Holden affiliates with two other men who display homosexual tendencies or are described as displaying them, Carl Luce and Mr. Antolini. Salinger purposefully connects the three males through their attraction to older women, which is possibly a means for the men and boy to conceal their true sexual desires. Carl Luce is dating a Chinese woman who is "in her late thirties" (Salinger, 145) while Antolini is married to a woman who was "about sixty years older" (Salinger, 181) than him. Holden himself is attracted to Mrs. Morrow, as seen through his personal observations of the woman. He said, "she was very good looking" (Salinger, 54) and "had quite a lot of sex appeal" (Salinger, 56). This affinity for older woman is not a coincidence but rather a conscious effort by Salinger to connect the three.
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Luce was the student adviser and would often discuss sex with the other boys, notably situations that would be considered perverted by Holden and the others. A topic Holden discusses extensively is Luce's knowledge on sexuality: “Old Luce knew who every flit and lesbian in the United States was. All you had to do was mention somebody... and Luce would tell you if he was a flit or not.” (Salinger, 143). Flit here is a slang term for a homosexual man. Luce's obsession with this topic is extensive, and Holden claims that occasionally he thought Luce might be gay as
Luce was the student adviser and would often discuss sex with the other boys, notably situations that would be considered perverted by Holden and the others. A topic Holden discusses extensively is Luce's knowledge on sexuality: “Old Luce knew who every flit and lesbian in the United States was. All you had to do was mention somebody... and Luce would tell you if he was a flit or not.” (Salinger, 143). Flit here is a slang term for a homosexual man. Luce's obsession with this topic is extensive, and Holden claims that occasionally he thought Luce might be gay as