Chapter 24

In Chapter 24 of The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, Holden goes to visit his English teacher from Elkton Hills, Mr. Antolini and his wife. Holden tells Mr. Antolini about his experience at Pencey and how he failed a course called Oral Expression because he liked hearing people digress from the point that they started talking about. This is yet another subtle sign of Holden's immaturity. He is like a child because he cannot sit through the same thing for too long, he likes it when the subject of something slowly begins to go off track because that is more interesting to him than listening to the same topic for a while. "The trouble with me is, I like it when someone digresses. It's more interesting and all." (pg.238) Then later once Holden goes to bed, he wakes up to feel Mr. Antolini pat him on the head. This frightens Holden into leaving because he thinks that this was a "flitty" move. It is interesting to note that Holden criticized Luce earlier in the novel about his attitude towards homosexuals when Holden is not acting any more mature here.