Examples Of Lying In Catcher In The Rye

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Early in a child’s life, they learn that lying to deceive others is not only useful, but necessary. Even parents unknowingly teach their children to deceive others in the form of lying. “Tell grandma how much you love the gift, even if you don’t” a mother says to her child, just as Holden is very comfortable with misleading others in J.D. Salinger’s novel The Catcher In The Rye. Salinger shows that becoming comfortable with deceiving others is an essential part of growing up. The skill of misleading others by lying is something Holden is very comfortable with. For example, when Holden was on the train with the mother of a boy who went to Pencey school with Holden, he started the conversation with a lie about his name, using the name of a …show more content…

The way we see how naturally lying comes to Holden, shows that he has been doing it since he was very young. Salinger believes that lying to others to mislead them is necessary to growing up, as Holden does regularly. Also, when Holden sneaks into his house to say hello to his younger sister Phoebe, he smokes in the house because his parents are not home, but then they arrive unexpectedly and they smell the smoke. Holden’s parents ask Phoebe if she’s been smoking. “I just lit it for one second. I just took one puff. Then I threw it out the window” (177). When Phoebe lies, even her mother believes it. Phoebe seems almost as good at deceiving others as Holden is, and she is much younger. Meaning, Phoebe is not new to lying either. Both Phoebe and Holden can deceive others naturally which is Salinger’s way of showing us that these children have been lying since they were very young, as most children should because it is not only useful, but necessary to becoming an

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