openly, as with hugs and kisses
    • Easily influenced by the moods and opinions of others

    Affectionate means openly loving. When Holden wakes her, Phoebe puts her arms around his neck, and he calls her quite affectionate, for a child — sometimes even too affectionate.

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15. 15

    Question 15. What does 'plastered' mean when Holden tells Phoebe how her record got broken?

    • Exhausted after a long, freezing walk across the city
    • Seriously injured after an accident on the icy pavement
    • Coated with a layer of plaster, paint or paste
    • Correct answer: Very drunk from having had too much alcohol

    Plastered is slang for very drunk. Holden shows Phoebe the pieces of the record he bought her, says he broke it on the way home, and explains that he was plastered.

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