The Catcher in the Rye Chapter 16 Summary

Holden keeps thinking about the collection basket as he heads off to meet Sally for their matinee date. He pictures the different people he knows having to hold a collection basket; Sally's mother, for one, would only do it if everyone had to kiss her butt to make a contribution.
It makes him sad that, while Sally's mother would use the money to go to a swanky lunch, the nuns never get to go to a swanky lunch.
Holden heads to Broadway Street to try to pick up a record for his sister Phoebe called "Little Shirley Beans." It's about a kid who lost her two front teeth and is too embarrassed to leave her house.
Holden sees a sort of poor-looking family come out of church and walk in front of him. The mother and father aren't really paying attention to their six-year-old kid, who is singing, "If a body catch a body coming through the rye."
This makes Holden feel better – not so depressed.
He makes it to a crowded Broadway street by about noon, irritated by the fact that everyone so obviously wants to go the movies. It's one thing if there's nothing else to do, but actually wanting to go is nuts.
Holden makes it to a record store and pays five dollars for an apparently rare copy of "Little Shirley Beans."
He then makes it into a phone booth to call Jane, but hangs up when her mother answers the phone.
Instead, he buys orchestra seats for a show called "I Know My Love," which he figures Sally will go nuts over because it has the Lunts (famous actors) in it.
This leads Holden into a digression on show actors. Most of them suck, and if they don't, then they know it, and that makes them bad. Case in point, Sir Laurence Olivier playing Hamlet. Holden says Hamlet is supposed to be a sad, screwed-up guy, not a commanding general-type like Olivier played it.
Holden heads over to the Mall (as in an outside area without cars, not as in an indoor shopping mall) hoping to run into Phoebe in the park.
He runs into a little kid about his sister's age and asks her if she knows Phoebe Caulfield.
She does, but isn't sure where Phoebe is. Holden helps her tighten her skates. She's a nice kid, and he asks her if she wants to have hot chocolate, but she declines, as she has to go meet her friend. Holden thinks this is just awesome.
Holden heads over to the Museum of Natural History (the little girl in the park disclosed that there have been some recent field trips here). He remembers going himself on Saturdays when he was a kid. Mostly, he learned about Columbus.
Holden has always been a big fan of the museum, especially "the Indian Room," a long, quiet hallway you walk through with Native American displays on either side. The best thing is that everything would stay as it would – you kept changing, but the displays wouldn't.
Holden puts his red hunting hat on, adding that he's sure he won't see anybody who knows him anyway.
Certain things, he muses, ought to be able to stay just as they are, without having to change.
He passes two unbalanced kids on a seesaw and tries to even out their weight by putting his hand on the side of the skinnier kid. He can tell they don't want him around, though, so he leaves.
When he finally gets to the museum, it doesn't appeal to him anymore. So he gets in the cab and heads for the Biltmore – not that he wants to go, but he promised Sally.

Next Page: Chapter 17

Previous Page: Chapter 15