Examples Of Lies In Catcher In The Rye

Throughout the novel, Holden attempts to find the true from of himself as he struggles with the social interactions around him. Due to the struggle and confusion that arouses from it,

In The Catcher in the Rye, J.D. Salinger tells a story of a young boy, Holden, who never quite understood his stance on life. Throughout the novel, Holden struggles to adapt to the inevitable transition into adulthood, often worrying more about others than himself. In The Catcher in the Rye, J.D. Salinger uses connotative diction, repetition, and specific diction to convey Holden’s struggle of accepting life changes that led him to becoming mentally unstable.            To start off, Salinger illustrates Holden’s nature by using connotative diction.

He hides under a visage of a cool ‘bad boy’ trope, seeing the world through a heavy filter- to him, anyone who's anyone is a phony, a liar, or just plain bad, despite him judging many things he later goes on to do himself. Over the course of the book we come to see Holden has built an opinion of the world that shields him from the pains and complexities of life. The author displays Holden’s traits quite prominently, especially through his use of language; he writes as Holden speaks- vulgar, rambling, and easily derailed, jumping from idea to idea infinitely

The first reason why Holden lies a lot is in order to cover up his past and create a new him, he is angry and depressed about his brothers death. He is too scared to face reality so he chooses to lie in order to create a new version of himself. In The story Holden meets the mother of Ernest Morrow during his journey to New York She asks “May I ask your name, dear?” Holden replies “Rudolf Schmidt” Holden told her the name of the janitor of his dorm because he “didn’t feel like covering up his whole life story”(8.9-13). The interesting part about this quote is that there was no reason for Holden to lie, He really has not done anything bad enough to not tell the truth. It was his fault he got expelled from pencey but he does not want Mrs Morrow to know that. Instead Holden decides to make his lie even worse by telling her that he has a brain tumor, and that is why he is heading home early from Pencey. He

While Holden considers himself somewhat of a "pacifist," he does care enough about certain things in his life that he is willing to fight for them. This devotion should be respected, not frowned upon.

            Holden is quite skilled at citing exactly what is wrong with other people.  However he never acknowledges his own faults.  He was sure the entire world was out of step with him.  As Alan Stewart explains, ?Holden seemed to divide the world into two groups.  He was in one group, along with a few other people such as his little sister, Phoebe, and

Lies, failure, depression, and loneliness are only some of the aspects that Holden Caulfield goes through in the novel The Catcher in the Rye written by J.D. Salinger. Salinger reflects Holden’s character through his own childhood experiences. Salinger admitted in a 1953 interview that "My boyhood was very much the same as that of the boy in the book.… [I]t was a great relief telling people about it” (Wikipedia). Thus, the book is somewhat the life story of J.D. Salinger as a reckless seventeen-year-old who lives in New York City and goes through awful hardships after his expulsion and departure from an elite prep school. Holden, the protagonist in this novel, is created as a depressed, cynical, and isolated character and he

Holden Caulfield is an extremely complex character. He is constantly kicked out of various schools, convinced he is as dumb as everyone perceives him to be. Armed with a sharp tongue and quick wit, he can either weasel his way out of a situation, or the complete opposite. That being said, he often finds himself into fights, ending with a bloody nose because he couldn’t keep his mouth shut. Some examples of this are “All I know is i got up from the bed… and then tried to sock him… the next thing I knew, I was on the goddamn floor and he was sitting on my chest with his [Stradlater’s] face all red... ‘What the hell’s the matter with you?’ he kept saying, ” (page 43). Here, Holden gets into a fist fight with his hot headed and short tempered roommate, Stradlater. This, of course, ends badly for Holden and results in a most likely broken nose and ruined shirt. Yet, he also manages to convince the mother of one of the nastiest boys in Pencey Prep that her son is an

Throughout the book Holden is isolated from people that he like’s and he often purposely isolates himself by exaggerating traits he finds untasteful. Holden throughout the book see’s to himself has his advisor his guide, he has a limited view on his matters and as a result he does irrational things. Holden could avoid many of the situations he encountered if instead of being by himself and having someone by him he could get actual advice. But because Holden only listens to himself he often doesn’t know what the right thing to do is.

Holden is trying to strike up a conversation with the pianist at the bar he is at. When this is failing, he begins to make insincere compliments towards the man while secretly criticizing him in his mind. I don’t think people should lie like Holden does. There’s no point and it’s not nice, and it really doesn’t get anyone anywhere.

Holden doesn't always lie for a reason sometimes he just is bored and alone so he says stuff to people to make them pay more attention to him“They kept asking me if I was sure I could afford it and all. I told them I had quite a bit of money with me.”{Fitzgerald 59} Holden really didn't have a reason to lie to the nuns , he was trying to be nice to give and help them because they were the only people who actually listened but he still ended up lying to them. Holden even says himself he doesnt really have reasons to lie he just lies to do it “Im the most teffric liar you ever saw , in your life”{Fitzgerald 16}. He cant stop lying he just does it because he's bored.

Rather, he is saddened by her sitting in his room in her slip. He imagines her buying the dress she has just taken off and realizes that she is a real person and not just a toy to be used for his pleasure. Holden's desire to understand and feel for other people stops him. Holden also admits to being a coward, but the reader realizes he is just a scared boy trying to act like a man in an adult world. Even so, he doesn't flinch in the face of danger when threatened by bullies, such as his roommate Stradlater or the pimp, Maurice. Much more important than his physical courage is the moral tenacity with which he clings to his beliefs in the face of a hostile society. (Lettis, 5)

The Catcher in the Rye and Defense Mechanisms The Catcher in the Rye, written by J.D Salinger, follows the story of Holden Caulfield, a young teenager, struggling with innocence and relationships, and his slight detachment from reality. Holden’s use of certain defense mechanisms illustrate his chronic depression, hypocrisy, and his struggle with self identity. When confronted with problems or his emotions, Holden often acts out in anger, and also regresses his emotions. He also like to protect his masculinity by toughening up his appearance.

Holden is deathly afraid of conforming, growing up, and having to assimilate into the phony adult world. As a result he comes off as hypocritical as he is the most prominent phony in the novel. He constantly lies, refuses to connect with others and overlooks his own pain, letting it deeply impact his life. Holden is a compulsive liar; he does not have one honest conversation with anyone except his sister and Jane for the duration of the novel. When he is on the train with Mrs. Morrow, for instance, he claims his name is Rudolf Schmidt and preaches about what an amazing guy her son is, even though he is “the biggest bastard that ever went to Pencey, in the whole crumby history of the school.” (61) This shows that Holden falls victim to the same social conventions as everyone else. He says exactly what Mrs. Morrow wants to hear, despite the fact that he

Although there are essentially two Holdens, there are still traits that remain the same. Throughout the story, Holden feels the need to explain and justify himself, as though people don’t believe him. Holden tells the story