Holden Caulfield Phony

In The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, Holden Caulfield strikes up a conversation with two New York cab drivers about the ducks in Central Park. He asks his first cab driver if he “happen to know where they go, the ducks, when it gets all frozen over? Do you happen to know, by any chance" and throws the same question at a second cab drive a few chapters later. In his breakdown moment, he stumbles drunkenly around the park looking to see “what the hell the ducks were doing, see if they were around or not”. The cab drivers’ responses tell readers that Holden’s attempt to find his way in the materialistic “phony” world is not completely hopeless and he must endure the hard times to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Like Holden, the …show more content…
Holden, doubtful whether anything could live in the winter, questions how they manage to live through it. This message is telling Holden that the only way to manage the hard times of winter (or teenage years) is by opening himself up. Holden just needs to be receptive to both sides of a matter so that he can live his life contently in this upside-down world. Holden’s search to find himself in a difficult world, is very evident in this scene with Horwitz, the cab driver. Holden’s effort to discover his purpose is not quite as impossible as he finds it to be, and that he can make it through the adolescent years and grow up to be content, only by being …show more content…
Kid me?" Despite the answer he gets, Holden is never satisfied with the reply. Holden doesn't consciously realize that the ducks relate to him. Whether he will admit it or not, Holden is scared. He is unsatisfied with almost everything in life, he does not see a bright future for himself, spending his days wandering through New York City. Not knowing what the future will bring him, Holden reflects his question about the ducks. Perhaps if he knew where the ducks went, he could follow their example and go to a place where he can have a