The Catcher in the Rye Robert Ackley

            In Chapter 3 of The Catcher in the Rye, the readers are introduced to a peculiar character.  His name is Robert Ackley.  You would think he would be called “Bob” or “Rob” but he actually goes by “Ackley.”  Everyone calls him Ackley.  “If he ever gets married, his own wife’ll probably call him ‘Ackley’” (Salinger 19).  Ackley lives in the room next to Holden Caulfield at Pencey. 

As Holden tells us, Ackley is a senior at Pencey and is a big fella.  He is close to six four and has round shoulders.  Ackley seems to look and act like the typical teenage boy from what J.D. Salinger describes which is pimples and laziness. Holden tells us that “he had a lot of pimples” and unlike most guys, they were all over his face (Salinger 19).  “He hardly went anywhere” (Salinger 19).  The author made sure to put emphasis on the “any” in anywhere by italicizing it.  The biggest flaw Holden sees in Ackley is his “lousy teeth” (Salinger 19).  “The whole time he roomed next to me, I never even once saw him brush his teeth.  They always looked mossy and awful” (Salinger 19). 

One thing that would bug me about Ackley, which annoys Holden greatly, is how he goes through people’s things.  “He started walking around the room, very slow and all, the way he always did, picking up your personal stuff off your desk or chiffonier.  He always picked up your personal stuff and looked at it” (Salinger 20).  From how Holden phrased that sentence, you are able to see that Ackley tends to do that often.  I do not like when people go through my things, let alone put it back in the wrong place.  “He always put it back in the wrong place, too” (Salinger 20).  Overall, Ackley is an interesting character that all novels need.

Salinger, J. D. The Catcher in the Rye. Boston: Little, Brown, 1951. Print.