Holden's Phony Phobia in The Catcher in the Rye
What does phony mean to you? Do you consider it something that is not what it really seems? Or even something or someone that isn't normal in all ways or just in some? Phony is one of the words in the English literature that can have numerous interpretations. Can be being phony possibly hinder an attempt to accomplish a task to fully function mentally? Can phony delay an individuals maturing period? In J.D. Salinger's Catcher in the Rye, Holden's "phony phobia" restricts him from becoming a fully matured adult. In Holden's attempted journey in becoming a fully matured adult, he encounters many scenarios involving friendships, personal opinions, and his love of children. His journey is an unpleasant and difficult one with many lessons learned along the way.
Holden possesses abnormal relationships with some of the characters in Catcher in the Rye. Many of his friends and those he talks highly about are young children. He does not make any negative comments about these companions, and there is no mention whatsoever of phony. Holden has a strong relationship with Phoebee, his younger sister. Holden vocalizes about the fact Phoebee can visit him anytime in the summer, "What I'd do, I'd let old Phoebee came out and visit me in the summertime and on Christmas vacation and Easter vacation" (205). Holden shows a solid liking to his sister and is always wanting her by his side. He finds a hard time associating with older, mature individuals. Also, a strong relationship with Allie his deceased younger brother, is apparent due to the twenty references in the novel. In fact, most of Holden's fondest memories are of those times with his younger siblings. His comments of innocence help establish this connection. Someone who is trying to learn the stages of developing into a mature adult would not develop as soon, or as fully when spending their time solely with those who are five to seven years of age. They would not experience the guidance from older adults to correct wrong behavior. The guidance of an elder isn't present and they need to learn by themselves.
Harrison Smith has defined Holden's friendships quite clearly "What was wrong with Holden was his moral revulsion against anything that was ugly, evil, cruel, or what he called 'phony' and his acute responsiveness to beauty and innocence, especially the innocence of the very young.
Again, this is one of the few people that Holden likes and doesn’t consider a phony like everyone else. He talks highly of her and he sees himself in her in the way that she alternates between behaving like an adult and behaving like a child, the way he says he also does. It bothered him greatly when she asks him if he “got the ax again,” referring to his expulsion. She starts asking him questions about his future and what he likes (if he likes anything at all) and it forces him to wake up. Everyone has been telling Holden to realize his situation and put more effort into schoolwork and relationships and to start caring. Holden’s reality is very simple: he wants to be the catcher in the rye to protect children’s innocence and stop them from growing up because all adults are phonies. Again and again, being told that that isn’t plausible annoys him. He feels betrayed, when his own sister, someone who he thought would understand him, joins everyone else in telling him to put forth more
Holden uses the word phony to identify everything in the world that he rejects or encounters with. People are too talkative, too quiet, or dissimilar. Holden, himself, believes he is this perfect person, but no one believes that he is. This is why Holden believes he is surrounded by "phoniness." For example, Ossenburger of Pencey Prep, emphasizes that "he talked to Jesus all the time, even when he was driving his car." Holden thinks this is a load of crap and asserts, "'that killed me. I just see the big phony bastard shifting into first gear and asking Jesus to send him a few more stiffs" (17). Holden sees why he would pray to Jesus, only to send him some more dead bodies to get more business. Not only do phonies bug Holden, but liars and crooks. Another example is Sunny and Maurice, the elevator boy. Maurice offers Holden a prostitute for the night, "Innarested in having a little tail t'night" (90)? Holden decides to take up on this offer, and later that night, as promised Sunny knocks at his door. After entering the room, Holden cannot make a decision to sleep with the prostitute, an example of Holden clinging on to his childhood. He instead pays the prostitute for her trouble getting to his room, but after leaving, she barges back in with Maurice, complaining of how little she got. Maurice roughs up Holden and gets to his money, where Holden thinks more deprecate towards phonies and liars. Realizing what a real phony and liar people bound to be growing up, he decides to avoids the real world
Page 38 is a typical example of how Holden values the qualities of purity and innocence. He attempts to throw a snowball against a car and fire hydrant, but quickly refrains from doing so, “the fact that he does not throw the snowball is “an attempt to preserve innocence (graham 2007:39). I strongly agree with this statement, as Holden’s fear of change is highlighted throughout the novel, which in turn paints a clear picture to the reader of Holden’s deepest desire, which is to preserve the innocence of childhood that gets hopelessly lost in the“phony” world of adulthood. Holden’s constant referral to adults as being “phony” is rather ironic as he says that one “wouldn’t” know If one was “being phony” this clearly means that he himself does not realize weather or not he himself is phony.
Holden alienates himself by believing he is better than everybody else. Every time Holden meets or talks about someone he is judgemental. Even when he is talking about someone he spends time with, he cannot help but ridicule them, “I never even once saw him [Ackley] brush his teeth....he had a lot of pimples. Not just on his forehead or his chin, like most guys, but all over his whole face. And not only that, he had a terrible personality. He was also sort of a nasty guy. I wasn't too crazy about him, to tell you the truth.”(Salinger,14 ). Ackley is probably the closest thing to a friend Holden has. Yet he criticizes him is a very nitpicky way, convincing himself he does not like
Holden Caulfield, portrayed in the J.D. Salinger novel Catcher in the Rye as an adolescent struggling to find his own identity, possesses many characteristics that easily link him to the typical teenager living today. The fact that the book was written many years ago clearly exemplifies the timeless nature of this work. Holden's actions are those that any teenager can clearly relate with. The desire for independence, the sexually related encounters, and the questioning of ones religion are issues that almost all teens have had or will have to deal with in their adolescent years. The novel and its main character's experiences can easily be related to and will forever link Holden with every member of society, because everyone in the world was or will be a teen sometime in their life.
In The Catcher in the Rye, Holden’s outlook in life is either the innocence of childhood or the cruelty of adulthood. He believes that the innocence of childhood is very valuable and it should be protected from the cruelty and phoniness of the adult world. Therefore Holden has a desire and is compelled to protect a child’s innocence at all costs. This is revealed when Holden tells Phoebe that he wants to be the catcher in the rye. Holden says to Phoebe, “What I have to do, I have to catch everybody if they start to go over the cliff - I mean if they’re ru...
In The Catcher in the Rye Holden fears growing up he will get uncomfortable when talking about adult situations, he would avoid seeing people just to avoid an adult predicament. Whether it will be a confrontation with his sister, or talking about a racy book with an adult he always seems to get timid. He is not quite yet ready for adulthood. This is something he needs to get ready for soon. He is 16 going on 17 and before he knows it he will be a grown up and will have to support himself and have a steady job. That involves communication.
In the Catcher in the Rye, Holden is an immature boy. Holden’s immaturity cause him many problem throughout the book. He is physically mature but not emotionally mature. He acts like a child. “All of a sudden I started to cry. I’d give anything if I hadn’t, but I did” (p. 103). Holden shows his emotional unstableness.
Phoniness is a word commonly used by Holden to describe the flaws he encounters in others and he uses this as an excuse for all the negative things that has happened in his life. Holden also starts to see a trend as he gets older in his eyes he sees more problems and could only feel certain thoughts in his mind: “certain things should stay the way they are”(p.g 122) At this time Holden was thinking about his future and wishes that it would not be so hectic. But instead he strives for a life that is easy to mange. Holden also says this because he would like to believe the world is a simple place where he can lead a simple life, and does not like the way adults act and procrastinate, and finds this phoney just because he does not want to lead this kind of life but does not realize that when your an adult, you must work for everything you earn and with hard work comes a great reward. A symbolic representation of Holden's feelings for the phoniness of the adult world is a manikin. This is because it shows a simple life which Holden would be able to manage without any change from the little joy he has in his life t...
Holden spends a majority of the novel on his own. Despite meeting many interesting characters throughout the entirety of the novel, he is never shown making any sort of connection with these characters. With the exception of Phoebe and the nuns, the characters who Holden meets or interacts with only cause him to feel lonelier, which brings Holden even closer to the eventual destruction of his mental state. Holden’s experience at his prestigious high school Pencey Prep is impactful to him as it’s the last time in the novel that he is at a school prior to his mental breakdown. As Holden leaves the campus to travel to New York, he reminiscing his experience by saying “I stood for awhile next to the stairs and took a last look down the goddamn corridor. I was sort of crying, I don’t know why, I put my red hunting hat
To Holden, everyone is either corny of phony. He uses these terms to describe what a person is if they do not act naturally and follow other people?s manners and grace. Holden dislikes phonies and thinks of them as people who try to be something they are not. He loathes people who showed off because it seems unnatural every time they do not act like themselves. Holden does not allow himself to have friendship because of his dull attitude. In the beginning of the book, the reader knows that Holden is lonely when he separates himself from the rest of the Pencey students by watching the football game from Thomsen Hill and not the grand stands. Holden is not a very sociable person partly because he finds himself better than many others. He dislikes his roommate because of his generic leather luggage. His next door roommate Ackley does not seem to want a friendship with him either. Holden finds Ackely?s zit crusted face ridiculous and doesn?t want him in his room at first. This shows the reader that Holden is a lonely person because he chooses to be lonely and does not want anything to do with people who do not fit into his perception of normal.
Holden shows a particular liking towards children over adults. He values the innocence and authenticity of children and he tries to protect them from the phoniness and evil of the world. When he goes back to his old school at the end of the novel to give a note to Phoebe, he sees an obscenity on the wall that infuriates him. He says, "Somebody'd written `F*** you' on the wall. It drove me near damn crazy. I thought how Phoebe and all the other little kids would see it, and then finally some dirty kid would tell them-all cockeyed, about it and maybe even worry about it for a couple of days. I kept wanting to kill whoever'd written it" (201). When Holden's sister Phoebe demands that he tell her one thing that he really likes, Holden's responds saying, "I like Allie...And I like doing what I'm doing right now. Sitting here with you, and talking and thinking about stuff..." (171), showing that he's most content in the simple and innocent world of his childhood.
Holden's idealism is first brought forth when he describes his life at Pency Prep. It is full of phonies, morons and bastards. His roommate, Stradlater, " was at least a pretty friendly guy, It was partly a phony kind of friendly..." (26) and his other roommate, Ackley is "a very nosy bastard" (33). Holden can't stand to be around either one of them for a very long time. Later, he gets into a fight with Stradlater over his date with Jane. Holden is upset because he thinks that Stradlater "gave her the time" and that he doesn't care about her; 'the reason he didn't care was because he was a goddam stupid moron. All morons hate it when you call them a moron' (44). Holden not only sees his roommates as phonies and bastards, but he also sees his headmaster at Pency Prep as a "phony slob" (3). This type of person is exactly what Holden doesn't want to be. He strives to be a mature adult; caring, compassionate, and sensitive.
Many of the times that Holden criticizes people, it is something he does himself. (Pg 13) “. one of the reasons I left Elkton was that I was surrounded by phonies.” Holden himself is many times what he refers to as a “phony”. He knows that he lies and pretends to like people that he would rather not be with.
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