I'm sorry if I'm a bit late on to this subject, but here's my two pence worth on Mr Antolini. I think he was stroking Holden's hair because a) he was tight and therefore more emotional than he might otherwise be(obvious I guess, and b) because he was sad about what was happening to H. I think (as someone else mentioned) that he had been like H but had compromised (sold out to a degree maybe) and was sad about that. I think he wanted "perfection" as H did and had hoped that H could maybe be the one that could carry on without falling off that cliff. Maybe he didn't want to believe that innocence and honesty would always be damaged by adulthood, cynicism, maturity whatever. Maybe H was his last hope and he was seeing it proved that either that innocence would be damaged, or if the person held out against it, he/she would be damaged. That's not quite how I think about it all, but it's so hard to articulate these thoughts (especially when you're as inarticulate as I am). Cheers, Neil