Who was Luce to Holden?

• A. A classmate from Whooten who Holden disliked.
• B. A teacher.
• C. A classmate from Whooten who Holden disliked.
• D. A stranger.

Answer: (C)

Luce is someone Holden knows from his previous school, Whooton. He isn’t a teacher, and he isn’t a stranger Holden meets for the first time. Holden encounters Luce later in New York and sees him as an older, polished student from Whooton who talks with a certain cool, sophisticated air. That combination—knowing him from Whooton and feeling mixed about his pretensions—leads to describing Luce as a classmate from Whooton whom Holden disliked. This fits Holden’s ongoing tension with people he sees as phony or wiped by adult sophistication. The other options don’t fit because Luce isn’t a teacher and isn’t a stranger, and the reference to Whooton places him specifically as a former classmate.