Holden's Phony In The Great Gatsby

Fake, deceiving, ungenuine, all these words describe a true phony. Both narrators of the books, The Great Gatsby and The Catcher In The Rye fit the characteristics of a phony. The narrator in The Catcher In The Rye, Holden Caulfield, is phonier than Jay Gatsby from The Great Gatsby, because he’s a hypocrite, lies about his age,and lies about how he feels.

Holden often talked about how phony people in his life were, however, he was also a phony, which made him a hypocrite. Holden would often mention things he hated that someone did, but sooner or later Holden was guilty of doing the exact same thing. In chapter one Holden is hypocritical towards his older brother, D.B. He says “Now he’s out in Hollywood, D.B., being a prostitute.”(Salinger

2). He compares his brother to a prostitute for wanting money and finding a way to get money, but at the beginning of the story Holden liked having money and blew it all. Both the brothers liked the idea of what money can give them, but Holden is being hypocritical. He was also hypocritical of a teacher at his school, Mr. Haas. In chapter two of the book, Holden says “Mr. Haas, that was the phoniest bastard I ever met in my life...for instance, old Haas went around shaking hands with everybody's parents when they drove up to school. He'd be charming as hell and all. Except if some boy had little old funny-looking parents...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 Haas 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. I can't stand that stuff.”(Salinger 14). This was so hypocritical of Holden to say because he did the exact same thing to his roommate Ackley. Holden treated Ackley differently because of the way he looked. He thought Ackley was disgusting because of his hygiene, so Holden ignored him. While treating Ackley poorly, he praised Stradlater because he was the good looking popular guy. These examples show you how hypocritical Holden is of the people in his life.

Holden lived a very hypocritical life, but he also consistently lied about his age, which made him phonier.

There are numerous times in the book that Holden lies about his age. It seemed as if Holden wanted to be older than what he was. He was always wanting to do the things older people do, but he never looks the age he says. Most of the time he never got away with his lie, which made him a little more phony. Holden often liked to try to go to the bars and drink. In chapter 10, he goes to a bad and it says, “I ordered a scotch and soda…’I’m sorry sir,’ he said, ‘ but do you have some verification of your age.’”(Salinger 69). This is one of the many times Holden lies about his age and gets rejected. Holden was very interested in sex, even though he didn’t know much about it. He was always trying to get a girl to be with him. Women or prostitutes would not want to be with a teenager, so this is another reason he always lied about his age. In chapter 13, Holden meets the elevator man and the man offers him a prostitute. “‘How old are you, chief?’ the elevator guy said. ‘Why?’ I said. ‘Twenty Two.’”(Salinger 91). This is another example when Holden lies about his age, but the person he lies to questions him. Holden is a phony that never told the truth, not even about his

age.

Holden not only lied about his age he also constantly lied about his feelings. In chapter 17, Holden takes salley out talks about running away with her and he even tells her he loves her. Even though the entire time he talks about how annoying she is and how he can't stand everything she does.”’You’re probably the only reason I’m in New York right now.’”(Salinger 131). This shows that Holden is a phony by hiding his feelings and pretending he likes her when clearly he does not. Holden tells her one thing then thinks another. He’s nice and pleasant to her then the next he’s screaming at her. “You give me a royal pain in the ass.”(Salinger 133). After asking her to run away with him, he screams at her and upsets her. Holden’s little brother, Allie, died of leukemia and Holden is greatly affected. Holden often hides how he feels about the whole situation. In chapter 5 it says, “I slept in the garage the night he died, and I broke all the goddam windows with my fist, just for the hell of it.”(Salinger 39). This shows Holden is a phony, because instead of talking to someone how he feels he says he’s fine then has to self harm to deal with the pain. Obviously he is greatly hurt by his brothers death and he deals with it in a bad way. Holden doesn’t like the thought of change, so he hides how he feels.

Although Holden is phonier because he is a hypocrite and a compulsive liar, Jay Gatsby is also a phony. Gatsby is also a liar and very deceptive. Gatsby was madly in love with Daisy which played a significant role of him being a phony. He covered up Myrtle’s murder for Daisy. Daisy was the true killer, hitting Myrtle with her car and not even stopping. Jay took the blame of the murder and hide everything to try and protect Daisy. In chapter 7 of The Great Gatsby, Gatsby says “I put the car in my garage, I don't think anybody saw us.”(Fitzgerald 110). This quote shows how phony Jay is. He is covering up a murder for someone who wouldn’t do the same. Not only is this breaking so many laws, but it will catch up with him in the end.
As you can see, Gatsby and Holden do not have morals and are all around fake people. Gatsby contained many characteristics of a phony and by being a phony he hurt a lot of people. Even though Gatsby was a phony, Holden was a bigger phony with all his lies and deception. Although being a phony isn’t a positive thing, if these narrators weren’t phonies, then the stories wouldn’t have been as interesting.