It may seem that Holden does not like anything at first glance, but with closer inspection, he is fond of things one may not expect from him. One of the things he likes that was not expected in the beginning was children. He seemed to dislike almost everyone and label them as “phony”. As one progresses in the book however, it is revealed that he loves kids and they are one of the few things that keep him truly happy. The strongest examples of this come as Holden talks about his dream job of being “the catcher in the rye.” He is fascinated with the idea of protecting children against the harsh realities of life. Holden doesn’t want other children to go through pain or loss, like him losing Allie. Another strong example is when, at the very …show more content…
He makes it very clear that everything should stay the same way and that he revels it. Clear evidence is when he is at the museum and says, “The best thing, though, in that museum was that everything always stayed right where it was.” He does not like the thought of change and growing up is one of those changes. Holden is a growing teenager who chooses to be frozen between a world of the innocence of children and complex world of adulthood. He is wedged between these two worlds because he does not want to lose what innocence, happiness, and freedom he has left. He also cannot accept the responsibilities and consequences that come with growing up, so to avoid the painfulness of maturing, Holden struggles to remain childish. As many likes that were given, there are many more dislikes. Probably the most frequently thought of is he despises phony people. Everywhere he went, anyone that displeased him one bit would be labeled as “phony”. Sturdy examples of “phonies” or things he finds “phony” would be his older brother, D.B., his ex girlfriend, Lillian Simmons, movies, and the disciples of Jesus. He finds the disciples phony because he says they did nothing until after Jesus’ death. "They were about as much use to Him as a hole in the head." No one helped Jesus when he needed help and Holden holds that against the