At the start of chapter twenty-five, Holden has just left Mr. Antolini’s apartment because he was frightened by what he thought was a homosexual pass at him. Holden decides to sleep on a bench in Grand Central Station for the rest of the night. In the morning, there is not much to do, so he begins to walk up and down Fifth Avenue. Each time that he crosses a street, he says he feels as if he will disappear, and he feels very uneasy as if he is about to faint. Then, out of the blue, he decides that he is going to just leave New York forever, and he will hitchhike out West. He imagines himself as a hermit and how nice it would be to marry a deaf mute. Next, he has to say farewell to Phoebe so he visits her school with a note to give to her telling her that he is running away, but he wants to meet her so he can return her borrowed money. Holden has a little time to kill, so he walks around the school. He spots some vulgarity on the walls, and he becomes very depressed and upset. When he leaves the school, he goes to visit the museum, and he sees the same vulgarity there. Then, he finally meets Phoebe, and she begs to go with him, Holden refuses, and Phoebe becomes very upset. Holden convinces her to go with him to the zoo to try to cheer her up. Phoebe reluctantly agrees. Phoebe purposefully walks on the other side of the street on the way to the zoo to really prove the point that she is upset at Holden. Finally, when they get close to the zoo, they walk on the same side of the street. After looking at some animals, they walk to the park together. Holden convinces Phoebe to ride the carousel as he sits and watches from the bench. At that moment when he is watching Phoebe and her innocence, he is so happy that he breaks into tears.
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