9

Holden arrives at Penn Station and ducks into a phone booth, debating whom to call—D.B., Phoebe, Jane’s mother, Sally Hayes, or Carl Luce—but he decides against all of them, fearing parental discovery or awkward conversations. He leaves without calling anyone and grabs a cab, absentmindedly giving his home address before redirecting.

During the ride, Holden pointedly asks the cabbie where the Central Park ducks go when the lagoon freezes, revealing his anxious curiosity about change and survival. Wanting anonymity, he chooses the Edmont Hotel over East Side spots where acquaintances might see him; the cabbie declines Holden’s offer of a drink.

At the Edmont, Holden removes his red hunting cap before checking in and is shown to a depressing room by an aging bellboy. Looking out the window, he voyeuristically watches a distinguished man cross-dress and a couple gleefully squirting drinks at each other, concluding the hotel is “lousy with perverts.”

The scenes both repel and fascinate Holden, prompting a rambling self-examination about sex, his contradictory “rules,” and his fear of spoiling what he values in girls. He toys with calling Jane at school using a fake emergency but decides he isn’t in the right mood to pull it off.

Lonely and aroused, Holden calls Faith Cavendish, a former burlesque performer whose number he got via Princeton acquaintance Eddie Birdsell. After initial suspicion, Faith warms slightly but refuses a same-night drink, citing the late hour and her ill roommate, suggesting another day instead. Holden ends the call frustrated, feeling he’s bungled his chance and remains alone.