Holden Caulfield is the protagonist and storyteller of the novel Catcher in the Rye. He is sixteen years old and has just been expelled for academic failure from the latest of four institutions – Pencey Prep School in Agerstown, Pennsylvania. Though intelligent and expressive, he narrates his story in a cynical manner, finding unbearable the hypocrisy of the adult world around him. He tries to protect himself from his pain and disappointment by means of that cynicism. The criticisms that Holden directs towards the people around him are unwittingly aimed at himself, although at times he refuses to admit his mistakes. As the story begins, Holden is standing on a promontory that separates childhood from adulthood and he is unable to negotiate the chasm. This leaves him in a precarious state of emotional breakdown. In Chapters I and II, he relates his story from a rest home or sanatorium to which he has been sent for therapy. Heretofore, Holden lives in Ossenburger Hall, and in Chapters III and IV, he sits in his room reading. He is interrupted by Ackley, a pimply student who lives next door. Ackley is an unwelcome classmate of his who constantly barges into Holden’s room. Ackley exhibits disgusting personal habits and poor hygiene. He feels he is doing Holden a favor by spending time with the latter. Ackley hinders Holden from his reading, pesters him with annoying questions and further aggravates Holden by annoying questions, and further aggravates Holden by cutting his fingernails on the floor. He also refuses to take Holden’s hints that he leave. However, when Holden’s handsome and popular roommate, Stradlater enters, Ackley who hates his guts, returns to his own room. Stradlater reveals to Holden that he has a date waiting and that he needs to shave. Holden inwardly decides that whereas Ackley is ugly and is an obvious slob, Stradley is a “secret slob”. Stradley asks Holden to write an essay for him and informs him that the former is taking a girl whom Holden felt drawn to in the past – Jane Gallagher. Holden is saddened that Stradlater, a sexually experienced fellow is taking her on a date. Before he leaves, he borrows Holden’s hound’s-tooth jacket. After Stradlater leaves, Holden is tormented by the thoughts of Jane and Stradlater together. Ackley barges in again, squeezing pimples until dinnertime. So far we see how Holden interacts with the “phonies” around him – people whose surface behavior disguises their inner self. Even his brother D.H. incurs his displeasure by receiving a large paycheck to write for the movies. Holden deems the cinema to be the phoniest of all, emphasizing from beginning to end his hatred for Hollywood. Sadly, at Pencey Prep School, Holden is surrounded by phonies – primping Ackley and egocentric Stradlater to start with. Yet Holden reacts with kindness toward them. He allows Ackley to barge into his room and agrees to write a composition for Stradlater, despite his worry that Stradlater may make sexual advances toward Jane whom Holden cares for very deeply. On the other hand, Holden makes it such that Ackley and Stradlater are unsympathetic characters. He knows that Ackley behaves in the way he does because he is insecure and unpopular. Yet he focuses on Ackley’s surface – his outward appearanc