At a nearby table, some “Yale-looking guy” is talking to his date about an attempted suicide while copping a feel under the table. Several critics have noticed the juxtaposition of sex and death in the novel, this scene at Ernie’s being one of the more bizarre examples. Holden concludes that he is “surrounded by jerks.”
Lillian Simmons, who used to date D.B., comes by Holden’s table with her date, a Navy officer. She is annoying in a bubbly, phony way that Holden finds particularly irritating. The only real thing about her may be her “very big knockers.” She loves to be noticed. Holden knows that she only wants to impress him so that he will tell D.B. about her, and he quickly declines her invitation to join Lillian and her date at their table. Having told her that he was just leaving, he heads back to the hotel.
