Examples Of Phony In Catcher In The Rye

In the novel, The Catcher in the Rye by J.D Salinger, the reader follows the narrator Holden Caulfield in the 1950’s. Holden is noticeably different from everyone else. It’s easy to see that he is in a constant struggle, trying his best to be true to himself, and not be what he calls a “phony”. A “phony” is described by Holden to be someone who acts the way they are not. “One of the biggest reasons I left Elkton Hills was because I was surrounded by phonies.”(Salinger, 13) Throughout the novel he is trying to prevent growing up, and keeping his youth and innocence, as difficult as that may be. But this often proves to be too difficult for him and puts his life in a tough position. Holden is noticeably lost in his thoughts and it is ultimately

He can appear stubborn at times, but some people understand, and others seem to think of him as sort of a brat. The choice you make between trying to understand him, or just dismissing his whining, can change your outlook on the book in the end. His stubbornness prevents him from enjoying things in life, and alienates him from society. This is shown at the very beginning of the book as we are introduced to Holden’s character. “Anyway, it was the Saturday of the football game. … I remember around three o'clock that afternoon I was standing way the hell up on top of Thomsen Hill. … You could see the whole field from there, and you could see the two teams bashing each other all over the place. … You could hear them all yelling.”(Salinger, 2) This quote shows how Holden is alienated from society because he wants to stay away from the “phonies” as he explains later in the book. While everyone else is at the game, Holden is isolated on Thomsen Hill, far away from the football game, and not communicating with people at

But in reality, he himself is in fact, a phony. He admits his sexual innocence to Sunny when she comes over. . “If you want to know the truth, I’m a virgin.” (Salinger, 92) Admitting this to Sunny, a prostitute, throws the truth in the air that Holden has never had sex, and further shows how he has kept his innocence throughout the years. Speaking of Sunny, Holden sees innocence in her too. A prostitute even has innocence, and that can cause him to realize that children aren’t the only ones who keep their innocence, you can grow up and still keep it. “She came in and took her coat off right away and sort of chucked it on the bed. She had on a green dress underneath. Then she sort of sat down sideways on the chair that went with the desk in the room and started jiggling her foot up and down. She crossed her legs and started jiggling this one foot up and down. She was very nervous, for a prostitute. She really was. I think it was because she was young as hell. She was around my age. I sat down in the big chair, next to her, and offered her a cigarette. "I don't smoke," she said. She had a tiny little wheeny-whiny voice. You could hardly hear her. She never said thank you, either, when you offered her something. She just didn't know any better. "Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Jim Steele," I said. "Ya got a watch on ya?" she said. She didn't care what the hell my