"The Catcher in the Rye" Holden Caulfield and the ever present 'Phonies'.

So I have called Holden, the main character in "The Catcher in the Rye" a hypocrite many a time through this little blogging expedition of the "The Catcher in the Rye." I feel as if it has not quite been justified. So here goes. As I have told you in previous blogs, Holden likes to exercise the phrase 'phonies' frequently through his narration of "this madman stuff" that has been happening to him. Very rarely can he justify any of this name calling with actual evidence. That right there is a problem in my eyes. If you cannot justify what you are saying to or about someone, why the heck are you doing it? It doesn't make you look any better of a person. The thing is Holden really doesn't care, though. He's very content going about his contradictory ways. He doesn't seem like he is planning on changing any time soon, either. Why does Holden use this word so very much may you ask? Here is what I have deduced: if he is indeed rejected by any of them in the end he can just play the card 'they-were-a-phony-anyway' card. Holden has acclimated himself to rejection. He's at a place in his life where he subconsciously just expects it. He has this super star room mate, Stradlater, who probably over shadowed him pretty easily. He hasn't really got anything exceptionally outstanding going for him, his family environment isn't the best, and he doesn't apply himself in school. Here's a good example of what I am trying to convey. He has deemed everyone in Pencey Prep School phonies. So when the stuck up pretty girls reject him, he can just say they were phonies anyway. When all the cool guys reject him, he can just say they were all phonies anyway. Most importantly, when he gets kicked out of Pencey Prep School for good, he can just say it was full of phonies anyway, and make himself feel a little bit better. So in conclusion, Holden over uses the term phonies and he does it so he doesn't have to feel pain. It's a defense mechanism if you will. He deems everyone below him so when they deem him not good enough for them he can just say they were never good enough for him in the first place. I find this hypocritical, he himself is acting like quite a jerk to everyone around him just so he can avoid pain when they in turn act like a jerk to him. What comes around goes around.



Salinger, J. D. The Catcher in the Rye. Boston: Little, Brown and, 1991. Print.