The Communist Manifesto in The Catcher in the Rye by J.D Salinger

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In the novel, The Catcher in the Rye, J.D Salinger depicts a narration of Holden Caulfield’s encounters. Holden is portrayed as a high school student that is judgmental towards adults while kinder to the youth. Holden does not want to grow up and he thinks that if one is approaching adulthood, one will turn into a phony. Holden’s leniency towards younger people, such as his sister, is because of his dilemma of growing up or not, his distaste for adult phonies, and his own childhood.

Holden’s dislike for adult phonies causes him to not want to enter adulthood. Holden fears that if he enters adulthood, he will become a phony, which he loathes. While Holden is listening to Mr. Spencer’s lecture, his mind wanders: “If a boy’s mother was sort of fat or corning-looking or something … then old Haas would just shake hands with them and give them a phony smile and then he’d talk to someone else’s parents. I can’t stand that stuff. It drives me crazy” (14). Holden’s great hatred for phonies is displayed here. Later on in the book as Phoebe asks Holden why he got kicked out of school, Holden r...

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