The Catcher in the Rye Ch. 13: Sally's Matinee

J.D. Salinger

An Excerpt

Sally's Matinee and Maurice

0:00

0:00 / 0:00

0:00

Summary

Holden fusses over his clothes and meets Sally at the Biltmore. For a moment she looks glad to see him and he lets himself hope. The matinee is hollow to him and pleasant to her. At intermission a boy from another school name-drops. Holden smiles and seethes. Afterwards he complains about the actors and the audience. Sally tells him to stop. She wants a nice afternoon. He wants someone who understands why he cannot enjoy it. Under the bickering he is already thinking about the Edmont and the money still owed.

When he goes back, Sunny arrives with Maurice. They want five dollars more. Holden refuses. Maurice pushes him and punches him in the stomach. Sunny takes cash from his wallet. He ends on the floor. For a minute he imagines himself a film tough with a pistol. The picture dies. He is a bruised boy on a bed, the theatre afternoon unfinished beside the pain.

The theatre tickets and the bruise end up in the same afternoon. He had wanted a normal date and got a debt collected by force. Sally is unfinished. Maurice is not. Hope at the Biltmore does not survive the ride back to the hotel.

In this chapter: Terms Characters Key Quotes Modern Story

Why This Matters

Settling the Fear Before the Pleasant Plan

An unfinished threat can sit under a date and ruin it before anyone is rude. Holden takes Sally to a matinee, then goes back to the Edmont where Maurice punches him over five dollars.

Before you book a pleasant afternoon, deal with the thing you are afraid will be waiting when you get home, and Name it to someone, or decide the money, the apology, or the boundary in writing first.

This chapter

Inside the Mind: Maurice

Maurice wants five dollars more, punches him in the stomach, and leaves him on the floor. For a minute Holden pictures himself as a film tough with a pistol, and then the picture dies. He wanted a normal date and got a debt collected by a man who does not need to be believed, so fantasy was the last room where he still had a weapon.

Continue this thoughtA Voice That Will Not Land

Coming Up in Chapter 14

Holden stays on the bed, stomach aching, and talks to Allie so he will not disappear. The five dollars turn into a question about Jesus, the nuns, and whether he is a coward for losing to a grown man.

PreviousPrevious Chapter NextNext Chapter

Chapter overview

200 wordsexcerpt

Chapter 13

Sally's Matinee and Maurice

Master this chapter. Complete your experience

Purchase the complete book to access all chapters and support classic literature

Buy atAmazon.com

Available in paperback, hardcover, and e-book formats

Alice Adams

Booth Tarkington

Explores personal growth

The Grapes of Wrath

John Steinbeck

Explores personal growth

The Great Gatsby

F. Scott Fitzgerald

Explores identity & self

Ulysses

James Joyce

Explores identity & self

Lessons from The Catcher in the Rye

Theme-by-theme analyses that connect this book to modern life skills.

Deep diving the literary elements.

Sally's Matinee and Maurice

Summary

Why This Matters