Fake Happy- This song relates to Holden because it talks about faking happiness. Holden observes many people throughout this novel whom he believes to be phony. Many of these “phony” people work hard to appear different than who they really are. Though not everyone Holden describes is completely phony, they all have qualities that make them appear so. For example, Holden calls Mr. Spencer phony, but the only phony thing he did was when the headmaster came in, he would “practically kill himself chuckling and smiling and all, like as if Thurmer was a goddamn prince or something” (Salinger 168). “Fake Happy”, by Paramore, talks about faking a smile, and one moment similar to this in the book was when Holden was in a poor mood, but then picked up the ladies tabs, as well as when he saw Lillian Simmons and acted all nice even when he did not like her. When she asked Holden to stay with her and her date, he made up the excuse that he “was just leaving” (Salinger 87). Holden would like this song because he would apply it to everyone else, but definitely not himself, though at times he could relate as well. …show more content…
Ever since Allie died he has been a mess. He talks about how after Allie died, “[His parents] were going to have [him] psychoanalyzed and all, because [he] broke all the windows in the garage” (Salinger 39). He develops a negative outlook on life. This is the cause of Holden’s continuous downward spiral. He becomes more and more disturbed and eventually ends up in a mental institution. One line from this song is “we get what we deserve”. This applies to Holden because everytime he gets kicked out of a school he plays the victim, but it is his own fault for not applying himself and doing the work to pass the