Examples Of Phony In Catcher In The Rye

The world is littered with hypocrites and liars, all whom portrayed themselves better than the rest of the world, but ended up being the same as the rest of the world. One recent example was Chris Lee, who ran a campaign for Congress with an emphasis on family values and was later discovered having an extramarital affair with another woman. Another example is Holden Caulfield from The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger. Instead of using family values to elevate himself above society, Holden uses the word “phony”. “Phony” is just Holden’s reason to condemn people without reminding him of his own deceitfulness, which is significant because it shows the reader his true character and credibility. Holden’s view and judgement of society is based on the word “phony”, so looking at his character and credibility requires knowledge of Holden’s definition and hatred of “phony”. One of the first times that Holden uses “phony” is his description of Elkton Hills and its headmaster, Mr. Haas. He describes him as “…charming as hell and all. Except if some boy had little old funny-looking parents...then old Haas would just shake hands
Later in the book, we find Holden being “phony” in almost an identical way to Mr. Haas, ruining the reader’s belief that he can fairly judge the world. Like Chris Lee, readers find Holden caught in the same act that he is judging the world for. Unlike Chris Lee, he doesn’t lose his job, but Holden gets put into a mental institution. Both people put themselves on a higher moral ground, both got involved in incidents which showed that they were no better than society, and both received consequences for their actions. Holden should serve as a cautionary tale to prevent people from following the same path as him. We are all are imperfect, and no matter how high we put ourselves above society, we still are human and can fall to