Holden Journal Entry

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Catcher in the Rye Journal Entry In the first 15 chapters of Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, readers gain a sense of Holden's distracted and complex persona through both his scattered thoughts and interactions with other characters. As Holden expresses his heartbreaking loneliness by taking on and off his red hunting hat, he also labels strangers and friends alike as "phonies" following each exchange he has with them. One person that Holden encounters early on in the book is Mrs. Morrow. In fact, while riding the train away from school, Holden meets this middle-aged, attractive, aristocratic mother and the two quickly strike up a conversation about Pencey and Mrs. Morrow's son, Ernest. To readers, Holden describes Ernest as "the biggest bastard that ever went to Pencey, in the whole crumby history of the school," recounting how the bully would smack people with his wet towel after showering (61). However, to Ernest's mother, Holden fabricates lie after lie and makes Ernest seem like a popular and kind classmate. He even invents an entire …show more content…

Morrow a false name and plays with a timetable just to stop himself from lying any more, he admits that he was glad he had "shot it for a while" (64). This is strange as Holden repeatedly remarks that he actually likes Ernest's mother, yet, he still chooses to become a complete phony in this situation, which directly contradicts with his hatred for phonies. I believe that this is part of the reason why Holden cannot find intimacy in his relationships. On one hand, he is skeptical that others are inauthentic and feels uncomfortable with those who are less monetarily fortunate. At the same time, he is scared of being himself in front of others and therefore protects himself by weaving a web of lies to hide behind and please others with. Sadly, these lies also prevent Holden from finding the closeness, genuineness, and true companionship that he is searching and yearning

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