Essay on Analysis Of Holden 's ' The Rye '

The Catcher in the Rye is a story about a teenage boy named Holden Caulfield and has many themes. Some of them include insanity, phoniness, childhood, and sex. Throughout the story Holden criticizes people and labels them “phonies”. Ironically, in The Catcher in the Rye, Holden acts phony in many ways which one can see through his thoughts, words and actions. Because of this Holden cannot have functioning relationships with others, and it take a toll on him.

Holden can be phony to himself in a way, contrary of him calling others phony all the time. One way that Holden is being phony to himself is by him being a hypocrite. When talking to one of his teachers, Holden tells the reader “One of the biggest reasons i left Elkton Hills was because I was surrounded by phonies.”(Salinger 13). Although it is clear Holden dislikes phonies, he constantly lies, tries to act older then he is and does things that he would otherwise describe as being phony. An example is when he is talking to a woman on a train. He tells her “I have to have this operation” and “I have this tiny little tumor on the brain.”. He does not know what to say, so he tells her a lie. Another example of Holden being a hypocrite is when he calls a girl name Faith Cavendish for drinks. When talking on the phone with her, Holden tries to sound older than he actually is. After saying hello to her, Holden tells the reader “I made my voice quite deep so that she wouldn 't suspect my age or anything” (Salinger 64). This…