Examples Of Phony In Catcher In The Rye

In The Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger, Holden Caulfield has devised this idea that adulthood is a time of phoniness, while childhood is a time of purity and innocence. Holden dislikes phonies and since many of the adults in his life he has categorized as phonies, he is afraid of growing up and becoming a phony himself. Throughout this novel, Holden consistently calls people phony which is his way of expressing his fear of growing up.
Holden’s portrayal of phony is a person who will try to impress others in a public situation or someone driven solely by money and power. Holden constantly criticizes people that fit under his views of a phony throughout the book and shows a strong disliking towards them. Holden expresses that he has lost respect for his brother, D.B., when he says “Now he's out in Hollywood, D.B., being a prostitute (4).” Holden calls his brother a prostitute because he is troubled by the fact that he is using his writing talents in Hollywood for the movies, instead of for writing books. Holden believes that his brother is doing this just for the money, which groups him with all the other adult phonies in his life. Here, Holden is not accepting that an adult should do something based on the profit, but this is the reality of the adult world, where you must make

some sort of income.

Holden tries to hold on to the childish belief that human behavior should be driven by a happier existence alternately than materialistic notions. He is disturbed by his brothers sudden desire for success, but clearly

Holden is scared that his brother is maturing into an adult. His “phony” view of people is his resistance to grow up, and him trying to hold on to childhood, but he needs to understand that it cannot last. Holden admires the innocence and purity of children seeing as they have yet to understand that you need to be a bit fake in a way, to live in the world, but as you become an adult, you become aware of the fact that you must do some phony things.
Holden feels some pressure from his parents to have a successful future, but he associates success with phoniness. As Holden explains his father's profession, he says “All you do is make a lot of dough… and look like a hot shot (223).” Holden interprets his father's success as trying to earn lots of money for the sole reason of impressing others with it, Holden categorizes this behavior as phony. He then goes onto say “Even if you did go around saving guys’ lives and all, how would you know if you did it because you really wanted to save guys’ lives, or because you did it because what you really wanted to do was be a terrific lawyer, with everybody slapping you on the back and congratulating you in court when the goddamn trials was over, the reporters and everybody, the way it is in the dirty movies? How would you know you weren't being a phony? The trouble is, you wouldn't (223).” Holden is further justifying that his own father could be a phony, he states that lawyers might only save people for the flaunting of their success and intellectual ability, rather than for personal satisfaction. Holden considers this adult lifestyle and behavior that he is expected to have by his parents, as phony, which is a characteristic he despises. He does not wish to grow up and become a successful phony like his parents, so he does not want to grow up at all.