Holden's Unreliable Narrator

An unreliable person is someone that other people are not able to count on and trust. That person seems like they know what they are doing and are the best, but in reality, they do not know and other people notice. When other people notice that they are not reliable, they begin to think otherwise of that person and cannot understand the direct situation that they are in. Sometimes that unreliable person contains qualities that are not attractive and could turn people away making them not believe them. In the novel “The Catcher in the Rye”, Holden the narrator, appears to be an unreliable narrator because of his story that he has told and how he has gone about telling it. In the critique “Holden as the Unreliable Narrator” by Duane Edwards,

Edwards appears to mentions ideas that are on point with his critique specifically mentioning Holden being ill in the mental hosptial, him criticizing others while also criticizing himself, and how he has complications with other women.
One example of Holden being an unreliable narrator is shown through the idea that he was telling his story while being in a mental hospital.

Throughout the story, the readers can interpret that Holden was put into the mental institution, but it was confirmed when Holden said: “A lot of people, especially this one psychoanalyst guy they have here…” (276). Holden confirms that he was admitted to the mental hospital when he said that the psychoanalyst guy was overlooking him to see if he was advancing as he should be in the institution. Holden was first admitted to the hospital when he started to generate unhealthy habits. For example, when his brother Allie passed away, Holden had to deal with the mourning process by himself because his parents were still grieving as well and were not able to help him. Edwards mentions another unhealthy habit as he says, “So his refusal to talk about the incidents of his childhood signifies that he will remain ill…” (66). Although Holden mentions the ideas about his past, he does not strictly mention the story in dramatic detail and does not explain the story well so that the readers will understand it. With his unstable mind, the readers are not sure whether or not to believe Holden as he is telling his story. The readers understand that he is in the mental institution, but whether the stories are true is unrevealing to the readers. They also know that Holden is not ordinary and so does Edwards when he says, “But Holden isn’t ‘normal’; he’s a severely depressed adolescent telling the story of his youth while in a mental institution” (66). While Holden has an unstable state of mind, he is telling the story and the readers cannot assume that his stories are all true. For in the end of the novel, Holden says , “Don’t ever tell anybody anything. If you do, you start missing everybody” (277). With Holden mentioning the idea that he should not tell anyone anything, it shows that he is not reliable as the readers cannot assume that his

stories are true. Holden said that if he were to tell people anything he would start to miss those people, and if he did not want to miss those people, he would not tell the stories to anyone.
Another example of Holden’s illness that shows his unreliable sense of narration is the idea that he criticizes people for being a phony while he himself his also a phony. In his critique, Edwards says, “He criticizes phony conversations but engages in them himself- with Mr. Spencer and Ernest Morrow’s brother…” (66). Part of his illness is shown through him criticizing others while he does not notice that he is also criticizing himself. Edwards gives examples of when he was criticizing others while he should be criticizing himself, and he says, “He criticizes ‘old Spencer’ for using a phony word like ‘grand’, but he himself uses equally phony words such as ‘nice’ and ‘swell’” (66). While noticing that Holden is criticizing others and not himself, it shows that his illness can also affect how he is perceived as a narrator. It can show that he is biased and can only describe what he thinks is not correct. For example, when Holden was meeting with Mr. Spencer, Mr. Spencer said the word grand and Holden said: “Grand. There’s a word I really hate. It’s a phony. I could puke every time I hear it” (14). He explains words that he does not like and then turns around and uses similar words. For example, Holden says the word “swell” as that has a similar meaning to the word grand. He does not notice that he is using the same words while judging others but not himself. Another example of Holden being a phony is when he meets with his friends. When he meets with them, he does not necessarily enjoy their company and is not content when they are there. In his critique, Edwards says, “He wants to see people-...but doesn’t like them when they’re in his presence” (66). Holden has contradicted himself in a way that he does not recognize it. When he critiques other people, he does not realize that those people are also himself. When he does not notice that, it shows another part of his mental instability. With his mental instability showing that he does not recognize phony people as his himself, it shows that he cannot be trustworthy as a narrator and the readers cannot trust him. As he is not trustworthy because he cannot admit that he is a phony himself, it shows that the readers do not understand the stories that he is telling because they could be true or made up because it shows that Holden is a phony but does not recognize it.
With Holden not being able to cope with other women, it also shows that he is unreliable because he could be biased towards other women and only have his mindset on what men think. In the critique, Edwards mentions, “Clearly, Holden has a problem with females” (67). In the novel, Holden said that he has problems with girls. One example is old Sally. He tries so hard to be able to make things work between them and he is not able to because he cannot cooperate with her. For example, when he went out on a date with Sally, he had to leave her because he made her upset. On their date, Sally said: “‘I can go home by myself, thank you. If you think I’d let you take me home, you’re made. No boy ever said that to me in my entire life’...It made old Sally madder than ever” (174). When Holden made her upset because of what he said, it shows that he does not have any respect for women and will never be able to cooperate with them. With his rude personality, it also confirms that what he said about never being able to get really sexy. If Holden is rude to other women, he will never be able to have a women to himself and be able to date her. With him being rude to women, it shows his weakness. He has several weaknesses that are shown, and with him being rude to women is another weakness of his mindset. With Holden having issues with women and being able to respect them, it shows that he favors men. For example, he would meet up with his guy friends and talk about his problems, especially with Carl Luce. He would want to express every feeling he had about women because he would never have the chance to experience those things as he was rude to women. In this context, Holden is an unreliable narrator because he favors men instead of women and has the possibility of being biased towards women. When he gives his examples, he does not look at the women’s perspective; only the men’s. When he went out with Sally, he never considered her feelings in a way that would make it seem like he would care about her. With not considering other women and only having the options for men, it shows the readers that when he talks about women and his stories, he is not reliable at all. If he cannot get along with women and be able to respect them, then when he talks to men, it shows that he can only respect them to a certain degree and his stories are not reliable.
With Holden being an unreliable narrator, it shows that the readers do not understand whether or not he is telling the truth. His stories could be fictional or they could be true and Holden would have done a terrible job showing that they are true. When Holden was telling his story, he was admitted to the mental hospital. Being in a mental hospital shows that that person’s mind is not healthy and has issues. With that in mind, Holden is viewed as an unreliable person. Other factors come into consideration as well. If Holden has characterized other people into being phony as he also uses the same characteristics and does not realize he is a phony, he is not reliable. The possibility of him lying is greater than any other chances. Lastly, with Holden not being able to cooperate with other women, it shows that he favors men and could be telling his story from a man’s perspective and not considering other women’s ideas. With Holden being an unreliable narrator, all of these examples are apparent throughout the novel. In the critique “Holden as the Unreliable Narrator” by Duane Edwards, Edwards mentions all of these examples while showing that Holden truly is an unreliable narrator.