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The Catcher in the Rye

by J. D. Salinger

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Chapter 21 Questions and Answers

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Study Questions
1. When Holden gets on the elevator, whom does he tell the operator he is going to visit?

2. Holden is very skillful at opening the door quietly. What profession does he say he should have gone into?

3. When Holden enters the family apartment, how does he know for sure that he is in the right apartment?

4. How does Holden describe his mother’s hearing ability?

5. Why does Phoebe not like her own room?

6. During the first few moments that he is in Phoebe’s room, Holden says something he has not said for many chapters. What is it?

7. Holden’s mother has outstanding tastes in what area?

8. What kind of reading does Holden find very interesting?

9. How did Phoebe hurt her arm?

10. What does Holden say that he may do now that he has been expelled from school?

Answers
1. Holden tells the elevator operator that he is going to visit the Dickstein Family.

2. Holden is so skillful at opening the door quietly, he says that he should have been a crook.

3. Holden knows that he is in the right apartment because their apartment has a distinctive smell.

4. Holden says that his mother can hear like a bloodhound (sic!).

5. Phoebe does not like her own room because it is too small.

6. Holden says the he feels “swell” for a change. He just feels good.

7. Holden’s mother has outstanding taste in buying clothes.

8. Holden enjoys reading a child’s school notebook.

9. Phoebe hurt her arm when Curtis Weintraub, a classmate, pushed her down the stairs in the park.

10. Holden says that he may get a job on a ranch in Colorado.

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Chapter 22 Questions and Answers