Examples Of Phony In Catcher In The Rye

“‘I'm the most terrific liar you ever saw in your life. It's awful’” (Salinger 9). The main character already calls himself a liar, so is he guilty of being a phony.The book The Catcher in the Rye is a classic in American literature. The main character Holden Caulfield is kicked out of school and then adventure ensues. When Holden refers to things he doesn’t like he uses the word phony. Holden is somewhat consistent enough with the word to more or less understand what he means. The following essay will help analyze Holden’s use of the word phony. Holden does not give an alternative to the word because he seemingly throws it around at everyone he does not like. Holden himself is guilty of being a phony. J.D. Salinger uses Holden’s ideas about phoniness to show the reader not to be hypocritical when judging someone else.
When Holden uses the word phony he seems to be calling people fake or bogus based on how he described his old headmaster Mr.Haas. “ I mean if a boy's mother was sort of fat or corny-looking or something, and if somebody's father was one of those guys that wear those suits with very big shoulders and corny black-and-white

shoes, then old Hans would just shake hands with them and give them a phony smile and then he'd go talk, for maybe a half an hour, with somebody else's parents”( 8). There is no alternative to being a phony when Holden Caulfield is saying is saying because he calls anyone or anything he doesn’t like a phony and he doesn’t like many people, even his sister knows that. “‘Because you don't. You don't like any schools. You don't like a million things. You don't.’" ( 91). Holden himself is guilty of being a phony based on why he thinks people are phonies. Holden Caulfield is kind of a hypocrite. He says "Stradlater's all right. He's not too bad," (13) and then calls him names like phony and bastard. J.D. Salinger uses Holden Caulfield’s ideas about phoniness to teach the reader to see their owm hypocrisy. Salinger uses Holden’s hypocrisy to make him a dislikable character and showing the reader to not be a hypocrite when judging other people.
“‘I'm the most terrific liar you ever saw in your life.

It's awful’” (9). Holden is a phony but does not realize it, even though he realizes very more subtle problems with himself. He should be able to see his own duplicity. Holden is guilty of being a phony is therefore a hypocrite because he is guilty of the insult he throws around. When Holden calls someone a phony he means that person is bogus or fake. Holden is a deceiver and offers no substitute. He tends to call most people he doesn’t like phonies and just tosses the word around. J.D. Salinger wants the reader to be able to spot hypocrisy when judging other people. Holden makes like he seemingly hates everybody but at the end of the book he lets the readers know that he misses everyone. Even though Holden is a phony it’s what makes him such a deep and intriguing

character.