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What’s phony and what’s real in catcher in the rye
Phony in catcher in the rye
Phony in catcher in the rye
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Holden may blame his society and the phonies around him for causing him all of his isolation issues and disadvantages, but in reality, he is an unreliable narrator who is responsible for his own state because he is full of hate and grief over Allie’s death.
Holden seems to have convinced himself that he is at an unfair disadvantage in life, which leads him to not having the motivation to play the game. While talking to old Spencer, Holden recalls what Mr. Thurmer said to him when he got called into the office, “Life is a game, boy. Life is a game that one plays according to the rules” (11). Holden strongly disagrees with this statement, because he seems to think that different people living different lives seem to get advantages that help
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Holden complains about his classmates to Sally Hayes that, “It’s full of phonies, [...] everybody sticks together in these dirty little g***** cliques” (147). Holden thinks of himself as the one in a million person who can see past the phoniness of people and knows the true soul of people. He thinks that people are too blinded by their cliques to notice anything that he refers to as phony. Because Holden has convinced himself that he is the only one who can see through the people he calls “phonies”, he feels that he is superior to everyone else. Furthermore, Holden complains about distractions that the phonies talk about, such as girls and liquor. Instead of admitting that he gets so distracted easily with these things, he pretends not to care about the addictive distractions his classmates speak about. This leads to Holden looking at his school life as if he is of a higher status than everyone else and that everyone should be exactly like him. The constant thought of superiority over his classmates leads him to the alienation of his classmates, because he feels that there is no one else in his world who can see through the “phonies”. It is because of his lack of real relationships that he concludes the phonies are what alienate him from society, not his personal
Since Holden was isolated from his family, in order to not get hurt again he tries to find hypocrisy in people to stop himself from trusting others. Holden feels isolated after being sent to a boarding school that “was full of phonies” by his parents (Salinger 90). Salinger’s message to the audience with this quote is that when
Holden also has a negative perspective of life that makes things seem worse than they really are. In addition to Holden’s problems he is unable to accept the death of his brother at a young age. Holden’s immaturity, negative mentality, and inability to face reality hold him back from moving into adulthood. Holden’s immaturity causes him many problems throughout the story. Although he is physically mature, he acts more like a child.
Holden is not just abnormal, he has problems that other teenagers, including the students at Pencey, experience going through adolescence. An example of this is Holden's jealousy towards Stradlater when he finds out he is going on a date with Jane Gallagher, “Boy,was I getting nervous” (42). Every teenager has bouts of jealously especially about the opposite sex, and Holden is no different. Holden's rebellious nature, to an extent, is typical for a teenage boy. His rebellious nature of smoking when it is not allowed, “You weren't allowed to smoke in the dorm...I went right on smoking like a madman.” (41-42). Holden is also anxious about change, which again to an extent is normal, “Do you happen to know where they go, the ducks...”(60), and he has the right to be; change,especially during adolescence, is a terrifying but exciting ride into the unknown, and similar to other adolescents Holden is afraid but intrigued about the unknown.
Some game. If you get on the side where all the hot-shots are, then it’s a game, all right—I’ll admit that”(Salinger 8). Holden is expressing his beliefs that life is a game he can cheat through. He knows that with becoming more mature means taking responsibility and applying the brain in school; though after failing out of 3 other schools before it is obvious Holden does not believe in changing his ways and applying himself. In current time many kids still fail out of school (Every year, over 1.2 million students drop out of high school in the United States alone, found from dosomething.org), having no desire to go back and change their ways because they believe they are still kids and should not be held accountable for their mistakes. Modern time teenagers can relate to Holden and believe it is not his fault he can not learn from all the
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 experiences both alienation and disillusionment when meeting with people like Sally Hayes, Sunny and Ackley. Holden is so desperate to have human connection yet, when he starts to talk to them, he experiences them as ‘phonies’. This makes him more depressed, continuing his downward spiral. Holden is caught in a trap of his own making.
Holden’s apparent desire to be separated from the majority of his family and friends appears to have been triggered by the death of his younger brother Allie. From Allie’s there has been a downward spiral in Holden’s relationships, as he begins to avoid contact with others and isolate himself more. The reason I believe this is because we can see how immense his anger is after Allie’s death, ‘I slept in the garage the night he died, and I broke all the goddam windows with my fist’. The death of Allie has become like an awakening to Holden, and has alerted him how precious childhood innocence is, when Holden comes to this realisation he convinces himself to do everything within his power to protect the innocence of himself and those around him, to protect them from what he sees as a false adult world. Although Holden clearly fails to protect himself, as he falls into all sorts of situations which hardly boasts of innocence and virt... ...
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 divides people into the "phony" and authentic groups based on age, gender, and their occupations. The novel revolves around Holden's encounters and interactions with the people, which makes Holden decide subconsciously not to try to escape society through death. But, ultimately he learns that you cannot protect the innocent from the "phonies" of the world.
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.
From the protagonists’ point of view, the adult world Holden and Franny are entering and living in is a very superficial place. Holden who is sixteen years of age is going through a time of crisis where he is almost forced to become an adult. This concept is the very thing that makes Holden afraid, causing him to misbehave at school. His latest school, Pencey Prep, expels Holden due to his failing grades. When asked for the reason of his lack of academic enthusiasm, Holden simply states that he is not interested in anything. In every school he has attended, Holden has managed to find different reasons not to care and possibly even hate the institutions.
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 had a tough time fitting in at his schools because he thought of almost everyone as phonies. "`It's full of phonies, and all you do is study so that you can learn enough to be smart enough to be able to buy a goddam Cadillac some day, and you have to keep making believe you give a damn if the football team loses, and all you do is talk about girls and liquor and sex all day, and everybody sticks together in these dirty little goddam cliques' (pg. 131)." He seems to have a history of expulsion and failure at various schools because of his lack of ability to cope with others. Ordinary problems of his had turned into major conflicts with other students. "I hate fist fights. I don't mind getting hit so much - although I'm not crazy about it, naturally - but what scares me most in a fist fight is the guy's face. I can't stand looking at the other guy's face, is my trouble. It wouldn't be so bad if you could both be blindfolded or something. It's a funny kind of yellowness, when you come to think of it, but it's yellowness, all right. I'm not kidding myself. (pg. 90)" Holden got into a fight with his roommate at school because he was going out with his ex-girlfriend. He's afraid that the guy is taking her from him, even though he's not with her anymore. These are problems that are normal, but Holden has trouble dealing with them.
Upon introduction, Holden Caulfield gives the impression of being a textbook teenage boy. He argues that Pencey Prep, the all-boys academy at which he studied, is no greater than any other school and is “full of crooks.”(Salinger, 7) His harsh language only further argues that he is situated in an all-male environment and has no apparent filter for when swearing is inappropriate. Despite all of the indications that Holden is typical, it soon becomes evident that Holden’s personality does not conform to the teenage stereotype. Although he appears to have some friends, namely, his roommate, Stradlater, and ‘Ackley kid’, it is clear that he does not integrate well with his peer group. Holden’s inability to read social cues leaves him in the dust when all of his “friends” have matured enough to recognize his need for improvement. He is constantly making jokes out of everything without any thought as to how h...
The idealistic natures of these men directly depict the “phony” nature of society that Holden has come to abhor. Moreover, he will not catch himself “in a movie short” (86) as he would be a “phony” for doing so. Through his scornful view of entertainment, Holden portrays his critical nature toward the creation of fake personas that mask the problems that plague society. In addition, Holden’s criticism extends over to people as well whether it be the "the big phony bastard” (20) Mr. Ossenburger who crafts himself a fake persona or Sally Hayes who writes a “phony letter” (67) expressing her “urge” for Holden to visit during Christmas. These characters exemplify Holden’s distaste for the fake nature of society as people seek to craft themselves as powerful individuals or depict feelings that lack any true connection.