Similarities Between Holden And Salinger

Similarities between author and character are nothing short of common, but nothing like the almost parallel lives of J.D. Salinger and Holden Caulfield. Both J.D. and Holden hate phonies and go through life avoiding them and materialism. Catcher In the Rye by J.D. Salinger shows direct similarities in very evident ways of how they, both J.D. himself and Holden Caulfield, want to deal with the fakeness or “phoniness” in the world. Each lives their own lives and seem different until compared in ways more than one, and it shows how an author puts themselves into the book, intentionally or not.

Holden Caulfield, the protagonist of J.D. Salinger's Catcher In the Rye, very obviously hates the phonies of the world and the materialism in the life he lives. His definition of phony comes across either as someone who is fake in their actions and follows the status quo so to speak. Holden has jumped from boarding school to boarding school throughout his life and his hatred for this fakeness is part of that. “One of the biggest reasons I left Elkton Hills was because I was surrounded by phonies. That's all. They were coming in the goddam window.” (Salinger, 17). Throughout the book, the reader learns he struggles to stay

Salinger and Holden Caulfield live almost identical lives because as many authors do, they put themselves into their novel. In the film Salinger, A.E. Hotchner speaks of how J.D gave him advice on his writing, he said: “You have to get away from fantasy, write about something you know.” (Salinger, 45 minutes, 2 seconds). Hotchner then went on to talk about how Salinger thought it would make his writing better. J.D. Salinger would not give advice he hadn’t known to work well, which goes to show J.D. really is Holden Caulfield. J.D. himself lived a life of going in and out of boarding schools much like Holden. (biography.com). They both share a strong want or even need, to get away from the sham of a life that the world around them