Supporting Characters in "The Catcher in the Rye": Mr. Antolini

Mr. Antolini was very important to The Catcher in the Rye. He added a lot to the story, and taught another lesson that would be good to take away from the book. Mr. Antolini had been one of Holden Caulfield's professors at a different school that he had gone to previously. Mr. Antolini taught English, and since Holden was good at English, Mr. Antolini knew how much potential Holden had. He was very welcoming when Holden called him in the middle of the night, and he had no problems letting Holden spend the night after Holden had told Mr. Antolini his predicament. When Holden arrived at his house, Mr. Antolini began to discuss with him school and his potential and what would happen to him now. He was glad to find out that Holden had not failed out of English, but he was still upset with Holden for not applying himself to school. He lectured Holden on the importance of school and how hard it would be for Holden to make something of himself if he did not apply himself to his schoolwork. Mr. Antolini was not afraid to be frank with Holden, but he often used words that Holden did not understand, so some of his speech was lost on Holden. Soon, they both went to bed, Mr. Antolini in his room and Holden on the couch in the living room. When Holden woke up in the middle of the night, Mr. Antolini was laying next to him, stroking his face. Mr. Antolini jumped up, obviously embarrassed, and tried to erase the tension from the situation. Holden quickly left and never went back. Mr. Antolini may have been a good teacher, but it seemed like he had ulterior motives for being around all of the young boys. This is a good way to quickly learn the lesson that one should not stay with anyone that they do not know very well, no matter how kind the other person seems. While Mr. Antolini was not in the story for very long, he still added greatly to Holden Caulfield's experiences in The Catcher in the Rye.