Examples Of Phony In Catcher In The Rye

Catcher in the Rye is a book about a boy named Holden Caulfield. Now Holden isn't an ordinary boy: He's been kicked out of multiple boarding schools; flirts with older women; and somehow managed to end up in some sort of mental hospital by the beginning of the book. Or chronologically rather, the end, it's all a flashback of sorts; it's Holden telling his story the way he sees it. But Holden's biggest issue is the idea of the word "phony,"—a word so vague and versatile he applies it to everything everything from words, such as "grand," to people, or even activities. Yet all the while Holden himself is the biggest phony—the biggest hypocrite—there is. The real adventure, and therefore problems, begin when Holden flees Pencey Prep (his school), …show more content…
Oddly enough, the ensuing conversation is likely one of the oddest, yet most thought provoking, passages in the book. Fleeing his house, to avoid his near absentee parents, he goes and stays with the "Catcher in the Rye," Mr. Antolini. The only problem being this "catcher," is about to drop someone, Holden—who flees thinking Mr. Antolini is trying to "make a pass at him"—and they fall hard. In the aftermath of this Holden decides to run away from society—which doesn't seem familiar at all—to shun the rest of humanity and become a deaf-mute gas station attendant out in the West. Yet, despite all of this chaos and depiction of anguish incarnate Salinger ends the book on a hopeful note: Holden learns his greatest lesson in a downpour from the heavens, the rain washes away what's …show more content…
This is not a book I could comfortably read again, at least not the first portion. Perhaps it's because it is frightening and in some cases, a little too close to home; loudly echoing a bit too much of the past. It's disturbing being able to see parts of yourself in a character, and hating them. There is an emotional baggage, that, try as I might, I cannot separate from the book. The end is happy and hopeful, and for that I am glad, but perhaps this book makes me think a little too much.
And perhaps I—like Holden—am afraid because I see something in myself that I don't want to see: the Mr. Hyde in Dr. Jeykll, the Javert to Valjean's Monsieur Madeleine. Catcher in the Rye is a book filled with symbolism, and allusion, and all sorts of other literary devices, leaving much of the book malleable and open to interpretation. Peanut shells are as significant as entire people, and, according to some people, Holden literally talks to God in the rain. Much of this analysis is the result of personal impressions, and while the book is claimed to be a dialogue on everything from the death of society to the death of a boy, I shall try to be liberal in my interpretations,