Mr. Spencer is an old man, Holden's Pencey history teacher, and from his sick bed he gives out conventional advice to Holden, telling him he needs to think about his future before it is "too late." On the whole, however, Holden doesn't listen to what Mr. Spencer is saying, tuning out what he thinks is a "lecture."

Mr. Antolini, Holden's former teacher at the Elkton Hill school, is younger and much more sophisticated than Mr. Spencer. Holden knows him on a personal level through his family and has played tennis with him. Mr. Antolini lives in a fancy New York apartment with his wife, and he smokes. He also drinks so many highballs that Holden fears he will become an alcoholic. Like Mr. Spencer, Mr. Antolini believes Holden is heading for a bad end. He writes the following advice down for Holden:

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.

Both former teachers offer Holden the same wisdom: get your act together before it is too late. The main difference is that although Mr. Spencer is old and less relatable to Holden than Mr. Antolini, he has Holden's best interests at heart. Mr. Antolini, it turns out, merely wants to seduce Holden. Holden knows all about what he calls "perverts" from his boarding schools and flees the apartment.

The difference between the two teachers made the difference in the advice they gave Holden. First, Mr. Spencer was old and sickly which didn't sit well with Holden as a visual aide for listening. Holden also critically analyzed everything Spencer was doing while he spoke. But the worst thing that left Spencer with little rapport with Holden was the way he called him "boy" and asked short, insensitive questions. Holden said, "I wished to hell he'd stop calling me 'boy' all the time" (12). So Holden fed Spencer all of the normal things a boy should say to a teacher in a respectful response. On the other hand, Mr. Antolini was younger, had a better rapport with students, and was a family friend. Antolini had a longer history with the Caulfields and Holden that would have made Holden listen better had he not been so sleepy at the time. Also, Antolini's answer was more heart-felt and philosophical than Spencer's was. Antolini tried to make a case for the benefits of education while also showing his concern for Holden's choices and possible consequences of his actions.