<P> In a taxicab, Holden inquires with the driver about whether the ducks in the Central Park lagoon migrate during winter, a subject he brings up often, but the man barely responds . Holden checks into the dilapidated Edmont Hotel . He spends an evening dancing with three tourist women from Seattle in the hotel lounge and enjoys dancing with one, though is disappointed that he is unable to hold a conversation with them . Following an unpromising visit to Ernie's Nightclub in Greenwich Village, Holden becomes preoccupied with his internal angst and agrees to have a prostitute named Sunny visit his room . His attitude toward the girl changes the minute she enters the room; she seems about the same age as him . Holden becomes uncomfortable with the situation, and when he tells her all he wants to do is talk, she becomes annoyed and leaves . Even though he still paid her the right amount for her time, she returns with her pimp Maurice and demands more money . Holden insults Maurice, and after Sunny takes the money from Holden's wallet, Maurice punches him in the stomach and leaves with Sunny . Afterwards, Holden imagines that he has been shot by Maurice, and pictures murdering him with an automatic weapon . </P> <P> The next morning, Holden, becoming increasingly depressed and in need of personal connection, calls Sally Hayes, a familiar date . Although Holden claims that she is "the queen of all phonies", they agree to meet that afternoon to attend a play at the Biltmore Theater . Holden shops for a special record, "Little Shirley Beans", for his 10 - year - old sister Phoebe . He spots a small boy singing "If a body catch a body coming through the rye", which lifts his mood . Although Holden's date initially goes well, it soon sours after Sally introduces her friend George . After the play, Holden and Sally go ice skating at Rockefeller Center, where Holden suddenly begins ranting against society and frightens Sally . He impulsively invites Sally to run away with him that night to live in the wilderness of New England, but she is uninterested in his hastily conceived plan and declines . The conversation turns sour, and the two angrily part ways . </P> <P> Holden decides to meet his old classmate, a Columbia student named Carl Luce, for drinks at the Wicker Bar in the Seton Hotel . During the meeting, Holden annoys Carl with his fixation on sex . After Luce leaves, Holden gets drunk, awkwardly flirts with several adults, and calls an icy Sally . Exhausted and out of money, Holden wanders over to Central Park to investigate the ducks, breaking Phoebe's record on the way . Nostalgically recalling his experience in elementary school and the unchanging dioramas in the Museum of Natural History that he enjoyed visiting as a child, Holden heads home to see Phoebe . He sneaks into his parents' apartment while they are out, and wakes up Phoebe--the only person with whom he seems to be able to communicate his true feelings . Although Phoebe is happy to see Holden, she quickly deduces that he has been expelled, and chastises him for his aimlessness and his apparent dislikes towards everything . When asked if he cares about anything, Holden shares a selfless fantasy he has been thinking about (based on a mishearing of Robert Burns's Comin' Through the Rye): he pictures himself as the sole guardian of thousands of children playing in a huge rye field on the edge of a cliff . His job is to catch the children if, in their abandon, they come close to falling off the brink; to be, in effect, the "catcher in the rye". Because of this misinterpretation, Holden believes that to be the "catcher in the rye" means to save children from losing their innocence . </P> <P> When his mother returns home, Holden slips out and visits his former and much - admired English teacher, Mr. Antolini, who is now a New York University professor . Mr. Antolini expresses concern that Holden is headed for "a terrible fall" and advises him to begin applying himself . Although Holden is exhausted, he is courteous and considers his advice . Mr. Antolini also provides Holden a place to sleep . Holden is upset when he wakes up in the night to find Mr. Antolini patting his head, which he interprets as a homosexual advance . Confused and uncertain, he leaves and spends the rest of the night in a waiting room at Grand Central Station, where he sinks further into despair and expresses regret over leaving Mr. Antolini . He spends most of Monday morning wandering Fifth Avenue . </P>

The meaning of the catcher in the rye title
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