‘Holden is just as phony as the phonies he criticizes.’ This statement is predominantly true as Holden disconnects from his ideals by acting in a certain way. Holden Caulfield, the protagonist of J.D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye, seems to be infatuated with the phonies he comes across. He calls his schoolmates, principal, teachers, actors, girlfriends, and people he meets along the way all phonies. As the story continues, Holden proves himself to be the biggest phony of all the characters in Salinger's novel. Holden makes it very clear that he dislikes phonies from the very beginning of the book. He interprets the word ‘phony’ for when someone is not acting genuinely, or in a fraudulent way, or conforming to the way society wants people