How Does Holden Spot A Phony

For example, the day Holden and Sally were talking a guy came up to Sally and started to act all nice and flirty with her. Holden noticed right away he was a phony guy and started to get mad. In the end, Holden despises phony people, but unfortunately, to him, that is all he seems to find in his path. " If you sat around there long enough and heard all the phonies applauding and all, you got to hate everybody in the world, I swear you did." As you can see the author uses the word "hate" to really describe what he feels too phony people. This is why Holden might not want to have a relationship so that he could avoid all the phony people in the long run.

Even if Holden calls others phonies, Holden is also a phony. For example, he is constantly saying how phony other people are. But he himself does not really act a whole lot different. He says other people are phony, but he still tries to be friends with them. He hates Stradlater but will do his paper for him. He thinks the women from Seattle are pathetic but he wants to dance with them. He says the Lunts are phony but he'll go and watch them. So he's criticizing society all over the place, but he does not withdraw from it. In fact, he seems to be trying to be involved even as he is saying how phony it

Holden defines phony as hypocrites, condescending people, liars, and conceited people. He left Elkton Hills because he didn’t like being surrounded by a bunch of phonies. Holden mentions Mr. Haas, the headmaster at Elkton Hills, as “the phonies bastard I ever met in my life,” (Salinger 13). Holden explained that Mr. Haas would go around shaking parents hands on Sundays, but when he sees a very strange person, he would shake their hands and leave to talk to other people. Holden calls Mr. Haas phony because he judges people on how they look. Although he calls others a phony, Holden’s a phony himself because he lies about himself and others. If Holden doesn’t like phonies, then he doesn’t accept himself. He wants to change, so he has to lie in order to not tell the

Holden is the biggest hater of phonies, and at the same time, he is the biggest phony in the novel. In this novel, being phony is somewhat equivalent to being an adult. Holden wants to be seen like an adult. For this reason, he smokes and drinks heavily, and goes as far as being involved with prostitution. For people like Stradlater and adults, these are rather normal from their perspective. However, for Holden, they become paradoxes, as he absolutely loathes phoniness. Nearly all aspects of society, including movies, matinees, people’s behaviors, and even simple social interactions like conversations, are criticized by Holden for being phony. For example, during his date with Sally, Sally’s conversation with a guy they met at the matinee “killed [Holden]…it was the phoniest conversation you ever heard in your life” (Salinger 127). In a hope to make Sally understand his views on phonies, Holden says, “‘Take cars,’… ‘I don’t even like old cars. I mean they don’t even interest me. I’d rather have a goddam horse. A horse is at least human, for God’s sake’” (Salinger 130). Then again, Holden becomes the phoniest person shortly after. He asks Carl Luce,

      Holden's conflict with Maurice demonstrates his sincerity and his hatred in the evilness of the phony. Primarily, Holden is vigorously pushed to protect himself from Maurice. Holden arranges to spend time with Sunny a prostitute, and later is forced to pay double the agreed amount by Maurice, the hotel elevator operator. Maurice demands, 'Want your parents to know you spent the night with a whore? High-class kid like you?' He was pretty sharp, in his crumby way. He really was. 'Leave me alone. If you'd said ten, it'd be different. But you distinctly.';(Salinger 102) Holden is struggling to secure himself, by attempting to end the fight. Secondly, the evilness of the phony is shown during his conflict with Maurice. Holden cries, 'All of a sudden I started to cry. I'd give anything if I hadn't, but I did. 'No, you're no crooks,' I said. 'You're just steeling five' 'Shut up,' old Maurice said and gave me a shove.';(Salinger 103) The evil scenery causes Holden to, uncontrollably break down in tears. Holden's hatred of the phony is grown, as well as the protecting of the innocence. In addition to his physical conflicts with

So these memories have clustered in his mind. Now, Holden wants to even try and erase his mind of the thoughts of the people he cannot trust. To Holden, especially, to trust someone means to understand someone. The only people Holden can, or used to trust are Allie, Phoebe and his brother D.B. So the way J.D. Salinger has illustrated his book of how Holden thinks is that Holden rejects everyone who is phony or fake. So the definition of phony, to Holden is some one that he distrusts. Holden thinks Mr. Antolini is a phony because he just cannot seem to understand him. Also he thinks that the Show-off piano player was phony because he can't understand what exactly he was playing so Holden cannot trust him, therefore the piano player is a phony.

Throughout The Catcher in the Rye Holden complains that the people around him are all "phony." This view probably stems from the extensive trend of conformity that infected the 1950's. The reader can understand Holden's reason for hating these phonies. Holden describes any person that embraces the popular culture as a "phony" and disdains them for it. This is clear when Holden goes to see "The Lunts" with Sally Hayes and is absolutely disgusted by the people around him. When Holden meets Sally's acquaintance, George, he immediately recognizes him as a phony, 'strictly ivy league. Big deal." (p.127) Holden cannot stand people who do not think for themselves. Although Salinger never states his opinion directly, one can assume by Holden's statements that Salinger was also critical of the 50's theme of conformity, or at least aware of it.

In The Catcher in the Rye, J.D. Salinger captures a teenage boy’s struggle with adolescence. The story is told from the perspective of Holden Caulfield, who embarks on a journey to New York City after being expelled from his boarding school. He meets new people and has experiences that reveal his personality and interactions. In the story, Holden is “fed up” with the world, he feels that everything and almost every person he encounters is “phony,” (a word often used by Holden). Anyone who Holden perceives to have affectations, he deems to be different from him. These people appear to be socially intelligent and are generally accepted into society, unlike Holden. Although Holden is very judgemental, he fails to recognize his own phoniness as well. So,

In The Catcher in the Rye, written by J.D. Salinger, Holden lies a lot for many reasons. Holden will lie to anyone in order to hide his past from others and create a ‘new him’, gain pitty, and entertainment. He lies to complete strangers, friends, family members, and even the person who is closest to, his sister, Phoebe. Holden hopes to create a new version of himself when he lies. He uses lying to feel good about himself and to cover up that he is depressed and sad about his brothers death. Holden considers himself a professional lier and finds himself constantly lying.

The relationship between Holden and the "phonies" shows how Holden despise the society at first. Whenever he meets people he thinks they are "phony" he would criticize them. For instance during the intermission of the play, the conversation between Sally and George

And so, Holden left school planning to spend some time on his own in New York City, where he lives. On the train to New York, Holden meets a mother of his fellow Pencey student. Though he thinks that this student is a complete “bastard”, he tells a woman made-up stories about her son. He lied to the woman. But lying to others is also a kind of phoniness, right? A type of deception that indicates insensitivity or even cruelty. Holden proves that he is just guilty of phoniness as the people he criticizes.

Holden is a character from “Catcher in the Rye” by J.D. Salinger. Holden is a teen in the 1950’s society. Holden views his society as fake. He is quick to judge people and their actions. Holden is depressed due to what life has dealt him. Some of the ways Holden is depressed by his society is because they all are similar. One of the ways he expresses how he feels is by calling people “phonies”. The first time he used the word was describing someone's smile. “ I can’t stand that stuff. It drives me crazy. It makes me so depressed I go crazy. I hated that goddamn Elkton Hills” (pg;14). Holden was explaining why he dropped out of the previous

As strongly as society wants to deny it, Holden was right; everyone is a phony in one way or another. Throughout The Catcher in the Rye Holden uses the word phony to describe the society around him and as a mechanism for his own isolation, but he fails to realize that he is the biggest phony of them all. Holden clearly perceives the insincerity of everyone around him and is nauseated by it; but despite his revulsion he still ends up being a phony himself. He reveals to the reader that even if someone does not want to be a fraud, and has attempted not to be, they cannot help it; everyone is a phony in the end.

Holden's phony addiction gets him into trouble at school. Holden looks for the flaws in everyone and tries to eliminate that person he sees as a threat, such as when Holden decides to face off against the phony Stradlater after Stradlater's date with Jane. Holden also thinks every teacher is a phony who pretends to be helpful to students. If Holden has trouble in school he does not seek help from his peers because he believes that they are phonies. Hence this point is tied into one of the reasons he is kicked out of Pencey, failing four out of five courses. Holden's avoidance of things phony is very strong and he has a one-track mind. It is either his way or the highway, this is another example of how Holden's phony problem hinders his chance at full maturity. Holden is so scared

Holden believes that everyone is a phony and hates them without a justifiable reason. For instance, his roommate, Stradlater, who seems neat and good-looking, but according to him, he is a phony because he is “a secret slob” (Salinger 36) and uses a dirty razor. This comment by Holden shows that he thinks his roommate is phony just for using a dirty razor, which is completely unjustifiable. Another example is how Holden criticizes his brother D.B. for being a screenwriter. However, Holden is constantly making references to movies and goes to the cinema a lot throughout the novel, because they have made an impression on him. In chapter 18, Holden criticizes a woman for crying during a movie. He justifies his criticism because the woman will not take her child to the bathroom, but his criticism is, once again, unreasonable and about phoniness in