Phony In Catcher In The Rye

The Catcher in the Rye is one of J. D. Salinger's world-famous books about the disgruntled youth. Holden Caulfield is the main character and he is a seventeen- year-old dropout who has just been kicked out of his fourth school. Navigating his way through the challenges of growing up, Holden separates the “phony” aspects of society, and the “phonies” themselves. Some of these “phony” people in his life are the headmaster whose friendliness depends on the wealth of the parents, and his roommate who scores with girls using sickly-sweet affection. This book deals with the complex issues of identity, belonging, connection, and alienation. Holden senses these feelings most of the time and is guilty about many things in

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.

Holden Caulfield, the main protagonist in the Catcher in the Rye is a confused teenage boy, that judges people who seem to be not genuine. Throughout the novel, Holden presents to readers, many universal truths about a human’s daily life. All of these universal truths led readers to believe that, Holden acknowledges and appreciates people who are authentic and not fake. Holden recognizes that money creates a barrier in society which makes humans become phony. Holden describes how his roommate felt embarrassed of his inexpensive suitcases “It isn’t important, I know, but I hate it when somebody has cheap suitcases…You think if they’re intelligent and all, the other person, and have a good sense of humor, that they don’t give a damn whose suitcases

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

In the beginning of the chapters, Salinger makes Holden seem relatable to other teens. “I could feel a terrific lecture coming on. I didn't mind the idea so much, but I didn't feel like being lectured to and smell Vicks Nose Drops and look at old Spencer in his pajamas and bathrobe all at the same time.” (Chapter 2) Many young teenagers can relate to this quotation, since not many people find it amusing listening to an elderly lecture. Later on in the book, his childish personality begins to show more and more as the plot moves. At some points, he would like to connect to the adult world and at other points, he rewinds to the idea of every adult being “phony” or insincere people. One example of this is when Holden meets with Sally Hayes on a date. At first, Holden seemed to believe he is in love with her at first, but he came to the state of annoyance and exasperation when he couldn't connect to the adult world Sally was living in when he asked her to move out of state with her. Holden imagines himself as the “catcher in the rye.” He conceptualizes a field of rye perched high on top of a mountain cliff, full of

despises phoniness, people who exhibit hypocrisy, superficiality, and shallowness, because it complicates his ideological world where everything is "black and white;" ironically, believing himself to be the one virtuous man alive, Holden overlooks the vast amount of phoniness within himself. Holden shows his hatred for phonies when he goes to see a play with Sally Hayes. After the first act, Holden takes Sally out to get cigarettes with the other attendants and thinks to himself, "You never saw so many phonies in all your life, everybody smoking their ears off and talking about the play so that everybody could hear and know how sharp they were. Some dopey movie star ... was with some gorgeous blonde, and the two of them

Holden Caulfield, the protagonist in J.D Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye, has had great difficulty interacting in a productive way with people he encounters during the novel. Holden doesn't take responsibility for his actions, he creates excuses for himself after realizing he is failing in school as well as other aspects of his life. His constant use of the defense mechanism, displacement, and blaming other's 'phoniness' for everything bad that happens to him, is intended to protect his own insecurities about what he is going through in his life.

Holden Caulfield despises phonies, because he finds them hypocritical, and uses the insult phony as a way to brush off the rejection he feels from most people. Almost all of the people Holden has called phony have disappointed or rejected his in some way, so Holden tries to make himself feel better by dismissing the people as fake. Holden considers phonies as ingenuine people, however he is a phony himself because he demonstrates the same characteristics he despises. For example, Holden “hate[s] movies like a poison” because they are phony, meaning they deceive their audience, hide behind masks, and fake emotions (33). Ironically, Holden is also a phony by his own definition, because he is constantly deceiving people for no good reason. In fact he admits that he is “the most terrific liar you ever say in your life”(19). The most obvious evidence of Holden’s phoniness is that he lies to himself throughout the entire book. He

novel were introduced by Salinger because of similar life experiences that he had gone through. One of the events that contributes to Holden using the word “phony” throughout the novel in order to show his hatred for society, was contributed to because of the experiences Salinger had while serving as a sergeant in the Cold War. Salinger as a child was also moved between prep schools just as Holden was. The audience is shown that being stuck in a place like New York City as a teenager is a stressful as you would think. Holden searches throughout New York City looking for truth and his purpose for life. Salinger shows through Holden the struggle of maturing in a society full of adults as a teenager, trying to find their identity. Holden Caulfield

A disparate situation is presented to readers in The Catcher in the Rye. Early in the novel, Holden expresses the reason for his difficulties in school as his being: “always surrounded by phonies.”(Salinger 13) Holden is correct; he is completely incapable of relating to his peers. However he takes no time to consider potential solutions to his problem. During his conversation with Mr. Spencer, Holden communicates that he deals with his troubles by simply quitting; putting minimal effort into academics and socialization. Since Holden never addresses his emotions directly, he fails to realize

     In life there comes a time when everyone thinks that they are surrounded by phoniness. This often happens during the teen years when the person is trying to find a sense of direction. Holden Caulfield, a 16-year-old teen-ager is trying to find his sense of direction in J.D. Salinger's, "The Catcher In The Rye." Holden has recently been expelled from Pency Prep for failing four out of his five classes. He decides to start his Christmas recess early and head out to New York. While in New York Holden faces new experiences, tough times and a world of "phony." Holden is surrounded by phoniness because that is the word he uses to identify everything in the world that

He recognizes that children are not phonies, they say what they want, do what they want, and do not care what others think. However, he sees that adults are the exact opposite. Their world, the phony world, is something he has no interest in being part of. As a result, Holden distances himself from maturing, consequently preventing any meaningful interaction from occurring for the duration of the novel. Holden uses phoniness to define himself subconsciously. When he labels everyone around him as phony he gives himself an excuse to alienate himself from others.

The main protagonist in Catcher in the Rye is 16 years old Holden Caufield. He overall seems sad, confused, angry, anxious, perceptive, bigoted, resentful, thoughtful, kind, and horny. We know that he has failed out of four previous schools, displays complete apathy toward his future, and is prone to violent outbreaks. No matter how many times Caufield says he’s “lonesome,” he never reaches out to anyone for help. He’s typically decides not to interact with people because he’s afraid he’ll have to talk to someone he doesn’t like.

In the novel Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, the protagonist Holden Caulifield views the world as an evil corrupt place where there is no peace. Holden has a phony phobia that restricts him from becoming a fully matured adult. In Holden's attempted journey in becoming a fully matured adult, he encounters many scenarios involving friendship, personal opinions, and his love of children. His journey is an unpleasant and difficult one with many lessons learned along the way; including the realization that he is powerless to change the world.

Phony is defined as a fake or an ingenuine person, this word was used most often by no other than Holden Caulfield, the most recognizable teenager in American literature. To truly understand who Holden Caulfield is, we must take a trip back in time to the 50s. The 1950s was a decade of prosperity and conformity, life in the 50s was simply peaceful. However, in the summer of 1951, J.D Salinger published a book entitled “The Catcher in the Rye”, the main protagonist of the novel, Holden Caulfield, described the 1950s as a disgusting and phony era. Holden himself is depicted as a teenager disillusioned by the adult world. Holden finds the hypocrisy of the adult world to be almost intolerable, with this mindset, he alienates himself from the society and he soon realized that he wants to become a “catcher in the rye”, which is to be a guardian of children, protecting them from the ugliness of adulthood and the process of maturity. The fuel that drove Holden to become who he is today was that of his childhood sibling loss, after the tragedy, Holden became desperate and infuriated. Almost 70 years later, Holden Caulfield still resonates in American culture, this leaves reviews questioning, why was the novel so meaningful and popular? Salinger’s universal idea of alienation and phoniness gave rise to the novel, never has anyone seen such a controversial book, but no one realized that Salinger’s message is pointed toward the faults of the American society.