In The Catcher and the Rye, how does Holden’s discussion about his interaction with a potential “glove thief” foreshadow what happens in the...

Chapter 13 is when Holden imagines confronting a potential glove thief. First, remember that Holden has his red hunting hat on during this imaginative scene because he seems to always act with more confidence while wearing it. The scene that Holden imagines with the glove thief shows him confidently asking for the gloves, searching the room, and finding them in a pair of galoshes. Then the thief gets in Holden's face and asks if he's...

Chapter 13 is when Holden imagines confronting a potential glove thief. First, remember that Holden has his red hunting hat on during this imaginative scene because he seems to always act with more confidence while wearing it. The scene that Holden imagines with the glove thief shows him confidently asking for the gloves, searching the room, and finding them in a pair of galoshes. Then the thief gets in Holden's face and asks if he's calling him a thief. At that point, Holden admits that he would want to punch the guy, but he would actually slowly cower in front of the guy. Holden says the scene would end as follows:

"I'd leave his room without even taking a sock at him. I'd probably go down to the can and sneak a cigarette and watch myself getting tough in the mirror . . . It's no fun to be yellow" (89).

This scene does seem to foreshadow Holden's experience with Sunny, the prostitute at the end of the chapter. He acts all confident before she shows up at his room, but once she's ready to do her job, he backs down. As a result, he seems to offend her, so she says that the deal was $10 not $5 that he gave her for her time to just talk with him, and she leaves calling him a "crumb-bum."

But that's not all because in chapter 14 Sunny returns with her pimp to steal the extra $5 from Holden. The encounter with the pimp also seems to mirror the same scenario as the one with the glove thief. Holden must stand up to a phony who wants to steal something from him and who has more power and control over the situation. Consequently, he gets roughed up a bit and gets the extra $5 taken from him. The glove thief scenario certainly sets up the scenes with the prostitute, and later with her pimp, so the reader gets an example of how Holden really would react in similar situations. Too bad Holden wasn't wearing his red hunting hat with Sunny and her pimp because he may have confronted it with more confidence.