My Immortal Analysis

Holden, the main character, also called many people phonies in his book. Is Salinger’s story trying to send a negative message to society? There are many examples that show his story is trying to set that tone . One example for instance, is that Holden shows many signs of being a psychopath.

Holden see’s a little kid who was singing the poem "Comin' Thro' the Rye". Holden admires the little kid as he says, “But there was one nice thing. This family that you could tell just came out of some church were walking right in front of me - a father, a mother, and a little kid about six years old. They looked sort of poor. The father had on one of those pearl-gray hats that poor guys wear a lot when they want to look sharp. He and his wife were just walking along, talking, not paying any attention to their kid. The kid was swell. He was walking in the street, instead of on the sidewalk, but right next to the curb. He was making out like he was walking a very straight line, the way kids do, and the whole time he kept singing and humming. I got up closer so I could hear what he was singing. He was singing that song, 'If a body catch a body coming through the rye.' He had a pretty little voice, too. He was just singing for the hell of it, you could tell. The cars zoomed by, brakes screeched all over the place, his parents paid no attention to him, and he kept on walking next to the curb and singing 'If a body catch a body coming through the rye.' It made me feel better. It made me feel not so depressed any more." (Salinger 115). The poem represents Holden’s desire to protect the innocence of children as Holden admires the child’s singing as the poem

Holden has very noble goals, he wants to protect children’s innocence. He says to his little sister “‘Anyway, I keep picturing all these little kids playing some game in this big field of rye and all. Thousands of little kids, and nobody’s around-nobody big, I mean-except me. And I’m standing on the edge of

Throughout the story Holden emphasizes his love for childhood innocence. In a passage he says “The thing with kids is, if they want to grab for the golden ring, you have to let them do it, and not say anything.” (Salinger 211) This immediately points to his affinity for innocence and not having the limits of being and adult. 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,

I like how Salinger shows the phoniness of the adult world. “Phony” is probably the most used word in this novel. It means fake. Holden always uses this word to describe adulthood. In Chapter 22, he criticizes people around him as phony. “It was one of the worst schools I ever went to. It was full of phonies. And mean guys.” (Salinger, 167). Although Holden is phony himself and doesn’t self-reflect, in a sense, his judgement

Holden compare his imagination to a poem by Robert Burns called “If a body meet a body coming though the rye”. Holden Picturing all these kids playing on a field of rye and Holden is standing near the edge of the cliff to catch them from falling. In fact, Holden said, “Anyway, I keep picturing all these little kids playing some game on the field of rye and all. I’m standing on the edge of some crazy cliff.” In reality, he wants to stop kids from entering into the adult world losing his innocence, which Holden is afraid of because according to him kids are “real” meaning that they will always speak their mind.

This theme is a major literary catalyst in the novel and in the life of Holden. The term “Phony” is used 44 times and through Holden’s perspective, the word is used to describe everything he dislikes about people. This, however, is a huge contradiction because he fails to recognize that he is a phony himself. He is hypocritical and doesn’t realize his own ‘phoniness.’ Holden says in chapter 3 he is “the most terrific liar he has ever met.” This is a central contradiction since he spends a great amount of time in the story stating how much he loathes “phonies.” Holden hates it when anyone is insincere and less than truthful with him, but he tells lies throughout the book to almost everyone he encounters. Even though his deceptions aren’t true and often times are unkind and fiendish, he is nothing less than a phony himself. Holden is convinced that everyone is phony mainly because he believes the world is simple and that everyone should be as innocent and honest as children are. “I'm the most terrific liar you ever saw in your life. It's awful. If I'm on my way to the store to buy a magazine, even, and somebody asks me where I'm going, I'm liable to say I'm going to the opera.” (Chapter 3, sentence one). Holden is an example that the world isn’t as simple as he would like it to be. The fact that he is a liar himself, makes the world he conceptualizes to be

Holden thinks that everyone especially adults are phonies, but Holden does not realize that he is one as well. Holden thinks people are phonies because he just can not seem to wrap his mind about

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

Holden possesses a combination of fear and hatred for "phonies". Holden uses this term to describe a wide range of people including shallow, superficial, fake, untruthful, or hypocritical individuals. "One of the biggest reasons I left Elkton Hills was because I was surrounded by phonies... They were coming in the

Through evaluation of the character Holden Caulfield, I have found him to be a young man with his own strict, though unique, code of honor who cares, in his own way, about the people around him. Throughout the novel, Holden seems to hold himself firmly to his distinct sense of what is right. One way this is evidenced is in his hatred of ‘phonies’. Holden states repeatedly throughout the novel that he cannot stand anyone or anything he sees as fake. Their very existence offends him.

More specifically, Holden feels that adults are always hypocritical, superficial and inauthentic, their words and actions never matching their true feelings and intentions, in order to fit in with the world around them. Holden does not want to face adulthood himself and succumb to the phoniness that he perceives all around him. When Holden goes to say goodbye to Mr. Spencer, his history teacher, Mr. Spencer tries to talk things out with Holden and points out to him "Life is a game, boy. Life is a game that one plays according to the rules." (Salinger 8). Although outwardly agreeable, Holden thinks, “Game, my ass. Some game. If you get on the side where all the hot-shots are, then it’s a game, all right—I’ll admit that. But if you get on the other side, where there aren’t any hot-shots, then what’s a game about it? Nothing. No game.” (Salinger 8). Holden feels hatred regarding the content of Mr. Spencer’s statement said and the fact that it came from an adult, which further reinforces Holden’s notion that adults are phony. Holden’s true feelings show how lonely and alienated he feels, and how he feels victimized that he is very different and unique from all the phony people in the world. takes comfort in the red hunting hat that is peculiar and unique, just as he is. Holden perceives children as innocent and thus, gives the red hat to his little sister Phoebe, “I took my hunting hat out of my coat pocket and gave it to her.”( Salinger 180). Holden wants to shelter and shield Phoebe from losing her childlike innocence and becoming a phony

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.

Do you ever feel like you are surrounded by phonies but, end up realizing you are not that different from the people around you? Holden calf lied felt frustrated by all of the phoniness in the world. In the 1950's he flunked out of Elkton Hills and other private schools because, he could not handle being around phonies. He is going through a stage of life that is stressful and that other teenagers go through. This part of growing up is crucial since this will affect how you will perceive the world around you. In J.D Sailengers catcher in the rye Holden gets annoyed and frustrated by all of the phoniness in the world but, he is the true phony.