The Catcher in the Rye
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The Catcher in the Rye Chapter 19 Summary
- The Wicker Bar is located in the swanky Seton Hotel. Holden doesn't go there as much anymore because it's got "phonies […] coming in the window."
- Not to mention the two French girls that do an entertaining act there.
- So Holden gets there early, has a few scotch and sodas, and listens to the guy next to him trying to work his date by telling her she's got "aristocratic hands."
- Carl shows up, and Holden gives us the back-story: Luce was supposed to be his student advisor at Whooton, but all he did was give all the boys talks about sex and who was a "flit" (i.e., who was gay). According to Luce, nearly everyone was.
- This led Holden to believe that, perhaps, Luce himself was gay.
- Luce sits down at the bar, says he can only stay a few minutes, and orders a dry martini.
- Holden is surprisingly energetic in his attempts at conversation. He asks right away about Carl's sex life, college major, etc.
- Luce doesn't want to play that game, nor is he interested in giving Holden any advice. He just wants to have a quiet drink.
- They end up talking about a "sculptress" in "the Village" that Luce is dating, who is apparently in her late thirties.
- Holden responds: "No kidding, they [meaning older women] are better for sex and all?"
- Carl is obviously trying incredibly hard to come off as mature and sophisticated, so he refuses to answer any of these "typical Caulfield questions."
- Luce reveals that the woman is Chinese, and after some more badgering by Holden, that he prefers the Eastern point-of-view that sex is both a spiritual and physical experience.
- Holden feels the same way – he thinks. He gets excited at the prospect, and Luce berates him for being too loud.
- Holden admits (to us) that he does sometimes get too loud when he's excited (which reminds us of his conversation with Sally, when she kept telling him not to yell).
- He's confused about how sex should be that way, but how he can't make it feel that way with every girl. As Holden continues to press the issue, Luce refuses to talk about it further.
- Holden hates how Luce is the kind of the guy that wants everybody to listen to him talk about other people's personal lives, but refuses to answer questions about himself. And he always has to be the big shot.
- Luce tells Holden he's immature.
- Holden agrees. He says the problem is that he can't get really sexy with a girl that he likes a lot. He asks what Carl's father (who is a psychoanalyst) would think about that.
- Carl says his father would help Holden recognize the patterns in his mind. His father did as much for Carl himself.
- Luce pays his check and says he's got to go, even though Holden asks him to stay for another drink. After he's gone, Holden says he's "strictly a pain in the ass."
