...In J.D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye, the protagonist, Holden Caulfield, adopts a cynical stance towards those people whom he views as phony. Two instances in which Holden becomes irritated by insincerity occur during his encounters with Ernie and the Lunts. A first example of a time when Holden becomes put-off by phony behavior occurs when he goes to a nightclub and listens to Ernie, a celebrated pianist, show off his virtuosity. Holden recalls, “Anyway, when he had finished and everyone was clapping their heads off, old Ernie turned on his tool and gave this very humble bow … it was very phony - I mean him being a big snob and all” (Salinger 84). Holden considers Ernie to be a phony because the famous pianist seems to be surprised by...
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...J.D. Salinger's repeated use of the word "phony" to describe characters illustrates the protagonist's internal conflict toward accepting adulthood. Holden Caulfield perceives reality with a cynical point of view. For example, he deems Mr. Spencer's remark, "Life is a game that one plays according to the rules," as shallow and superficial (Salinger 11). Through indirect characterization, readers ascertain that Caulfield is repulsed by hypocrisy and disingenuous appearances. In addition, Caulfield is critical of the banal social formalities that adults partake in. For instance, Caulfield delineates headmaster Mr. Haas' behavior of shaking hands with parents and giving them a "phony smile" (17). Caulfield's condemnatory tone is manifested when...
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...sixteen-year boy named Holden Caulfield. The story begins with Holden being expelled from Pencey Prep. He decides to not go home, and chooses to leave three days early. The entire novel follows these three days that Holden spends in New York. There are many clear and meaningful symbols in “The Catcher in the Rye”. Some of these symbols include the carousel in the park, and Holden’s hat. The most important symbols in the novel that are also relevant in a “real life” setting are Allie Caulfield, Phoebe Caulfield, and the museum that Holden visits. Allie Caulfield is Holden's younger brother that died many years earlier, and he was one of the major symbols in...
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...perspective of Holden who has been expelled from his fourth school. After a fight with his roommate, Holden leaves early to explore New York City alone. Holden battles with the reality of adulthood that has turn a different turn on his life. We get to this stage where we fear to grow up and see what will be coming for us next in the future. Salinger’s novel clearly displays the experience of being isolated from multiple activities which can lead to the theme of alienation, the creation of the character (Holden) and also the symbolism which can be unnoticed. Salinger tries to convey a message with his writing to also displaying human connection is a must. The theme of “The Catcher in the Rye” is alienation which connects to Holden (the protagonist)...
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...Catcher in The Rye Holden Caulfield, the protagonist in The Catcher in The Rye is a sixteen year old boy who is distressed between the corruptness of growing up, and the beauty of staying innocent. Holden can not withstand the thought of adulthood, he constantly emphasizes and intends to protect innocence in children. He fears that once a child loses their innocence they will become a “phony” like everyone else (Salinger 84). Holden tries to protect Jane Gallagher an old crush, Phoebe Caulfield his virtuous little sister, and all children who still have their innocence. Jane Gallagher is a not so beautiful girl that also happens to be Holden Caulfield's former crush. Jane Gallagher is...
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...Holden Caulfield is a very different person in 2018 whereas to before. In the book, Catcher in the Rye, Holden experienced many events that led him to ´grow up´. Holden is going through a depressive state where he finds everything depressing. He also believes that after some point, everyone is phony, when they're not. This affects Holden´s social life, which then affects his mental state. Throughout the book, the only thing that seemed to keep him happy was children. Almost everybody has experienced a low point in their life. During these times we aren't in our best states (physically or mentally) and we tend to make a lot of mistakes. However, we pull ourselves back up and push through. Later on, we tend to learn from our mistakes and reflect...
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...Time Magazine • Until 2006, Catcher was one of the most frequently banned books • Mark David Chapman (assassin of John Lennon) and John Hickley Jr. (attempted assassin of President Ronald Reagan) both had copies of the book in their pockets when they were arrested • Tells the story of a teenager expelled from his high school and his journey across NYC in the 1950s • Issues discussed in the book include: School, teacher, music, sex, alcohol, hypocrisy, family and being a teenager. • A story is about Holden Caulfield, the 16 year old protagonist of the novel and his experiences in school and new york city. • Holden Caufield- sketch of an American teenager • Nearly all readers identify with or see some of their friends reflected in different aspects of Holden’s characters • Young readers see in Holden Caulfield a little bit of what they are, while older readers see in Holden a bit of what they were once • First person limited we see this story only through Holdens eyes • You – the phychoanalyst and the reader • Stream of Consciousness, many digressions • Dialect- Slainger perfected the dialect of the teenage boy • The Language is the cause of much controversy over the book • This...
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...those around him or her. Some may have a positive view, while others may think oppositely and have a negative view. Holden Caulfield, the main character in J.D. Salinger’s novel The Catcher in the Rye (New York: Little, Brown and Company, 1951) is a peculiar teen boy with a pessimistic view on life, who sees other people in the world as “phony”. He goes through his life judging others, putting himself above them by distancing himself and not connecting with them. Holden’s characterization as a peculiar, judgmental, insecure teen boy helps exemplify how one’s false perceptions of others may lead him to distance and alienate himself from those around him, in order to protect himself from becoming like those whom he finds different. Holden is a teen boy who is extremely judgmental of everything and everyone around him. He sees those around him as phony, acting like or trying to be something that they are not. Holden says of his roommate, “Stradlater was more of a secret slob. He always looked all right, but for instance, you should’ve seen the razor he shaved himself with. It was always rusty as hell and full of lathers and hair and crap. He never cleaned it or anything… he was a secret slob anyway, if you knew him the way I did,” (27). He is very judgmental and critical about something so simple as a man’s shaving razor. In a way, Holden sees Stradlater as phony because he appears well-groomed and handsome, but he knows that he uses a dirty razor to shave himself. Holden’s commentary...
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...The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger is a novel published in 1951. Holden Caulfield is the sixteen-year-old protagonist in the novel. He's a cynical character who has allowed grieving from his eleven-year-old brother’s death from leukemia to form the way he thinks about life, society, and himself. After getting kicked out of Pencey, a boarding school, he goes on a journey to New York City where he tries to connect with people he knows, like Sally Hayes, Carl Luce, and Mr. Antolini, and people he meets, including girls at the bar, the prostitute Sunny, Maurice, two nuns, taxi drivers and little kids. He protects himself a lot and prevents himself from connecting by using critical cynicism. He alienates himself from other characters through this misanthropic view on life, but he connects with readers through a conversational and informal style and his sense of humor. Though Holden has a...
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...by J.D Salinger, the main character Holden is a seventeen year old boy who loathes the thought of adolescence and maturity. Holden believes that any prep school contains “phonies” or artificial people who are controlled by adults and society. Holden holds inside this anger that has been developing ever since he lost his brother Allie. The thoughts of his brother help Holden express to the readers how Allie’s death has led him to moments in his life where he feels completely hopeless. During the time that Holden was at his prep school, he kept a baseball mitt that belonged to his brother. The mitt helped him remember the times he spent with Allie and all the astounding memories they shared. In the book,...
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...the word phony is used 44 times. The main user Holden Caulfield is a teenager who is currently in the process of being kicked out of boarding school. He sees the world in a very unique way. Holden derogatively uses the word phony to describe society and people throughout the book, because he is lonely, doesn’t want people to get close to him, and is indeed a phony himself. Holden is lonely and longs for affection. He only has felt a real connection with about three people in his life; Jane, Allie, and Phoebe. His parents shipped him to boarding school and that caused him to lose contact with those three important people in his life. Holden is also shot down many times throughout the book. He tries to be a gentleman, but ends up getting the short-end of the stick every time. I guess it was because I was feeling so damn depressed and lonesome. Then, when I went out to the checkroom […] the hat-check girl was very nice. […] I sort of tried to make a date with her. […] She said she was old enough to be my mother and all. (Salinger 169) On many occasions he tries to pick up girls, but that most of the time results with him getting laughed at and sometimes getting stuck with...
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...man named Holden Caulfield. Holden is not specific about his location while he’s telling the story, but he makes it clear that he is undergoing treatment in a mental hospital or sanatorium. The events he narrates take place in the few days between the end of the fall school term and Christmas, when Holden is sixteen years old.As Holden goes out to the lobby, he starts to think about Jane Gallagher and, in a flashback, recounts how he got to know her. They met while spending a summer vacation in Maine, played golf and checkers, and held hands at the movies. One afternoon, during a game of checkers, her stepfather came onto the porch where they were playing, and when he left Jane began to cry. Holden had moved to sit beside her and kissed her all over her face, but she wouldn’t let him kiss her on the mouth. That was the closest they came to “necking.” Holden leaves the Edmont and takes a cab to Ernie’s jazz club in Greenwich Village. Again, he asks the cab driver where the ducks in Central Park go in the winter, and this cabbie is even more irritable than the first one. Holden sits alone at a table in Ernie’s and observes the other patrons with distaste. He runs into Lillian Simmons, one of his older brother’s former girlfriends, who invites him to sit with her and her date. Holden says he has to meet someone, leaves, and walks back to the Edmont. Maurice, the elevator operator at the Edmont, offers to send a prostitute to Holden’s room for five dollars, and Holden agrees. A...
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...famous American writer J.D.Salinger. This paper mainly analyzes the adolescent problems Holden Caulfield confronts on the journey from childhood to adulthood. These adolescent problems include Holden’s protection of innocence, his disgust for the phoniness of the adult world, and his alienation from society. This paper concludes that these adolescent problems produce great impact on him. Holden behaves almost erratically and impulsively and has negative attitudes towards almost everything and everyone he meets. Keywords: Adolescent problems, Innocence, Phoniness, Alienation 1. Introduction The Catcher in the Rye, Salinger’s masterpiece, tells the painful story of a high-school boy growing up in the world of decadent New York. Young Holden Caulfield is expelled from school because of his poor academic performance. He is afraid to meet his parents earlier than they should expect him, so he decides to stay in a New York City hotel. There he meets pimps, prostitutes and “queers.” Soon he becomes aware that the world of adults is a “phony” one. After his meeting with a friend, Holden sneaks back home to see his kid sister Phoebe. She is a loving kid, but her talk about their father “killing” him sickens him. Creeping out of home, he goes to see his former teacher, Mr. Antolini, only to find that his respectable teacher is a homosexual. And he escapes from Antolini’s house. Holden feels himself sinking. Then he decides to go west and spend the rest of his life there. When...
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...walking through a park and you see Holden Caulfield? Holden Caulfield is the main character from the novel The Catcher in the Rye by- J.D. Salenger. He’s sitting on a bench listening to music on his ipod. What songs do you think Holden is listening too? In the novel Holden is expelled from his school and goes to the city to see his family He lives on his own for a while, this is very hard on him with everything that has happened in his life. I think Holden would listen to a number of songs that he can relate to personally. Songs like You’re Never Over -by Eminem, Talking to Myself -by Eminem, Unwell -by Matchbox 20, I’m Just a Kid -by Simple Plan, and Don’t Worry Be Happy -by Bobby Mcferrin. Holden relates to the song You’re Never Over -by Eminem with loss, heartbreak, and sadness. In this song Eminem pours his heart out over the death of his very close friend with the lyrics, “The days are cold livin’ without you.” Eminem raps about his dead friend and his loss is very similar to how Holden is feeling after his younger brother Allie died from leukemia. Allie was all that Holden liked in this world, so following his death the world seems terrible. Eminem says, “The nights are long, I’m growing older,” while Holden is growing older in fear of the world and sulking in sadness....
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...Catcher in the Rye is a coming of age story that tells the tale of Holden Caulfield, a troubled young man who throughout the novel, is presented with various symbols. The symbols are clearly made evident by Holden’s (J.D. Salinger's) constant repetition of their importance. The symbols are so important and their symbolism is directly related to the major themes of the novel. Three symbols seemed to have a higher president over the others, those are the central park ducks, the museum of natural history and Holden's brother Allie himself. These are very important objects that carry a higher meaning with them.Allie, Holden’s younger brother who died several years before the events of Catcher in the Rye, was a key symbol throughout the story. When Holden remembers incidents from his past involving Allie, his attitude changes, such as when he writes the composition about Allie’s baseball glove or when Holden brakes his hand from punching all of the windows after Allie died. He feels that Allie was one of the few people who were not phony in a world full of phonies. More importantly, Allie represents the innocence and childhood that Holden strives to find throughout his journey. In Holden’s opinion, Allie represents the purity that Holden looks for in the world. Holden admits that he admires Allie more than he admires Jesus, and even prays to Allie at one point, rather then the latter. Allie is Holden’s role model, whom he judges the rest of the world according to. When Allie dies,...
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