Holden’s Problem Is Not ‘Phonies’ but His Inability to Accept Reality.” Do You Agree?

Holden’s immaturity causes him many problems throughout the story. Although he is physically mature, he acts more like a child. “All of a sudden I

Holden Caulfield feels alone, unloved, and he has little self-esteem. He does not know who he wants to be and where he wants to go in life. Throughout the novel, Holden is wandering from place to place, causing himself a lot of trouble on the way. He does not know where he is going, and eventually decides to move out west. He decided this because he does not seem to like anybody. They all bring him down. However, his biggest adversary is himself. One day he read an article and he states “It [The article] made me feel worse….your face, your eyes, if your hormones were in good shape, and I didn’t look that way at all. I looked exactly like the guy with lousy hormones” (Salinger 215). This shows that Holden not only feels upset about his appearance, but it also shows the influence other people make on his life. He compares himself to them. Earlier in the novel he clearly tore himself down. He stated that his nine-year-old sister is smarter than him. He also stated that he is “not good in bed”. Finally, he is comparing himself to the social standards that we have for people. Throughout the novel he is trying to find his self-worth. He finally decides to be who he wants to be and to stay

He even mentioned himself as “the most terrific liar” (ch3, pg19). It makes reader feel like not only he didn't felt bad for lying, but he also thinks that it's fun to lie. Moreover, there are several times that Holden ‘judges’ every person that he saw; whether it's his roommate, his date, or any person that he walks by. He called everyone ‘phony’ and he think that he wanted to get away from all the ‘phonies’ around him. However, Holden himself is actually a ‘phony’ because he always lied and fake in front of other, but he seems like he never notice that at all. Like when he met Ms. Morrow on the train, he lied about his name by telling her that his name is “Rudolf Schmidt” instead of Holden (pg 61). He did also tell Ms. Morrow that her son is doing very well in school, getting along so well with others, and is “one of the most popular boys at Pencey” (pg 63); however in his thought he known that reality isn’t like that. In his mind when Ms. Morrow said that her son, Ernest, is “a very sensitive boy” (pg 62); Holden thought was describing Ernest that he is “as sensitive as a goddam toilet seat.”(pg 62). At the scene when Holden went to a date with Sally, Holden also showed his negative judgement by describing girls that were around there that some of them had “terrific legs...lousy legs”(pg 137). Also he pre-judged that “most of them would probably marry dopey guys…. Guys that are very boring” (pg 137); however he didn’t seems to realize that he can’t even be that charming, nice, and wonderful date for

            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

There is another lesson Holden had to learn. He needed to learn how to be satisfied with his company. He was always looking for someone to call or someone to talk to. When he finally did have some company, he did nothing but criticize them. For example, Sally Hayes went out with Holden, and throughout the entire time he complained and criticized her. He

Despite Holden Caulfield’s passionate hatred of “phonies,” he himself acts like one throughout the book. Holden dislikes phonies because he sees them as charlatans, or people who fake, cheat, and scam their way through life. They pretend to be someone they are not for their personal gain. For example, Holden observes his roommate at Pencey, Stradlater, to be a lazy slob who occasionally requests Holden’s assistance with homework. However, in the presence of the opposite gender, Stradlater becomes an immaculate gentleman, capable of coercing his dates into sex.

He lies to others on the outside, and never attempts to make nice with the people around him, yet he claims that people don't recognize him when he's lonely. He leaves his boarding school and goes running around New York irresponsibly instead of fessing up to himself about his real problems. At least by the end of the story, Holden has somewhat matured and understand that this side of him as a hypocrite and a self pitier is present and a

Holden Caulfield is immature. This is unsurprising in and of itself, but after reading the book, it really hits home. This lack of Maturity is quite apparent in his interactions with other people, particularly with people that he used to know. There are several notable examples of how his immaturity affects his interactions and relationships with other people. The first of these examples is his interaction with Ackley and Stradlater in his dorm at Pencey.

Salinger’s narrative strategy of making Holden being quick to judge makes his point come across, but at the same time makes the audience feel that Holden is not a credible source because he does the same things that he calls people out for doing. Holden does the same things he calls people “phony” for doing, making the audience consider if they can trust him. Holden himself is guilty of being phony because he feels the adults in his life have forced him to be. Holden has no one that he is able to vent to because he pushes them away by being hard headed and not listening to anyone thus causing him to lie to himself which keeps the truth even further away from him. Seng makes it a point in, “The Fallen Idol: The Immature World of Holden Caulfield”, to show that, “While holden is quick to pass judgement on others he is not so quick to see the faults in himself.”(Seng 205) Seng makes it a point that in order for the audience to understand the novel as a whole it is crucial for the audience to realize that Holden is also

Ill mannered – The reason why Holden is ill-mannered is because of how he constantly talks bad behind other peoples’ backs, usually for no apparent reason. Holden does it only for his enjoyment. After reading several of Holden’s rude statements, it is revealed that he is always judgmental and spends most of his time pointing out the negatives and never looks at the positive side of the people he meets. The ironic part is that Holden’s opinions about others are a contradiction as his personality throughout the novel actually fits with those terms he uses because Holden has no signs of respect for others.

Holden embodies the Everyman archetype because he is regular kid who has no special skills.  Holden values honesty which is evidenced by his hate for those he calls “phonies” whom he believes are dishonest.  Holden first expresses his distaste towards pseudo people when he told his theory of what the daughter of the headmaster at Pencey thought about her father by saying “She probably knew what a phony slob he was,”(Salinger, 2).    It’s this honesty that makes Holden a very open character, almost to the point of indecency, ultimately making him a very unpleasant person to read about, which is ironic considering how much honesty is valued and needed in society.  While Holden’s honesty reflects his personality, it does not completely work for all the other characters in the novel, and for that more values have to be

He essentially purchased a prostitute. When she arrives he is nervous and says he just had an operation so they should just talk. The prostitute is baffled and seems irritated. The internal conflict here is Holden one, being a virgin and nervous, and two, not wanting to disrespect her as a woman. The syntax here shows that Holden really is trying to be polite, and that he is just a nervous teenageer.

In the end, he leaves the booth without any interactions; though it is countlessly mentioned how Holden is lonely. His trust issues lead Holden to create multiple fake ‘personas’ because he believes no one would care what happens to him after they part ways. The lack of friends to confide in has left Holden to

In J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye, Holden Caulfield is a 16 year old boy who is growing up in the 1950’s. Holden is afraid of growing up, and doesn’t like adults. He has a bad habit of calling people “phony.” Holden uses phony in many different ways to describe negative people, such as those that are hypocritical and think highly of themselves, however, Holden has a tendency to act phony himself by lying, exaggerating, and acting like someone he isn’t.

Holden is not afraid to voice his opinion on phonies, in fact he tends to talk a lot about phonies throughout the entire novel. The article on MaineToday, reveals what teenager’s think about fakers, which similarly connects to Holden’s opinions. As Holden talks to Mr. Spencer he explains that he left school “because I was surrounded by phonies” (13, Salinger). As a result of his dislike of phonies, starts feeling more depressed, not only because he was surrounded by them in school, but also surrounded by them while traveling through New York. Everytime he sees a phony he becomes depressed or as he repeats regularly “it depresses him”. Seeing fakers on social media can lower one’s self esteem, or question who they really are. If the audience of this book was teenagers, they would fully agree to the