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# Chapter 4 ## Overview This entity is [Chapter 4](arke:01KG0725KS20AJHNWVF53R5WKQ) of a larger literary work, extracted from a source file titled *Rye.pdf*. It spans lines 646 to 870 of the original text and corresponds to pages 15 through 19 of the physical or digital document. The chapter is part of the [More Classics](arke:01KFXT0KM64XT6K8W52TDEE0YS) collection, which includes canonical Western literary works. The text is presented in its original narrative form, preserving line numbers and page references as metadata. ## Context The chapter is narrated in the first person by Holden Caulfield, a teenage student at Pencey Prep, and is written in a colloquial, stream-of-consciousness style characteristic of mid-20th-century American literature. It follows Holden’s interactions with his roommate, Stradlater, and reflects themes of alienation, identity, and adolescent anxiety. The narrative is structured around a single scene in the school’s restroom ("the can"), where Holden observes Stradlater’s grooming habits and engages in conversation while grappling with personal insecurities and emotional turmoil. ## Contents The chapter details Holden’s visit to the restroom while Stradlater shaves. Holden, wearing his signature red hunting hat, critiques Stradlater’s superficial charm and secret sloppiness, particularly his use of a dirty razor. Stradlater asks Holden to write a descriptive composition for him, prompting Holden’s ironic response given that he is failing the class. During their conversation, Stradlater reveals his date is Jane Gallagher, a girl Holden knew intimately the previous summer. This revelation deeply unsettles Holden, triggering a flood of memories: playing checkers with Jane, her quirky habit of not moving her kings, her mother’s golfing habits, and her troubled home life with an alcoholic stepfather who behaved inappropriately. Holden becomes increasingly agitated, revealing his protective feelings toward Jane and his jealousy over Stradlater’s date with her. The chapter ends with Stradlater leaving for his date and Holden remaining behind, consumed by anxiety, until Ackley enters and distracts him with his usual intrusive behavior.

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2026-01-27T17:22:14.897Z

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Chapter 4

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619 4 <!-- [Page 15](arke:01KFYTAC5SFZZH9HEG0DC0QWX5) --> 620 I didn't have anything special to do, so I went down to the can and chewed the rag 621 with him while he was shaving. We were the only ones in the can, because everybody 622 was still down at the game. It was hot as hell and the windows were all steamy. There 623 were about ten washbowls, all right against the wall. Stradlater had the middle one. I sat 624 down on the one right next to him and started turning the cold water on and off--this 625 nervous habit I have. Stradlater kept whistling 'Song of India" while he shaved. He had 626 one of those very piercing whistles that are practically never in tune, and he always 627 picked out some song that's hard to whistle even if you're a good whistler, like "Song of 628 India" or "Slaughter on Tenth Avenue." He could really mess a song up. 629 You remember I said before that Ackley was a slob in his personal habits? Well, 630 so was Stradlater, but in a different way. Stradlater was more of a secret slob. He always 631 looked all right, Stradlater, but for instance, you should've seen the razor he shaved 632 himself with. It was always rusty as hell and full of lather and hairs and crap. He never 633 cleaned it or anything. He always looked good when he was finished fixing himself up, 634 but he was a secret slob anyway, if you knew him the way I did. The reason he fixed 635 himself up to look good was because he was madly in love with himself. He thought he 636 was the handsomest guy in the Western Hemisphere. He was pretty handsome, too--I'll 637 admit it. But he was mostly the kind of a handsome guy that if your parents saw his 638 picture in your Year Book, they'd right away say, "Who's this boy?" I mean he was 639 mostly a Year Book kind of handsome guy. I knew a lot of guys at Pencey I thought were 640 a lot handsomer than Stradlater, but they wouldn't look handsome if you saw their 641 pictures in the Year Book. They'd look like they had big noses or their ears stuck out. I've 642 had that experience frequently. 643 Anyway, I was sitting on the washbowl next to where Stradlater was shaving, sort 644 of turning the water on and off. I still had my red hunting hat on, with the peak around to 645 the back and all. I really got a bang out of that hat. 646 "Hey," Stradlater said. "Wanna do me a big favor?" 647 "What?" I said. Not too enthusiastic. He was always asking you to do him a big 648 favor. You take a very handsome guy, or a guy that thinks he's a real hot-shot, and they're 649 always asking you to do them a big favor. Just because they're crazy about themseif, they 650 think you're crazy about them, too, and that you're just dying to do them a favor. It's sort 651 of funny, in a way. 652 "You goin' out tonight?" he said. 653 "I might. I might not. I don't know. Why?" 654 "I got about a hundred pages to read for history for Monday," he said. "How 'bout 655 writing a composition for me, for English? I'll be up the creek if I don't get the goddam 656 thing in by Monday, the reason I ask. How 'bout it?" 657 It was very ironical. It really was. 658 "I'm the one that's flunking out of the goddam place, and you're asking me to 659 write you a goddam composition," I said. 660 "Yeah, I know. The thing is, though, I'll be up the creek if I don't get it in. Be a 661 buddy. Be a buddyroo. Okay?" 662 I didn't answer him right away. Suspense is good for some bastards like 663 Stradlater. 664 "What on?" I said. <!-- [Page 16](arke:01KFYTACA0EJ1V0G7E974SNQF0) --> 665 "Anything. Anything descriptive. A room. Or a house. Or something you once 666 lived in or something-- you know. Just as long as it's descriptive as hell." He gave out a 667 big yawn while he said that. Which is something that gives me a royal pain in the ass. I 668 mean if somebody yawns right while they're asking you to do them a goddam favor. "Just 669 don't do it too good, is all," he said. "That sonuvabitch Hartzell thinks you're a hot-shot in 670 English, and he knows you're my roommate. So I mean don't stick all the commas and 671 stuff in the right place." 672 That's something else that gives me a royal pain. I mean if you're good at writing 673 compositions and somebody starts talking about commas. Stradlater was always doing 674 that. He wanted you to think that the only reason he was lousy at writing compositions 675 was because he stuck all the commas in the wrong place. He was a little bit like Ackley, 676 that way. I once sat next to Ackley at this basketball game. We had a terrific guy on the 677 team, Howie Coyle, that could sink them from the middle of the floor, without even 678 touching the backboard or anything. Ackley kept saying, the whole goddam game, that 679 Coyle had a perfect build for basketball. God, how I hate that stuff. 680 I got bored sitting on that washbowl after a while, so I backed up a few feet and 681 started doing this tap dance, just for the hell of it. I was just amusing myself. I can't really 682 tap-dance or anything, but it was a stone floor in the can, and it was good for tap-dancing. 683 I started imitating one of those guys in the movies. In one of those musicals. I hate the 684 movies like poison, but I get a bang imitating them. Old Stradlater watched me in the 685 mirror while he was shaving. All I need's an audience. I'm an exhibitionist. "I'm the 686 goddarn Governor's son," I said. I was knocking myself out. Tap-dancing all over the 687 place. "He doesn't want me to be a tap dancer. He wants me to go to Oxford. But it's in 688 my goddam blood, tap-dancing." Old Stradlater laughed. He didn't have too bad a sense 689 of humor. "It's the opening night of the Ziegfeld Follies." I was getting out of breath. I 690 have hardly any wind at all. "The leading man can't go on. He's drunk as a bastard. So 691 who do they get to take his place? Me, that's who. The little ole goddam Governor's son." 692 "Where'dja get that hat?" Stradlater said. He meant my hunting hat. He'd never 693 seen it before. 694 I was out of breath anyway, so I quit horsing around. I took off my hat and looked 695 at it for about the ninetieth time. "I got it in New York this morning. For a buck. Ya like 696 it?" 697 Stradlater nodded. "Sharp," he said. He was only flattering me, though, because 698 right away he said, "Listen. Are ya gonna write that composition for me? I have to 699 know." 700 "If I get the time, I will. If I don't, I won't," I said. I went over and sat down at the 701 washbowl next to him again. "Who's your date?" I asked him. "Fitzgerald?" 702 "Hell, no! I told ya. I'm through with that pig." 703 "Yeah? Give her to me, boy. No kidding. She's my type." 704 "Take her . . . She's too old for you." 705 All of a sudden--for no good reason, really, except that I was sort of in the mood 706 for horsing around--I felt like jumping off the washbowl and getting old Stradlater in a 707 half nelson. That's a wrestling hold, in case you don't know, where you get the other guy 708 around the neck and choke him to death, if you feel like it. So I did it. I landed on him 709 like a goddam panther. <!-- [Page 17](arke:01KFYTAC30XS21WE22781QHBKC) --> 710 "Cut it out, Holden, for Chrissake!" Stradlater said. He didn't feel like horsing 711 around. He was shaving and all. "Wuddaya wanna make me do--cut my goddam head 712 off?" 713 I didn't let go, though. I had a pretty good half nelson on him. "Liberate yourself 714 from my viselike grip." I said. 715 "Je-sus Christ." He put down his razor, and all of a sudden jerked his arms up and 716 sort of broke my hold on him. He was a very strong guy. I'm a very weak guy. "Now, cut 717 out the crap," he said. He started shaving himself all over again. He always shaved 718 himself twice, to look gorgeous. With his crumby old razor. 719 "Who is your date if it isn't Fitzgerald?" I asked him. I sat down on the washbowl 720 next to him again. "That Phyllis Smith babe?" 721 "No. It was supposed to he, but the arrangements got all screwed up. I got Bud 722 Thaw's girl's roommate now . . . Hey. I almost forgot. She knows you." 723 "Who does?" I said. 724 "My date." 725 "Yeah?" I said. "What's her name?" I was pretty interested. 726 "I'm thinking . . . Uh. Jean Gallagher." 727 Boy, I nearly dropped dead when he said that. 728 "Jane Gallagher," I said. I even got up from the washbowl when he said that. I 729 damn near dropped dead. "You're damn right I know her. She practically lived right next 730 door to me, the summer before last. She had this big damn Doberman pinscher. That's 731 how I met her. Her dog used to keep coming over in our--" 732 "You're right in my light, Holden, for Chrissake," Stradlater said. "Ya have to 733 stand right there?" 734 Boy, was I excited, though. I really was. 735 "Where is she?" I asked him. "I oughta go down and say hello to her or 736 something. Where is she? In the Annex?" 737 "Yeah." 738 "How'd she happen to mention me? Does she go to B.M. now? She said she might 739 go there. She said she might go to Shipley, too. I thought she went to Shipley. How'd she 740 happen to mention me?" I was pretty excited. I really was. 741 "I don't know, for Chrissake. Lift up, willya? You're on my towel," Stradlater 742 said. I was sitting on his stupid towel. 743 "Jane Gallagher," I said. I couldn't get over it. "Jesus H. Christ." 744 Old Stradlater was putting Vitalis on his hair. My Vitalis. 745 "She's a dancer," I said. "Ballet and all. She used to practice about two hours 746 every day, right in the middle of the hottest weather and all. She was worried that it might 747 make her legs lousy--all thick and all. I used to play checkers with her all the time." 748 "You used to play what with her all the time?" 749 "Checkers." 750 "Checkers, for Chrissake!" 751 "Yeah. She wouldn't move any of her kings. What she'd do, when she'd get a king, 752 she wouldn't move it. She'd just leave it in the back row. She'd get them all lined up in the 753 back row. Then she'd never use them. She just liked the way they looked when they were 754 all in the back row." 755 Stradlater didn't say anything. That kind of stuff doesn't interest most people. <!-- [Page 18](arke:01KFYTAC5EHPP6XN7PFR3SNX18) --> 756 "Her mother belonged to the same club we did," I said. "I used to caddy once in a 757 while, just to make some dough. I caddy'd for her mother a couple of times. She went 758 around in about a hundred and seventy, for nine holes." 759 Stradlater wasn't hardly listening. He was combing his gorgeous locks. 760 "I oughta go down and at least say hello to her," I said. 761 "Why don'tcha?" 762 "I will, in a minute." 763 He started parting his hair all over again. It took him about an hour to comb his 764 hair. 765 "Her mother and father were divorced. Her mother was married again to some 766 booze hound," I said. "Skinny guy with hairy legs. I remember him. He wore shorts all 767 the time. Jane said he was supposed to be a playwright or some goddam thing, but all I 768 ever saw him do was booze all the time and listen to every single goddam mystery 769 program on the radio. And run around the goddam house, naked. With Jane around, and 770 all." 771 "Yeah?" Stradlater said. That really interested him. About the booze hound 772 running around the house naked, with Jane around. Stradlater was a very sexy bastard. 773 "She had a lousy childhood. I'm not kidding." 774 That didn't interest Stradlater, though. Only very sexy stuff interested him. 775 "Jane Gallagher. Jesus . . . I couldn't get her off my mind. I really couldn't. "I 776 oughta go down and say hello to her, at least." 777 "Why the hell don'tcha, instead of keep saying it?" Stradlater said. 778 I walked over to the window, but you couldn't see out of it, it was so steamy from 779 all the heat in the can.. "I'm not in the mood right now," I said. I wasn't, either. You have 780 to be in the mood for those things. "I thought she went to Shipley. I could've sworn she 781 went to Shipley." I walked around the can for a little while. I didn't have anything else to 782 do. "Did she enjoy the game?" I said. 783 "Yeah, I guess so. I don't know." 784 "Did she tell you we used to play checkers all the time, or anything?" 785 "I don't know. For Chrissake, I only just met her," Stradlater said. He was finished 786 combing his goddam gorgeous hair. He was putting away all his crumby toilet articles. 787 "Listen. Give her my regards, willya?" 788 "Okay," Stradlater said, but I knew he probably wouldn't. You take a guy like 789 Stradlater, they never give your regards to people. 790 He went back to the room, but I stuck around in the can for a while, thinking 791 about old Jane. Then I went back to the room, too. 792 Stradlater was putting on his tie, in front of the mirror, when I got there. He spent 793 around half his goddam life in front of the mirror. I sat down in my chair and sort of 794 watched him for a while. 795 "Hey," I said. "Don't tell her I got kicked out, willya?" 796 "Okay." 797 That was one good thing about Stradlater. You didn't have to explain every 798 goddam little thing with him, the way you had to do with Ackley. Mostly, I guess, 799 because he wasn't too interested. That's really why. Ackley, it was different. Ackley was 800 a very nosy bastard. 801 He put on my hound's-tooth jacket. <!-- [Page 19](arke:01KFYTAC5VBKH3YPTM6N5GCMRQ) --> 802 "Jesus, now, try not to stretch it all over the place" I said. I'd only worn it about 803 twice. 804 "I won't. Where the hell's my cigarettes?" 805 "On the desk." He never knew where he left anything. "Under your muffler." He 806 put them in his coat pocket--my coat pocket. 807 I pulled the peak of my hunting hat around to the front all of a sudden, for a 808 change. I was getting sort of nervous, all of a sudden. I'm quite a nervous guy. "Listen, 809 where ya going on your date with her?" I asked him. "Ya know yet?" 810 "I don't know. New York, if we have time. She only signed out for nine-thirty, for 811 Chrissake." 812 I didn't like the way he said it, so I said, "The reason she did that, she probably 813 just didn't know what a handsome, charming bastard you are. If she'd known, she 814 probably would've signed out for nine-thirty in the morning." 815 "Goddam right," Stradlater said. You couldn't rile him too easily. He was too 816 conceited. "No kidding, now. Do that composition for me," he said. He had his coat on, 817 and he was all ready to go. "Don't knock yourself out or anything, but just make it 818 descriptive as hell. Okay?" 819 I didn't answer him. I didn't feel like it. All I said was, "Ask her if she still keeps 820 all her kings in the back row." 821 "Okay," Stradlater said, but I knew he wouldn't. "Take it easy, now." He banged 822 the hell out of the room. 823 I sat there for about a half hour after he left. I mean I just sat in my chair, not 824 doing anything. I kept thinking about Jane, and about Stradlater having a date with her 825 and all. It made me so nervous I nearly went crazy. I already told you what a sexy bastard 826 Stradlater was. 827 All of a sudden, Ackley barged back in again, through the damn shower curtains, 828 as usual. For once in my stupid life, I was really glad to see him. He took my mind off the 829 other stuff. 830 He stuck around till around dinnertime, talking about all the guys at Pencey that 831 he hated their guts, and squeezing this big pimple on his chin. He didn't even use his 832 handkerchief. I don't even think the bastard had a handkerchief, if you want to know the 833 truth. I never saw him use one, anyway.

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