3. How much time passes throughout the novel?

Throughout the novel Catcher in the Rye, I don't think much time had passed during Holden's adventure, even with the amount of experiences he went through. Holden's adventures take place in December, starting on "the Saturday of the football game with Saxon Hall" (2). So it's early-to-mid December, I know that because Holden mentions throughout the novel many times that it is "close to Christmas". I don't know the exact date, but that's approximately the time period that his adventures on his own in New York City occur. At the end of the book the time is not specifically noted. Although, we do know however, that Holden refers to going to another school "next fall" (213), so I assume that the time that he is in a convalescent hospital (or perhaps a psychiatric ward, as Holden mentions a "psychoanalyst", Ibid) during the following spring or summer. It's possible an entire year has past, but the tone that Holden employs does not imply that that amount of time has elapsed. These are events which have happened in the recent past: within the past few months. So through the time that Holden had his adventures in New York City, not much time had passed, but near the end of the novel Holden starts to explain what is happening in his life, and it seems as though a lot of time has passed since the end of his adventures.