Holden Caulfield Phony Analysis

Holden Caulfield is a teenage boy living in a society in which he believes to be full of hypocrites and "phonies". Everything with any connection to his life he believes to be a phony. From teachers to his friends, to people he does not even know. Holden always found some kind of a reason to give off the impression that he is superior because they are just fake. He is in belief that he is capable of understanding everything about a person just by looking at them and judging their first impression. Holden seems to almost have an obsession with people being phony. He explains that children are innocent but once they reach a point in their lives where they can almost be taken seriously, he strives to find phoniness in somebody's personality
The school claims to shape young boys into fine young gentlemen. Holden is in belief that the school has a goal to prepare students to become phonies for the adult world. Pencey Prep uses the saying "Since 1888 we have been molding boys into splendid, clear-thinking young men.", which Holden completely disagrees with. Holden claims the school is a phony because they make untrue remarks about how well they are at preparing young boys for the adult world. Holden never states that the school is better or worse than any other school, he claims that they do no more molding than any other school, which is his reasoning for it being a phony. At Holden's previous school, Elkton Hills, Holden claimed to have dropped out only because of the headmaster Mr. Haas and his lack of genuineness. On page 13 and 14, Holden makes this statement " [Mr. Haas] was the phoniest bastard I ever met in my life . . .. On Sundays, for instance, old Haas went around shaking hands with everybody's parents when they drove up to school. He'd be charming as hell and all. Except if some boy had little old funny-looking parents. . . . I mean if a boy's mother was sort of fat or corny-looking or something, and if somebody's father was one of those guys that wear those suits with big shoulders and corny black-and-white shoes, then old Haas would just shake hands with them and give half an hour with somebody else's parents" Which seems to make a lot
Stradlater is perceived as a phony because of the way he acts in front of certain people, Holden constantly attempts to act and seem older and more mature than he truly is and he constantly puts on that act to be taken seriously. Holden wants to believe he is an adult and loves to act as if he is superior to everyone else, when in reality, he is just a teenage boy. When given advice about something, he does not even take it into consideration because like a lot of teenagers, Holden believes he knows what is best. While trying to be an adult, Holden believes he is mature enough to do anything, including hiring a prostitute for his room even though he says no in the end and realizes he is not ready for