Preposterous Lying In 'Catcher In The Rye'

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Preposterous lying is a trait that Holden shows forth throughout the novel. In chapter 3 he warned the readers that he loves to lie and he does a good job at doing it (22). Holden would tell lies over and over again just to protect himself from any hurt or rejection. Another flip side to why Holden lies is because he tends to get bored with certain conversations he has with his peers so lying helps him to check out of reality for a while and in doing this, he tries to impress people and let them feel sorry for him. This makes him feel extremely superior. Lying provides Holden with a sense of control, something he desperately needs because he feels that this world is so out of control with all of these phonies he mentions. In Chapter 8, Holden