12

Late at night, Holden rides a smelly, empty-feeling cab through New York and makes small talk with the driver, Horwitz. Seeking comfort in a familiar question, Holden asks where the Central Park ducks go in winter. Horwitz reacts defensively, redirecting to the fish and insisting nature sustains them through the ice, which unsettles Holden.

Holden invites Horwitz for a drink but is rebuffed and dropped at Ernie’s, where the crowd of prep and college kids depresses him. Watching Ernie perform with flashy, showy flourishes and a spotlighted mirror, Holden judges the applause as phony and feels sorry for Ernie for pandering to it.

Seated at a cramped table, Holden drinks alone and eavesdrops: one boy bores his date with football minutiae; another gropes his date while recounting a dorm-mate’s aspirin suicide attempt. The contrast between intimacy and insensitivity heightens Holden’s sense of hypocrisy and loneliness. He asks a waiter to invite Ernie over by dropping D.B.’s name, but suspects the message is ignored.

Lillian Simmons, D.B.’s ex, arrives with a stiff Navy officer and gushes over Holden, transparently angling for news of D.B. Feeling trapped by her phony flattery and the blocked aisle, Holden claims he must meet someone and declines to join them.

Forced by his excuse to leave, Holden retrieves his coat, angry that others keep spoiling things. He exits Ernie’s more isolated than before, his attempts at connection repeatedly backfiring.