Holden's Phony Phobia in The Catcher in the Rye
What does phony mean to you? Do you consider it something that is not what it really seems? Or even something or someone that isn't normal in all ways or just in some? Phony is one of the words in the English literature that can have numerous interpretations. Can be being phony possibly hinder an attempt to accomplish a task to fully function mentally? Can phony delay an individuals maturing period? In J.D. Salinger's Catcher in the Rye, Holden's "phony phobia" restricts him from becoming a fully matured adult. In Holden's attempted journey in becoming a fully matured adult, he encounters many scenarios involving friendships, personal opinions, and his love of children. His journey is an unpleasant and difficult one with many lessons learned along the way.
Holden possesses abnormal relationships with some of the characters in Catcher in the Rye. Many of his friends and those he talks highly about are young children. He does not make any negative comments about these companions, and there is no mention whatsoever of phony. Holden has a strong relationship with Phoebee, his younger sister. Holden vocalizes about the fact Phoebee can visit him anytime in the summer, "What I'd do, I'd let old Phoebee came out and visit me in the summertime and on Christmas vacation and Easter vacation" (205). Holden shows a solid liking to his sister and is always wanting her by his side. He finds a hard time associating with older, mature individuals. Also, a strong relationship with Allie his deceased younger brother, is apparent due to the twenty references in the novel. In fact, most of Holden's fondest memories are of those times with his younger siblings. His comments of innocence help establish this connection. Someone who is trying to learn the stages of developing into a mature adult would not develop as soon, or as fully when spending their time solely with those who are five to seven years of age. They would not experience the guidance from older adults to correct wrong behavior. The guidance of an elder isn't present and they need to learn by themselves.
Harrison Smith has defined Holden's friendships quite clearly "What was wrong with Holden was his moral revulsion against anything that was ugly, evil, cruel, or what he called 'phony' and his acute responsiveness to beauty and innocence, especially the innocence of the very young.
Again, this is one of the few people that Holden likes and doesn’t consider a phony like everyone else. He talks highly of her and he sees himself in her in the way that she alternates between behaving like an adult and behaving like a child, the way he says he also does. It bothered him greatly when she asks him if he “got the ax again,” referring to his expulsion. She starts asking him questions about his future and what he likes (if he likes anything at all) and it forces him to wake up. Everyone has been telling Holden to realize his situation and put more effort into schoolwork and relationships and to start caring. Holden’s reality is very simple: he wants to be the catcher in the rye to protect children’s innocence and stop them from growing up because all adults are phonies. Again and again, being told that that isn’t plausible annoys him. He feels betrayed, when his own sister, someone who he thought would understand him, joins everyone else in telling him to put forth more
Manic-Depressive Behavior Exhibited in The Catcher in the Rye. The Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger, portrays Holden Cawfield, a New York City teenager in the 1950's, as a manic-depressive. Holden's depression starts with the death of his brother, Allie. Holden is expelled from numerous schools due to his poor academics, which are brought on by his depression. Manic depression, compulsive lying, and immaturity throughout the novel characterize Holden.
Holden's idealism is first brought forth when he describes his life at Pency Prep. It is full of phonies, morons and bastards. His roommate, Stradlater, " was at least a pretty friendly guy, It was partly a phony kind of friendly..." (26) and his other roommate, Ackley is "a very nosy bastard" (33). Holden can't stand to be around either one of them for a very long time. Later, he gets into a fight with Stradlater over his date with Jane. Holden is upset because he thinks that Stradlater "gave her the time" and that he doesn't care about her; 'the reason he didn't care was because he was a goddam stupid moron. All morons hate it when you call them a moron' (44). Holden not only sees his roommates as phonies and bastards, but he also sees his headmaster at Pency Prep as a "phony slob" (3). This type of person is exactly what Holden doesn't want to be. He strives to be a mature adult; caring, compassionate, and sensitive.
Holden Caulfield, portrayed in the J.D. Salinger novel Catcher in the Rye as an adolescent struggling to find his own identity, possesses many characteristics that easily link him to the typical teenager living today. The fact that the book was written many years ago clearly exemplifies the timeless nature of this work. Holden's actions are those that any teenager can clearly relate with. The desire for independence, the sexually related encounters, and the questioning of ones religion are issues that almost all teens have had or will have to deal with in their adolescent years. The novel and its main character's experiences can easily be related to and will forever link Holden with every member of society, because everyone in the world was or will be a teen sometime in their life.
Holden alienates himself by believing he is better than everybody else. Every time Holden meets or talks about someone he is judgemental. Even when he is talking about someone he spends time with, he cannot help but ridicule them, “I never even once saw him [Ackley] brush his teeth....he had a lot of pimples. Not just on his forehead or his chin, like most guys, but all over his whole face. And not only that, he had a terrible personality. He was also sort of a nasty guy. I wasn't too crazy about him, to tell you the truth.”(Salinger,14 ). Ackley is probably the closest thing to a friend Holden has. Yet he criticizes him is a very nitpicky way, convincing himself he does not like
In the Catcher in the Rye, Holden is an immature boy. Holden’s immaturity cause him many problem throughout the book. He is physically mature but not emotionally mature. He acts like a child. “All of a sudden I started to cry. I’d give anything if I hadn’t, but I did” (p. 103). Holden shows his emotional unstableness.
In The Catcher in the Rye, Holden’s outlook in life is either the innocence of childhood or the cruelty of adulthood. He believes that the innocence of childhood is very valuable and it should be protected from the cruelty and phoniness of the adult world. Therefore Holden has a desire and is compelled to protect a child’s innocence at all costs. This is revealed when Holden tells Phoebe that he wants to be the catcher in the rye. Holden says to Phoebe, “What I have to do, I have to catch everybody if they start to go over the cliff - I mean if they’re ru...
Holden makes reference to the word "phony" forty-four separate times throughout the novel (Corbett 68-73). Each time he seems to be referring to the subject of this metaphor as -- someone who discriminates against others, is a hypocrite about something, or has manifestations of conformity (Corbett 71). Throughout The Catcher in the Rye, Holden describes and interacts with various members of his family. The way he talks about or to each gives you some idea of whether he thinks they are "phony" or normal. A few of his accounts make it more obvious than others to discover how he classifies each family member.
Holden shows a particular liking towards children over adults. He values the innocence and authenticity of children and he tries to protect them from the phoniness and evil of the world. When he goes back to his old school at the end of the novel to give a note to Phoebe, he sees an obscenity on the wall that infuriates him. He says, "Somebody'd written `F*** you' on the wall. It drove me near damn crazy. I thought how Phoebe and all the other little kids would see it, and then finally some dirty kid would tell them-all cockeyed, about it and maybe even worry about it for a couple of days. I kept wanting to kill whoever'd written it" (201). When Holden's sister Phoebe demands that he tell her one thing that he really likes, Holden's responds saying, "I like Allie...And I like doing what I'm doing right now. Sitting here with you, and talking and thinking about stuff..." (171), showing that he's most content in the simple and innocent world of his childhood.
Which is the kind of world he wants to live in. Holden expresses his desire to preserve the innocence of others when his sister Phoebe tells Holden that he doesn't like anything, and that he has no ambitions of what he wants to be when he is older. Holden then explains that he wants to be the catcher in the rye. He says that he imagines little children playing on top of a hill and that his job is to protect children from falling of the hill. This symbolizes catching children from losing their innocence and falling into the adult world. Holden tells Phoebe, “I know it crazy, but that is the only thing I’d like to be” (172). This unrealistic desire is contributes to why Holden is struggling to transition from adolescence to adulthood. Critics of the novel have said Holden would like to suspend time stating, “Holden's desire to protect children shows his desire for suspending time, for inhabiting a space of young people conserved endlessly” (Yahya 3). Not letting go of childhood memories or accepting the harsh realities of adulthood are damaging when transitioning from
Many of the times that Holden criticizes people, it is something he does himself. (Pg 13) “. one of the reasons I left Elkton was that I was surrounded by phonies.” Holden himself is many times what he refers to as a “phony”. He knows that he lies and pretends to like people that he would rather not be with.
In The Catcher in the Rye Holden fears growing up he will get uncomfortable when talking about adult situations, he would avoid seeing people just to avoid an adult predicament. Whether it will be a confrontation with his sister, or talking about a racy book with an adult he always seems to get timid. He is not quite yet ready for adulthood. This is something he needs to get ready for soon. He is 16 going on 17 and before he knows it he will be a grown up and will have to support himself and have a steady job. That involves communication.
To Holden, everyone is either corny of phony. He uses these terms to describe what a person is if they do not act naturally and follow other people?s manners and grace. Holden dislikes phonies and thinks of them as people who try to be something they are not. He loathes people who showed off because it seems unnatural every time they do not act like themselves. Holden does not allow himself to have friendship because of his dull attitude. In the beginning of the book, the reader knows that Holden is lonely when he separates himself from the rest of the Pencey students by watching the football game from Thomsen Hill and not the grand stands. Holden is not a very sociable person partly because he finds himself better than many others. He dislikes his roommate because of his generic leather luggage. His next door roommate Ackley does not seem to want a friendship with him either. Holden finds Ackely?s zit crusted face ridiculous and doesn?t want him in his room at first. This shows the reader that Holden is a lonely person because he chooses to be lonely and does not want anything to do with people who do not fit into his perception of normal.
Holden spends a majority of the novel on his own. Despite meeting many interesting characters throughout the entirety of the novel, he is never shown making any sort of connection with these characters. With the exception of Phoebe and the nuns, the characters who Holden meets or interacts with only cause him to feel lonelier, which brings Holden even closer to the eventual destruction of his mental state. Holden’s experience at his prestigious high school Pencey Prep is impactful to him as it’s the last time in the novel that he is at a school prior to his mental breakdown. As Holden leaves the campus to travel to New York, he reminiscing his experience by saying “I stood for awhile next to the stairs and took a last look down the goddamn corridor. I was sort of crying, I don’t know why, I put my red hunting hat
... a practical form of the drug. This set off a search in medicine for more antibiotics, however, scientists would have to look away from the natural world this time.