Holden Caulfield Phony Essay
In The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, Holden Caulfield often refers to the people around him as ¨phonies.¨ Although he uses this word to describe almost everyone he meets, Holden never refers to himself as a phony. In reality, Holden Caulfield himself is the epitome of phony. He is a pathological liar, and he often pretends to be something that he is not. Holden Caulfield is a phony because he often pretends to be a different person than who he really is. Holden regularly tries to change his persona for the people around him. He routinely goes to bars and orders alcoholic beverages even though he is only sixteen. When he is in the Lavender Room, Holden states “I ordered a Scotch and soda, and told him not to mix it. . .if you hem and …show more content…
The only person that he is fully truthful to is Phoebe. Holden frequently lies to the other people in his life, which greatly outweighs the fact that he is truthful to one person, proving that Holden is a phony. Also, Holden may not be seen as a phony because he never lies about his emotions. He constantly expresses how he feels, often stating that he is depressed. Although he is completely honest about his emotions, Holden still habitually lies to those around about other subjects such as his name. Even though Holden is sometimes honest, most of the time he confirms that he is a “pathological liar”, which demonstrates that he is a phony. Holden Caulfield is a phony because he frequently lies to those around him and regularly pretends to be something that he is not. He continually lies about insignificant subjects, such as his name. On multiple occasions he pretends to be tough, even though in reality he feels weak. Even though Holden is honest to those he loves and speaks frankly about his true emotions, these few truths do not outweigh his frequent lying and pretending to be a different person than he really is, which, overall, results in the conclusion that Holden Caulfield is a
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Holden Caulfield Phony
845 Words | 4 PagesIn the novel The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger we read about a young man, Holden Caulfield, freshly kicked out of yet another high school and highly opinionated about his views of society. We learn about his views as he walks around New York around Christmas time, not wanting to face his parents so soon after being kicked out of school. Some of Holden's views on society include; phony people are bad, and there needs to be more protection of the innocence in the world, Holden has the right to worry and want change for each of these topics, yet he worries about them in a level that is completely unhealthy. Holden's views include that phoniness should be eradicated from society. Holden is happy when people don't try to glorify phony people:
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779 Words | 4 PagesFurthermore, Holden starts to hate all the adults or loses faith in them, calls them phony. Holden has a second thought of becoming an adult he loses hope in his future and it seems to him nothing in the world matters to him anymore. We can see that throughout the book. He smokes, gets drunk, and does daring acts like getting a prostitute in his room. He also tries to escape all this guilt and grief by wasting time with unnecessary people he calls phony.
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714 Words | 3 PagesWhile reading this book, one may notice that the main character Holden calls almost every character that we meet phonies. Never once in the book did Holden call himself a phony. The word phony was used 48 times throughout this entire novel making it one of the top 5 words used in this book. The Catcher in the Rye is a novel written by J.D. Salinger. This book is narrated by the main character Holden Caulfield.
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744 Words | 3 PagesIn The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, Holden Caulfield is a peculiar character portrayed as a skeptic living in “a world of phonies” in circa 1950. These personality traits can be seen through his doubts of society as well as his way of thinking and acting toward others. He also demonstrates a lack of responsibility adding to his role as a slacker. Holden flunks out of school repeatedly and has no desire to confront his parents. He mopes around the city for days, delaying the inevitable punishments he’s sure to get.
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837 Words | 4 PagesHolden struggles with growing up and facing reality. There are many examples of Holden’s immaturity that are displayed in many forms such as facing responsibilities, his speech, his actions, and etc. Holden’s outlook on adult life is that it is superficial and brimming with phonies, but childhood was all about looking pleasing and innocent. He wants everything to stay the same and for time to stop. As Holden progresses in age, he will discover more about becoming mature in the
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1418 Words | 6 PagesIt is the “phoniness” he wants to blame. Salinger used “phony” this word many times in the book and is one of the most famous word from “The Catcher in the Rye” and it accurately describes the human nature of most adults’. During Holden’s three-day-trip in New York, he has met and encountered with many characters who are pretentious and fake, from Mr. Spencer to Luce and Sally. In society people have to lie or be “phony” just to socialize, or impress someone. Holden is a judgemental person who keeps observing other people’s phoniness but never notices them in himself.
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