Holden plans to stay away from home until what weekday?

Holden plans to stay away from home until Wednesday. After leaving Pencey Preparatory Academy, he decides to reach New York early and spend several days alone before his parents learn that he has been expelled.

The choice of Wednesday is practical rather than symbolic. Holden expects the school’s notification of his expulsion to arrive at his family’s apartment by then, so he wants to delay his return until his parents have had time to receive the news. He stays in a hotel instead of immediately going home, even though he is only sixteen and increasingly frightened by his isolation.

His plan quickly becomes unpredictable. In New York, Holden encounters hotel guests, hires a prostitute named Sunny, fights with her pimp Maurice, meets Sally Hayes, and visits his former teacher Mr. Antolini. The days he imagined controlling become a sequence of increasingly distressing episodes.

The Wednesday deadline also shows Holden’s mixture of avoidance and responsibility. He does not want to face his parents or explain another expulsion, but he has not completely abandoned home. His delay is part of the novel’s larger pattern: he wants independence while still seeking protection, affection, and connection.