Pencey is Holden’s fourth school; he has already failed out of three others. At Pencey, he has failed four out of five of his classes and has received notice that he is being expelled, but he doesn’t want to return to home before Wednesday. He goes visit his history teacher, Spencer, to say goodbye. And then Spencer tries to speak about his school results, Holden becomes annoyed.

Back at school, Holden is irritated by his unhygienic neighbour, Ackley, and by his own roommate, Stradlater. Stradlater has one date with Jane Gallagher and the problem is that Holden know Jane and he likes her a lot. During the evening Holden is very nervous about this date between Stradlater and Jane. And when Stradlater come back he doesn’t stop to asking him questions. The consequence is that Stradlater strikes him the nose. After that Holden decides to leave Pencey and he goes to New York.

On the train to New York, Holden meets the mother of one student in Pencey. From him, this student is a complete “bastard” but he lies and tells to the mother that his son is very shy and that he’s respected at school. When he arrives at New York he gets in a cab and asks the cab driver where the ducks in Central Park go when the lagoon freezes, but his question annoys the driver. Holden goes to the Edmont Hotel. From his room at the Edmont, Holden can see a transvestite (a dark queen). He also sees a man and a woman turns spitting mouthfuls of their drinks into each other’s faces. He interprets the couple’s behaviour as a form of sexual play. He calls Faith Cavendish, a woman he has never met but he remembers hearing that she used to be a stripper, and he believes he can persuade her to have sex with him. Holden goes downstairs to the Lavender Room, where he dances with three women in their thirties who want to meet a celebrity. When Holden dances with the blonde he feels that he is “half in love” just because she dances well.
Holden leaves the Edmont, he starts to think about Jane