Page "The Catcher in the Rye" Paragraph 7

After a short sleep, Holden telephones Sally Hayes, a familiar date, and agrees to meet her that afternoon to go to a play.

Meanwhile, Holden leaves the hotel, checks his luggage at Grand Central Station, and has a late breakfast.

He meets two nuns, one an English teacher, with whom he discusses Romeo and Juliet.

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 catches a body coming through the rye ," which somehow makes Holden feel less depressed.

After seeing the play with Sally featuring Broadway stars Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne, the two go skating at Radio City, and while drinking Coke, Holden impulsively invites Sally to run away with him to the wilderness.

She declines.

Her response deflates Holden's mood and prompts his remark: " You give me a royal pain in the ass, if you want to know the truth.

" He regrets it immediately, and Sally storms off as Holden follows, pleading with her to accept his apology.

Finally, Holden gives up and leaves her there, sees the Christmas show at Radio City Music Hall, endures a movie, and gets very drunk.

Throughout the novel, Holden has been worried about the ducks in the lagoon at Central Park.

He tries to find them but only manages to break Phoebe's record in the process.

Exhausted physically and mentally, he heads home to see his sister.