n, instead of
             giving off the image of the failing, confused young man. Salinger uses Pencey as a
             mock society of some sorts. Holden does not fit in at Pencey, and he most
             definitely does not fit in as seen in the later settings of the novel. A second
             example of Holden's isolation from his classmates can also be seen when he
             stands alone on the top of the hill during the "big game". During the football game
             Holden perches himself above the football field where he can hear the cheering,
             but he cannot see the crowd. Holden says that he hears the yelling because
             "practically the whole school except me was there" (Salinger 2). Holden's
             isolation from his classmates may be his own doing to some extent, however there
             is another force at work here. The high standards of good grades and involvement
             in other activities separate Holden from the rest of his school. Holden never really
             makes the effort to fit in at Pencey because he knows that it is just a made up
             society, and that it, like the other settings in the novel is just another place that he
             does not belong. The Pencey setting in the novel rejects Holden because of his
             mistake of letting his grades slip. Just as Holden's school casts him out for
             being different and not making the grade, society casts him out because he is
             After Holden leaves his school, he travels to New York City. Holden is
             again singled out and stumbles across the feeling that he does bit
             ...