The Phony Holden of Catcher in the Rye
J.D. Salinger writes about a young man who is very distraught after World War II. In Salinger's only published novel The Catcher in the Rye he talks about a young man who does not understand society and the surroundings he lives in. He keeps referring back to how everyone and everything around him is a phony. He makes himself seem unreliable by telling the reader that he lies openly.
In the novel Holden is what you would call an unreliable narrator. The definition of unreliable is - a person or thing that cannot be counted on or trusted. You cannot trust Holden if you know that he lies all the time. Since the reader knows that he is a habitual liar you may never know the difference from when he is telling the truth or when he is telling another one of his stories. Holden goes in and out of mental lapses throughout the novel that affected his mind and psychological state greatly.
Holden is an unreliable narrator for many reasons. Holden tells the reader that he lies all the time and sometimes does not even notice that he is lying. Holden does not see things beneath the surface. Finally he is not mentally stable and feels very insecure about many things.
Susan K. Mitchell's comments talk about how Holden is confused about the world and the people who are around him. He is an immature man who is still recovering from the effects the war had on him. He has also just failed out of school and so that has sent him into further depression. Holden sometimes contradicts his statements that he said earlier on and he doesn't realize it. "Holden is a man who does not practice what he teaches."(Mitchell 1) "You cannot believe what Holden says about his family after he has told you that he lies."(2) "Holden tells falsifications so often that he doesn't even realize whether he is lying or telling the truth."(2) Holden tells Sally he loves her, "It was a lie of course, but the thing is, I meant it when I said it."(2) "Since the book is told through the eyes of the narrator our observations are biased.
J.D Salinger gives his personal vision of the world successfully through his persona Holden Caulfield in the ‘Catcher in the Rye’. Caulfield struggles with the background of New York to portray Salinger’s theme – you must live the world as it is, not as you would like it to be. There by exposing Salinger’s vision on the world.
Compulsive lying is another characteristic that Holden exhibits. Holden would tell people lies just so they could not become closer to the real Holden. Holden tells lies on numerous occasions to gain. Holden pathetically tells Mrs. Morrow, " I have to have a tiny operation… it isn't very serious. I have this tiny little tumor on my brain" (58). She tells Holden that she is very sorry and she is hopeful that he shall be well soon. Holden then catches him self in a lie and he remarkes, "Once I get started, I can go on for hours if I feel like it," (58). This compulsive lying shows that Holden is not satisfied with himself and that he feels that people will judge him critically.
He also exhibits honesty; as a child, he chopped a cherry tree by accident but confessed and told the truth when asked by his father. Now, let’s view at Holden and see how he fits in when compared to one of the most known hero of the United States. Holden lacks honesty as he confesses to the reader how, he’s the “most terrific liar” (16). Another clear example is when Holden talks to Ernie’s mother at the train station. From when they first met, Holden already lied by telling her that his name was Rudolf Schmidt, an obvious phony lie. As the conversation went on, more lies were told about Ernie. Holden “shot the old crap” by saying how everyone adored Ernie, while Holden thought that he “was doubtlessly the biggest bastard that ever went to Pencey” (54-55). This shows how that Holden can’t even manage to tell the truth which shows a character trait that a hero wouldn’t display. In addition, Holden clearly lacks courage, which is a vital thing a hero would have. One example is when Holden narrates his story of his
The end of the book demonstrates significant growth on the part of Holden. Although at first Holden is quick to condemn those around him as phony (like Stradlater and Ackley), his more recent encounters with others prove that he is becoming more tolerant and less judgmental.
I'm the most terrific liar you ever saw in your life. It's awful. If I'm on my way to the store to buy a magazine, even, and somebody asks me where I'm going, I'm liable to say I'm going to the opera. It's terrible. (pg.16) Holden's ability to lie is one of the first traits that he reveals about himself. He takes pride in saying that he is a good liar. His inability to have normal conversations and relationships is possibly one of the factors that has him shunned by his peers. Holden's insecurity is one of the reasons for his compulsive lying. This, in turn, is why he can't find his place in the world.
Everything is written in verbatim to what actually happened. He writes his story exactly like he would say it out loud. He swears, acts like he doesn’t care, and gives his opinion on everything. At Pencey Prep, he woke up his roommate, Ackley, and asked him how one would go about joining a monastery. Ackley said you had to be Catholic and Holden responded, “Aah, go back to sleep. I’m not going to join one anyway. Holden does not have a filter on his mouth. He says anything that comes to mind, no matter what it may be or how it may affect him or someone
The origins of Holden’s disillusionment and the reason that it all started is the death of his younger brother which he was very fond of and admired, Allie, three years ago. The death of Allie is very significant in Holden’s mind since it is an event which he remembers quite clearly at multiple occasions during the book. For example, when Holden is writing a descriptive composition for his roommate Stradlater, he decides to write about Allie’s baseball mitt since it is the only thing on his mind. “My brother Allie had this left-handed fielder’s mitt. He was
He can never truly open up to people and be honest with them. For example he met this girl named Skylar, she had wanted to know about him and if he is an only child and weather he had any siblings. He went ahead and lied to her and told her he had 10 siblings older and younger. When really he is an only child/ or an orphan. Will doesn’t even truly trust his therapist he won’t talk about the past, he just criticizes Sean and his books until Sean started to get to the soft side of Will. Now for Holden he is unable to trust his parents or any adult, he just thinks they are all phonies even though they are actually trying to help him and help him pass his classes.
Holden seems very immature at the beginning of the story. We often see that he is dishonest to other extraneous characters. For instance, when he lies about his identity. He say his name is, "Rudolf Schmidt," I told her.
Holden Caulfield is the first-person narrator in J.D. Salinger’s novel, Catcher in the Rye. Holden is often classified as being an unreliable narrator. An unreliable narrator is a character whose telling of the story is not completely accurate or credible due to problems with the character's mental state or maturity. In the novel, Caulfield’s immaturity and pessimistic attitude towards the world prevents him from giving accurate details.
Holden's problems in the real world were too much for him, he had to make up things to make himself seem better than what he was.
There are numerous examples of Holden’s actions contradicting his beliefs as he attempts to find identity and meaning in his progression into adulthood. In the first chapter, Holden recognizes that he acts childishly: “I still act sometimes like I was only about twelve. Everybody says that, especially my father. It's partly true, too, but it isn't all true.” (Salinger, 5) At the time the story takes place Holden is seventeen years old, too old to be acting like a twelve year old. He takes offense to being labeled as immature, but later romanticises childhood innocence and immaturity. Throughout the book Holden criticizes people, mainly adults, of being “phonies”, yet he starts of the third chapter by admitting, “I'm the most terrific liar you ever saw in your life. It's awful. If I'm on my way to the store to buy a magazine, even, and somebody asks me where I'm going, I'm liable to say I'm going to the opera.” (Salinger, 9) Throughout the book he lies for no apparent reason like he does to Ernie Morrow’s mother. Holden breaks his own moral code and joins the league of the “phonies” by thinking one thing and saying another just like they do. Furthermore, while Holden fantasizes in his mind about himself being the guard of a Utopia populated by innocent children he smokes cigarettes and consumes excessive amounts a...
that is a writer and works in Hollywood. He also has a sister named Phoebe that he believes to be very smart and clearly cares very much about her. Holden also had a brother, called Allie, who died of Leukemia in 1946. Holden describes Allie as “terrifically intelligent” and very nice. Holden also seems to think very low of himself when it comes to being smart and I think it’s due to the brightness of his siblings. Despite Holden giving a few personal details there are still quite a few things that we do not know about him. Some minor ones like his birthplace or his birthday but also large ones like what his childhood was like. That large detail could have given an insight as to why he seemed so depressed or anxious, or even why he doesn’t care about many things. It also doesn’t go into detail the infatuation that Holden has with Jean Gallagher, or if he even has one. Holden also stops his story saying that he’s going back to school in the September, he doesn’t divulge any more than that which leads you to wonder if he ever recovered or not. The reason Holden is an effective storyteller is because he uses very sarcastic and serious tones and speaks informal, like a teenager. The author
The Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger, is a classic novel about a sixteen-year-old boy, Holden Caulfield, who speaks of a puzzling time in his life. Holden has only a few days until his expulsion from Pency Prep School. He starts out as the type of person who can't stand "phony" people. He believes that his school and everyone in it is phony, so he leaves early. He then spends three aimless days in New York City. During this time, Holden finds out more about himself and how he relates to the world around him. He believes that he is the catcher in the rye: " I keep picturing all these little kids playing some game in a big field of rye and all. Thousands of little kids, and nobody's around-nobody big, I mean-except me. And I'm standing on the edge of some crazy cliff. What have I to do, I have to catch everybody if they start to go over the cliff..." (173). He briefly enters what he believes is adulthood and becomes a "phony" himself. By the end of the story, Holden realizes he doesn't like the type of person he has become, so he reverts into an idealist; a negative, judgmental person.
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