What are the three major events in The Catcher in the Rye?

Three key
scenes from  are the following:

1. Afterhas been
   expelled from Pency and his fight with Stradlater 
2. Holden's date with
   Sally
3. At home with  

1. This first scene
introduces Holden's disdain for phoniness, as well as exemplifying Holden's silent contempt for
adults. 

After Holden is expelled, he goes to the house of , a teacher who
has failed him. Mr. Spencer asks Holden if he does not have any qualms about what he has done
and concerns about his future. Further, Mr. Spencer asks Holden if he has a grudge against him
for having failed him. Then he lectures Holden about life being but a game that a person must
play according to the rules. Holden expresses his contempt for what he perceives as
phoniness:

Some game. If you get on the side where all the
hot-shots are, then it's a game, all rightI'll admit that. But if you get on the other side,
where there aren't any hot-shots, then what's a game about it? Nothing. No game. (Ch.
2)

2. The second scene is Holden's date with Sally, a
scene that reveals the darkness of Holden's state of mind.

Holden is
unrealistic in his expectations with Sally. When they go out, Holden thinks "she looked
terrific"; however, he is repelled by her as she joins the "phonies" in the
lobby. Then he narrates,

I sort of hated old Sally by the
time we got in the cab, after listening to that phony Andover bastard for about ten hours. (Ch.
17)

Later, he asks Sally to run away with him and get
married. Holden's desperate need for love is in sharp contrast here with Holden's inability to
deal with all the complexities of the real world, much as in his encounter with the nuns in , in
which his behavior is also inappropriate.

3. The third scene is Holden's
visit to Phoebe.

After having lost his brother, Holden cherishes his little
sister Phoebe, who shares the intelligence of their dead brother. Phoebe loves Holden, too, and
gives him a feeling of security as she sees past his idiosyncrasies.

Holden
comes to visit Phoebe as he feels her innocence will refresh him. He tells Phoebe that he wants
to be the "catcher in the rye" and catch children if they run too close to the edge of
a cliff. This wish is an expression of trying to stop time for Phoebe and keep all children
innocent. "...That's the only thing I'd really like to be" (Ch.
22).