How Does Holden Tell A Lie

Catcher in The Rye Essay

Thomas Jefferson once wrote, “He who permits himself to tell a lie once, finds it much easier to do it a second and third time, till at length it becomes habitual”. In the book Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, Holden Caulfield’s lies become habitual throughout the book. Holden is a sixteen-year-old boy, who has been kicked out of several schools including, most recently, Pencey Prep. Holden’s younger brother, Allie, died when Holden was only thirteen and his older brother, D.B., is too busy working for Hollywood to care about Holden. Although his mother cares immensely for him, Holden saddens her by failing academically. The only motivator that Holden has to continue living is his younger sister, Phoebe, who

is extraordinarily intelligent for her age. After he gets kicked out of Pencey, Holden is lost in life. He speaks to many people, seeking advice and comfort, but they are not able to help him find a human connection. Holden’s depression increases throughout the novel, almost to the point of suicide. He criticizes many people and ideas, labeling them as ‘phony’. Holden lies as a result of his depression, in order to hide the fact that he’s lonely and bored with his life, to divert any questions which he believes are too personal, and to create his own reality. In this way, Salinger illustrates how, during difficult times, people resort to lying as a coping mechanism.
In the beginning of the story, Holden lied to divert questions in order to protect his personal information.

He was depressed about the fact that his childhood friend, Jane Gallagher, went on a date with his roommate at Pencey, Stradlater. After their date, he got into a fight with Stradlater and it resulted in Holden getting a bloody nose and face. He stumbled into his friend Ackley’s room, who was right next door. When Ackley questioned him about his face he replied, “It’s a long story. I don’t wanna bore ya, Ackley. I’m thinking of your welfare” (53). One of the key indications that Holden is lying is when he is trying to change the subject. In this situation, Holden was reluctant to go into detail about what caused the fight, so he gave Ackley a deceptive response. Holden told Ackley that the fight was over Ackley and that he was defending him. This provoked Ackley, and he forgot about why Holden was all bloody. Holden was able to distract Ackley so that he wouldn’t need to go in detail about his fight with Stradlater. Similarly, Holden tried to keep the reason that he was kicked out of Pencey a secret. At the end of the novel, Holden goes home so that he can see his sister one last time before he leaves. Holden and Phoebe begin talking, but Phoebe suddenly becomes suspicious of the fact that Holden is home so early. She asks, “How come you're not home Wednesday?...You didn’t get kicked out or anything, did you?”(182). Holden responds with, “I told you. They let us out

early. They let the whole-”(182). Holden did not want Phoebe to know that he was kicked out because he cared for her, and didn’t want her or their family to panic. Holden knew that his family would be emotionally unstable if the word got out that he had been kicked out again. Holden did not want that to happen so he lied in order to stop them from finding out. Overall, Holden lied to redirect questions so that he would not need to talk about his personal information. When Holden was asked questions which were too personal to answer, Holden resorted to lying as a simple resolution.
Comparable with the majority of people, Holden also lies to get his way.

When Holden went to a bar and ordered a Scotch, for example, he “said it fast as hell” (78). Holden knew that the waiter would not provide him with an alcoholic beverage if he didn’t seem confident in ordering alcohol. Holden was depressed and wanted a drink as a way to cope. When the waiter asked Holden for his driver's license, he responded with, “Do I look like I’m under twenty-one?”(78). Holden tried to catch the waiter off guard by responding to the waiter’s question with a question of his own. Holden lied because he was desperate for a drink, but was not old enough to buy one. Similarly, Holden lied to the elevator boy at his apartment. When Holden was going to see Phoebe, he needed the elevator boy to bring him up. Holden told the elevator boy that he’s the nephew of the Dicksteins, one of Holden's neighbors. However, the elevator boy became suspicious because they weren't home, and tells Holden to wait in the lobby. Holden responded with, “But I have a bad leg. I have to hold it in a certain position. I think I’d better sit down in the chair outside their door”(174). Since Holden knew that the elevator boy was new, he claimed that there was a chair outside his neighbors’ apartment. The elevator boy had no idea what Holden was talking about and decided to let him up. Holden used the fact that the boy was new to his advantage. He could easily lie to him to achieve what he wanted. Holden tries to

take advantage of others through lying to them. Holden knew that lying was the simplest method to get his way.
Finally, Holden lies to himself because he has no control over his life, and as a result, would like to create his own reality where he is in control. After being beat up by Maurice, a pimp who tried to overcharge Holden for a prostitute, and beat him up when he refused to pay, Holden was angry and distressed. As a result, he fantasized his own reality where he was in control of Maurice. Holden states that he would be holding an automatic and when Maurice opened the doors, “He’d see me with the automatic in my hand and start screaming at me…But I’d plug him anyway”(116). Holden creates this fake scene to cope with having been beat up. He wants to suppress his humiliation and does this by imagining his own scene. He tries to hide from the truth and lie to himself to cope with the reality. He’s depressed and wants his life to be like a scene from a movie. Similarly, at the end of the story, Holden became depressed to the point that he imagined living by himself in the woods. Holden narrates, “I thought what I’d do was, I’d pretend I was one of those deaf-mutes….and I’d build me a little cabin somewhere with the dough I made and live there for the rest of my life”(219). Holden hates all the phony people and things that anger him so much that he wants to live in a peaceful world by himself. He always gets depressed when he encounters things that are phony or that ‘kill him’. He wants to deter all his human interactions, except for allowing Phoebe and D.B. to visit him on vacations. Holden pretended to be a deaf-mute so that he wouldn’t have to hear the phony things that people have to say and so that he wouldn’t need to talk to anyone. Holden is not fond of his real life so he creates his own reality to deal with his depression.
Throughout the book, Holden lies numerous times as a result of his depressing and boring life. As Holden stated at the beginning of the novel, “I’m the most terrific liar you ever saw in your life”(19). Holden is depressed and lying is his only way to cope with his depression. He lies to others in order to achieve certain things and so that he can hide his own struggles in life. Holden also lies because he has no control over his life and would prefer a fantasized world in which he is in control. Salinger uses Holden’s character to show that when people are struggling in life and are depressed or lonely, they become pathological liars by resorting to lying as a simplistic fix.