Examples Of Phony In Catcher In The Rye

In J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye, 16 year old Holden is telling the readers about the events that happen in his life after he is kicked out of Pencey Preparatory school and finds himself back in his hometown, New York City. He gives readers insight to the struggle and depression he goes through that is solely caused by the grief he is dealing with. He is so caught up in the innocence of childhood that he does not want to enter the world of adulthood. Holden claims this world is full of phoniness and people only care and look out for themselves. As he is poised between the two worlds, he must find his place and stop falling in between. Living between two worlds Holden is an immature disconnected teen afraid of change who is resenting becoming a part …show more content…
Throughout the story he only has negative things to say about growing up. He despises the idea of it and feels he will lose the last bit of innocence he has if he becomes a part of that world. Holden uses the excuse that it is full of phonies. Anytime someone does something he considers to be something an adult would do, he calls it phony. If someone does something he does not approve of, they’re phonies. Holden feels so strongly about it, phony is actually one of the most commonly used words in the book. He expresses that he does not typically like adults because they are fake and pretending to enjoy life. Holden says, “I felt sorry as hell for him, all of a sudden. But I just couldn’t hang around there any longer, the way we were on opposite sides of the pole, and the way he kept missing the bed whenever he chucked something at it, and his sad old bathrobe with his chest showing, and that grippy smell of Vicks Nose Drops all over the place” (Salinger 20). Holden goes into detail about Mr. Spencer’s life and how sad he thinks it is. To him he thinks this is a part of growing up. He thinks Mr. Spencer is not actually happy with his life but is just pretending to