What Is The Phony In Catcher In The Rye

J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye depicts Holden Caulfield as an outcast in the world. He isolates himself from everyone around him, stereotyping people everywhere he goes. Constantly complaining about the phoniness and similarities of others, Holden himself is a hypocrite. However, there’s a slow but gradual change in weather from snow and ice that represents Holden’s fixation with the phoniness of society, to his acceptance of reality’s lost innocence when it finally rains.

Throughout the majority of the story, Holden wants to avoid being affected by the imperfections of society as he strives to protect those who are falling from innocence. Salinger uses the development of snow to demonstrate that particular mindset. When Holden wants to throw the snowball on a car, he debates with himself as to whether or not to throw it. He finally makes the decision to not hurl the snowball at the car, for the snow “looked so nice and white” (5.20). As the bus driver attempts to force Holden to get rid of the snowball, Holden tells the driver that he “wasn’t going to chuck it at anybody” (5.20). The snow, being all white and clean, represents purity, for it is defined as being free from the disturbances in life. Holden is saving the snow as best as he can to preserve its image, not wanting to interrupt …show more content…
People act differently towards the public compared to their own friends and family. Publically, people naturally act more awkward and more alike to everyone in the surrounding area to fit in. However, when with friends, people are more comfortable and act like their true selves. As people in a judgemental society, we need to keep an open mind of who everybody truly is, rather than just stereotyping them. Most people are too over their head in which they focus more on appearances rather than personalities. We should embrace our uniqueness rather than hide it and hide it in the