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Recommended: Why Holden lies
Early in a child’s life, they learn that lying to deceive others is not only useful, but necessary. Even parents unknowingly teach their children to deceive others in the form of lying. “Tell grandma how much you love the gift, even if you don’t” a mother says to her child, just as Holden is very comfortable with misleading others in J.D. Salinger’s novel The Catcher In The Rye. Salinger shows that becoming comfortable with deceiving others is an essential part of growing up. The skill of misleading others by lying is something Holden is very comfortable with. For example, when Holden was on the train with the mother of a boy who went to Pencey school with Holden, he started the conversation with a lie about his name, using the name of a …show more content…
The way we see how naturally lying comes to Holden, shows that he has been doing it since he was very young. Salinger believes that lying to others to mislead them is necessary to growing up, as Holden does regularly. Also, when Holden sneaks into his house to say hello to his younger sister Phoebe, he smokes in the house because his parents are not home, but then they arrive unexpectedly and they smell the smoke. Holden’s parents ask Phoebe if she’s been smoking. “I just lit it for one second. I just took one puff. Then I threw it out the window” (177). When Phoebe lies, even her mother believes it. Phoebe seems almost as good at deceiving others as Holden is, and she is much younger. Meaning, Phoebe is not new to lying either. Both Phoebe and Holden can deceive others naturally which is Salinger’s way of showing us that these children have been lying since they were very young, as most children should because it is not only useful, but necessary to becoming an
For example, when Holden was talking to the mother of a former Pencey Prep student on the train, Ernest, she asked for his name. He responded by saying that his name was Rudolf Schmidt, because “[he] didn’t feel like giving her [his] whole life story.”(Salinger 30) What this quote is trying to prove, is that Holden does not understand what a hypocrite is, because right before Holden told the woman her name, he was saying how he hated people that lied. Then right after he said that, he went on to lie about what his name was. Ernest’s mother went on to tell Holden how he was a very sensitive boy. On the outside, Holden agreed with her, but on the inside, he was thinking about how “that guy Morrow was about as sensitive as a goddam toilet seat.”(Salinger 30) Holden knows on the inside that Ernest is not sensitive at all, but his mother thinks he is, so Holden’s response is to lie right in her face and tell her that she is right. This quote is showing the readers how Holden is being complete phony by being a hypocrite and contradicting
Holden would tell people lies just so they could not become closer to the real Holden. Holden tells lies on numerous occasions to gain. Holden pathetically tells Mrs. Morrow, "I have to have a tiny operation. it isn't very serious. " I have this tiny little tumor on my brain" (58).
In the novel Holden is what you would call an unreliable narrator. The definition of unreliable is - a person or thing that cannot be counted on or trusted. You cannot trust Holden if you know that he lies all the time. Since the reader knows that he is a habitual liar you may never know the difference from when he is telling the truth or when he is telling another one of his stories. Holden goes in and out of mental lapses throughout the novel that affected his mind and psychological state greatly.
He also exhibits honesty; as a child, he chopped a cherry tree by accident but confessed and told the truth when asked by his father. Now, let’s view at Holden and see how he fits in when compared to one of the most known hero of the United States. Holden lacks honesty as he confesses to the reader how, he’s the “most terrific liar” (16). Another clear example is when Holden talks to Ernie’s mother at the train station. From when they first met, Holden already lied by telling her that his name was Rudolf Schmidt, an obvious phony lie.
Throughout the whole novel Holden has always been in denial of everything. As stated by Freud, denial is the “Refusal to recognize a threatening impulse or desire” (Sigmund Freud). When he visited his ten year old sister Phoebe, she was trying to communicate with Holden but she was nervous that it would displease him. She stated “Because you don't. You don’t like schools. You don't like a million things. You don't…Why the hell do you have to say that?” I said. Boy was depressing me” (Salinger 169). Even though Holden is very fond of Phoebe he didn't bother to listen to what she had to say, this demonstrates that Holden is very in denial because he got very upset when Phoebe said that he dislikes everything. Which furthers shows how he is unable to recognize that what Phoebe is
I'm the most terrific liar you ever saw in your life. It's awful. If I'm on my way to the store to buy a magazine, even, and somebody asks me where I'm going, I'm liable to say I'm going to the opera. It's terrible. (pg.16) Holden's ability to lie is one of the first traits that he reveals about himself. He takes pride in saying that he is a good liar. His inability to have normal conversations and relationships is possibly one of the factors that has him shunned by his peers. Holden's insecurity is one of the reasons for his compulsive lying. This, in turn, is why he can't find his place in the world.
Holden is “the most terrific liar you ever saw,” when it comes to people wanting to assist him in finding his way in life.... ... middle of paper ... ... Holden’s inability to have faith in anyone has led him to witness everyone as “the phoniest (people he) ever met” (13-14) in his life. Sadly, Holden’s depression leaves him with psychological problems that are not easily dealt with alone.
Holden often talked about how phony people in his life were, however, he was also a phony, which made him a hypocrite. Holden would often mention things he hated that someone did, but sooner or later Holden was guilty of doing the exact same thing. In chapter one Holden is hypocritical towards his older brother, D.B. He says “Now he’s out in Hollywood, D.B., being a prostitute.”(Salinger
...peaks with Phoebe she says, “‘Did you mean it what you said? You really aren’t going away anywhere? Are you really going home afterwards?’ she asked me. ‘Yeah,’ I said. I mean it too” (212). Holden moves from wanting to do crazy things with his life to understanding that he can make it better even without making changes so drastic.
Holden mentions how his father, a lawyer, and his brother D.B., a famous author, do things for the wealth and power, and he finds this wrong and phony. For Holden, the word phony has a much greater meaning than it does to any other person and while the word is commonly used throughout the text when Holden often complains about life like any other teenager, he contradicts himself, lies, and is a phony at times. Holden tells the reader, “I'm the most terrific liar you ever saw in your life. It's awful. If I'm on my way to the store to buy a magazine, even, and somebody asks me where I'm going, I'm liable to say I'm going to the opera.
that he is trying to hide his true identity. He does not want people to know who he really is or that he was kicked out of his fourth school. Holden is always using fake names and tries speaking in a tone to persuade someone to think a cretin way. He does this when he talks to women. While he is talking to the psychiatrist he explains peoples reactions to his lies like they really believe him, when it is very possible that he is a horrible liar and they are looking at him with a “what are you talking a bout?” expression. Holden often lies to the point where he is lying to him self.
Holden is a teenage character who has suffered a lot in his life. He has suffered a lot. He doesn?t care about anybody other than his sister, Phoebe. He did not like the adulthood because he thought that every adult was a phony. Holden thinks that when people lie, they are being phony.
Holden's problems in the real world were too much for him, he had to make up things to make himself seem better than what he was.
...Holden is saying that he enjoys lying; he gets a sort of kick out of it. He is an unreliable narrator, especially when he says things like “She was like a hundred years old” which is obviously a false statement and an exaggeration. Holden has altered into this type of character; a character that lies plenty of times which is shown in the novel through diction.
...’s habitual lying relates back to times where he is hypocritical about his environment being full of phonies. Salinger provides these small details of deceitfulness in order to further advance Holden’s character and the work as a whole.