The Catcher in the Rye, Chapter 24 quiz

Questions and answers

1. 1

   Question 1. Whose apartment does Holden visit at the beginning of Chapter 24?

   • D.B.'s apartment in Hollywood
   • Mr. Spencer's apartment near Pencey Prep
   • Carl Luce's apartment near Columbia University
   • Correct answer: Mr. Antolini's apartment -- his former English teacher from Elkton Hills

   Holden goes to Mr. Antolini's apartment on Sutton Place. Mr. Antolini, his English teacher at Elkton Hills, often came to dinner after Holden left that school to find out how he was getting along.

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2. 2

   Question 2. What is notable about Mrs. Antolini?

   • She is considerably younger than Mr. Antolini and a former student
   • Correct answer: She is considerably older than Mr. Antolini and is very wealthy
   • She is Mr. Antolini's second wife and a published novelist
   • She is a therapist who tries to counsel Holden

   Holden says Mrs. Antolini "was lousy with dough" and "about sixty years older than Mr. Antolini." It is Mr. Antolini, not his wife, who has a highball in his hand when Holden arrives.

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3. 3

   Question 3. What kind of fall does Mr. Antolini warn Holden he is heading for?

   • An academic fall that will destroy any chance of his attending a college
   • A physical fall caused by his reckless wandering around New York late at night
   • Correct answer: A horrible kind of fall for men who give up looking for what they need
   • A social fall that will cost him the few friends he still has

   Mr. Antolini calls it "a special kind of fall, a horrible kind" in which the man falling can't feel or hear himself hit bottom, meant for men who were looking for something their environment couldn't supply and "gave up looking."

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4. 4

   Question 4. Who originally said 'The mark of the immature man is that he wants to die nobly for a cause, while the mark of the mature man is that he wants to live humbly for one'?

   • Correct answer: Wilhelm Stekel
   • Holden's father
   • Sigmund Freud
   • Mr. Antolini himself

   Mr. Antolini attributes this quote to the psychoanalyst Wilhelm Stekel. He writes it down on a piece of paper and gives it to Holden, urging him to think about it.

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5. 5

   Question 5. What does Holden do while Mr. Antolini is giving him important advice?

   • He argues with Antolini about the meaning of the Stekel quote
   • Correct answer: He begins yawning and can barely keep his eyes open
   • He takes careful notes on everything Antolini says
   • He gets up and leaves before Antolini finishes

   Holden says he felt "so damn tired all of a sudden" and kept trying not to yawn while Mr. Antolini talked; then he yawned, and Mr. Antolini just laughed.

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6. 6

   Question 6. What does Holden wake up to find Mr. Antolini doing?

   • Talking on the phone with Holden's father about Pencey
   • Reading through Holden's personal belongings by the little lamp
   • Standing by the window in the dark, smoking another cigarette
   • Correct answer: Sitting on the floor beside the couch, petting or patting Holden's head

   Holden wakes in the dark to find Mr. Antolini on the floor beside the couch, "sort of petting me or patting me on the goddam head." Holden, scared and embarrassed, calls it "something perverty" and leaves; the chapter gives his reaction, not what Mr. Antolini meant.

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7. 7

   Question 7. What excuse does Holden give for leaving the Antolinis' apartment?

   • He says he left something important back at the Edmont Hotel
   • He says he promised Phoebe he would be back home before she woke up
   • Correct answer: He says he has to go get his bags, which he left at the station
   • He says his parents are expecting him home later tonight

   Holden says he left his bags at the station with all his money in one of them and must go get them, even though Mr. Antolini tells him they'll be there in the morning; Holden is so nervous he can hardly get his pants on.

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8. 8

   Question 8. How many times does Holden say 'perverty' things have happened to him?

   • Correct answer: About twenty times since he was a kid
   • He does not give a specific number
   • Two or three times
   • About five times

   Holden says this kind of thing has happened to him 'about twenty times since I was a kid,' suggesting a history of uncomfortable encounters. The number may be exaggerated, but the emotional truth behind it is significant.

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9. 9

   Question 9. Why does Holden tell Mr. Antolini he flunked Oral Expression?

   • His lips trembled so badly during speeches that nobody in the class could hear him
   • He refused to deliver his speech about his father's farm in Vermont
   • Correct answer: He likes digressions, and the yelling of "Digression!" got on his nerves
   • He completed only about two compositions for the course all term

   Holden says "That digression business got on my nerves": when a boy wandered off the point, the class yelled "Digression!" at him, and Holden likes it when somebody digresses. The shaking lips and the farm speech belong to Richard Kinsella.

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10. 10

    Question 10. What does Holden tell Mr. Antolini about Sally Hayes?

    • That she is the girl he used to know in Maine
    • That they are planning to drive up to Vermont together
    • That he is probably going to give her a buzz tomorrow
    • Correct answer: That they don't have too much in common any more

    Holden says he had a date with Sally that afternoon but "We don't have too much in common any more." The girl in Maine, whom he says he may give a buzz tomorrow, is Jane Gallagher.

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11. 11

    Question 11. Which of the following events actually happen in Chapter 24?

    • Holden arrives at the Antolinis' apartment and finds Mr. Antolini has been drinking.

      Happened

      Mr. Antolini answers the door in his bathrobe with a highball in one hand, and Holden can tell he is "a little oiled up."

    • Mr. Antolini quotes psychoanalyst Wilhelm Stekel and writes the quote down for Holden.

      Happened

      Mr. Antolini writes the Stekel quotation on a piece of paper, reads it to Holden, and hands it to him to keep.

    • Holden has a long phone conversation with Phoebe from the Antolinis' apartment.

      Didn't happen

      Holden makes no phone call in this chapter; he spends the evening talking with Mr. Antolini and then goes to sleep on the couch.

    • Holden wakes to find Mr. Antolini patting his head and flees the apartment.

      Happened

      Holden wakes to Mr. Antolini's hand on his head in the dark, says he has to go get his bags, and leaves without his tie.

    • Mr. Antolini drives Holden to Grand Central Station after the incident.

      Didn't happen

      Mr. Antolini waits in the doorway until the elevator comes, and Holden rides down alone, "shaking like a madman."

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12. 12

    Question 12. Which of these statements about Chapter 24 are true?

    • Mr. Antolini warns Holden he is riding for a terrible fall.

      Happened

      Mr. Antolini says, "I have a feeling that you're riding for some kind of a terrible, terrible fall."

    • Holden yawns while Mr. Antolini gives him advice.

      Happened

      Holden keeps trying not to yawn because he is "so damn sleepy all of a sudden," and then he yawns; Mr. Antolini just laughs.

    • Holden tells Mr. Antolini about his catcher in the rye fantasy.

      Didn't happen

      Holden never mentions it here; with Mr. Antolini he talks about flunking Oral Expression, Richard Kinsella's speech, and Mr. Vinson.

    • Holden cannot find his tie in the dark and leaves without it.

      Happened

      Dressing in the dark, Holden can't remember where he put his tie, so he goes without it.

    • Mrs. Antolini stays up to participate in the conversation about Holden's future.

      Didn't happen

      Mrs. Antolini brings in coffee and cake, says she is exhausted, and goes to bed before Mr. Antolini talks with Holden about his future.

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13. 13

    Question 13. What does 'harrowing' mean?

    • Correct answer: Extremely distressing or upsetting to go through
    • Strictly formal and full of official regulations
    • Encouraging and full of complimentary news
    • Long, tedious, and exhausting to read completely

    Harrowing means extremely distressing. Mr. Antolini says Holden's father had just had "a long, rather harrowing letter" from Holden's latest headmaster.

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14. 14

    Question 14. What does 'pedagogical' mean?

    • Relating to walking, or traveling on foot
    • Correct answer: Relating to teaching or the work of teachers
    • Relating to family history and one's ancestry
    • Relating to children's health and medical care

    Pedagogical means having to do with teaching. Mr. Antolini, Holden's old teacher, opens his point about sticking to the subject with "One short, faintly stuffy, pedagogical question."

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15. 15

    Question 15. What does 'reciprocal' mean?

    • Looking back over events that happened long ago
    • Happening repeatedly at regular, predictable times
    • Flowing only one way, from one side to the other
    • Correct answer: Given and received in return by both sides; mutual

    Reciprocal means given and received by both sides. Mr. Antolini says Holden can learn from men who kept records of their troubles, and someday others may learn from him: "It's a beautiful reciprocal arrangement."

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