Stradlater is Holden’s roommate at the boarding school Pencey Prep. I would describe him as one of those big rough and tough jocks who is not exactly a jock because he does not play sports. I am not quite sure how Holden feels about him because he never really specifies his specific feelings. I would guess though that he is sort of indifferent towards him because at times, he absolutely hates him, but at other times, Holden misses him. For instance, at one point, Holden will not stop calling Stradlater a big moron and a phony. I suppose Holden does this a lot. Anyway, Stradlater just beats the tar out of Holden. Holden has a broken nose for sure and probably a few other broken bones. It is kind of funny though because even with blood all over his face and clothes, Holden just acts as if it is nothing. He just walks down the street looking for something to do as if nothing was wrong and it is just Stradlater being Stradlater. Another thing about Stradlater is that he is a complete pimp with the ladies. He goes out with girls all the time, and he usually borrows Holden’s hounds-tooth jacket. He even sinks so low that he goes out for a night on the town with Holden’s old secret love Jane Gallagher. Holden is quite upset about this, and he keeps thinking about those two together in the back of Stradlater’s coach’s car. It really pisses him off. Stradlater is also a big slob when it comes to hygiene. However, Holden says he is a “secret slob” because nobody knows about his bad hygiene. For example, his razor that he uses to shave every day is super old and rusty. I think that makes Stradlater even grosser than Ackley because he is so secret about it. Everyone knows Ackley is nasty, so they stay away from him, but people would be amazed and horrified at the same time to find out about Stradlater’s nastiness.
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