Preview

5 Paragragh Essay: the Catcher in the Rye

Satisfactory Essays
Open Document
Open Document
612 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
5 Paragragh Essay: the Catcher in the Rye
From the novel, The Catcher in the Rye, the youthful protagonist Holden Caufield, employs the word "phony" to describe the behavior of a number of characters including Mr. Spencer and Ossenburger, however it is not them who are"phony", it is the young main character. First, Mr. Spencer, Holden's ex- history teacher, is not described as phony, but according to the adolescent, his choice of words are. Secondly, according to our main character, Ossenburger is not the generous philanthropist he portrays himself to be, but rather a greedy undertaker. Lastly, the protagonist could quite possibly be the authentic phony. All in all, the main character's use to describe many other characters in the book is with the single word phony, when in fact the word phony would be the most probable word to describe the lead character.
<br>
<br>Illustrating Mr. Spencer as phony because of his vocabulary, is when Holden leaves Pencey Prep permanently, and goes to say good-bye to the ex-history teacher. The depicted fake tells the ex-Pencey student "I had the privilege of meeting your mother and dad when they had their little chat with Dr. Thurmer some weeks ago. They're grand people". The ex-Pencey student immediately impugns Mr. Spencer's use of the word "grand", and tells the reader: "Grand. There's a word I hate. It's a phony. I could puke every time I heard it." To sum up, Holden disgusts Mr. Spencer's utilization of the word "grand" and thinks it is fraudulent.
<br>
<br>Also, Caufield, describes Ossenbuger as phony because of what Holden perceived he did for a living. The wing where the central character lived at Pencey was called the "Ossenbuger Memorial Wing" named after a men who went to Pencey and later donated a substantial amount of money to the school. Ossenburger makes this income by the "business of undertaking". Next, according to our youthful character, Ossenburger is phony because "he probably just shoves the dead bodies in a bag and throws them in the river". As a

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Following the attack on Pearl Harbor, Salinger was drafted into the army, serving from 1942-'44. His short military career saw him land at Utah Beach in France during the Normandy Invasion and be a part of the action at the Battle of the Bulge. Salinger continued to write, assembling chapters for a new novel whose main character was a deeply unsatisfied young man named Holden Caulfield. Salinger did not escape the war without some trauma, and when it ended he was hospitalized after suffering a nervous breakdown…

    • 450 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The first half of Catcher In The Rye focuses on Holden living at a boarding school called Pencey. He has flunked school, meaning that the school has asked him to leave because he only just passed English and failed his other five subjects. He speaks of his room mates in a different matter to that of his family. The main two boys he describes are; Ackley - “a pimply classmate with poor hygiene who constantly barges into the room,” and Stradlater - who is an enemy of Ackleys. Stradlater is “handsome” and is generally one of Holden’s closest mates. However Holden does pick out Stradlater’s flaws when he says that Stradlater is “self absorbed.” Despite their flaws, Holden is…

    • 1048 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    All throughout the novel, Holden digresses about people he finds phony and the degree of hatred he has towards their phoniness. He talks about his older brother, DB, noting that he is a brilliant writer but hates that fact that he becomes a “prostitute” in Hollywood (2). Holden does not like that DB goes around looking like a big shot with his jaguar. He also does not like that DB wastes his talent in writing storylines for movies. This alludes to the next significant concept that Holden hates. Holden strongly dislikes movies in general and the people that love to see movies. He finds that movies are phony because it is just acting; the content of film is far from reality. Holden claims that people who enjoy movies are phony because they are just drawn to the superficial. Again, Holden demonstrates his hatred of phoniness through movies. The last aspect he hates about the phoniness of people is the arrogance and essence of superiority that is evoked. Holden explains that Pencey Prep “molds boys into splendid, clear-thinking young men who play polo” (2). However, he feels it is full of phoniness that Pencey is left with the idea that the school is full of polo players and hot shot students. In reality, no one plays polo and it is a standard school. Evidently, Holden demonstrates his hatred of phoniness through his numerous complaints and criticism of…

    • 1077 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Similar observations are made by academic writer and author Sarah Graham in her book entitled Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye. In this book, Graham addresses a variety of reading techniques, themes, and comparisons/contrasts in regards to Salinger’s most popular novel, but she specifically addresses the main theme of Holden’s attempt to escape the phony 1950’s materialistic focused society surrounding him. Graham begins her take on this theme of escaping society with a chapter on Holden’s rebellion: “Developing the theme of rebellion, Holden’s visit to Mr. Spencer confirms that he is opposed to the conventional ideas that school and society encourage in order to promote stability” (34). During this visit to Mr. Spencer’s house that Graham…

    • 1991 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    The main character in the novel the Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger, Holden Caulfield, is often debated; some believe he has a mental disorder, while others argue that he is a normal teenaged boy. The novel is told from Holden’s perspective, and shows his take on the few days before Christmas in the 1950s, during which he is expelled from Pencey Prep., a boarding school in Pennsylvania, travels to New York City, goes on a date with an old friend, and finally decides to run away, the only thing making him stay is his younger sister, Phoebe. In the final chapter of the novel, the reader learns that Holden was admitted into a mental institution, and he has been seeing a psychoanalyst. Holden’s voice is very prevalent throughout the entire novel, and the first person perspective, as well as the author’s diction, create a very judgemental tone; Holden finds fault with every activity and almost everyone. Though this may seem to be the behavior of an ordinary teenager, more abnormal traits and events stand out to the reader;…

    • 1182 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    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…

    • 992 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    "Bishop Long takes his spot back at the podium. He speaks haltingly, starting out slow. "I know all about it... I know all about what you're up against..."…

    • 709 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Everyone has had a dream job since they were small, it might have changed over time but it was always something they loved. In “The Catcher in the Rye” by J.D. Salinger we meet Holden whose dream job is to be a catcher in the rye. Holden states that in his dream job he would “catch everyone if they start to go over the cliff- I mean if they’re running and they don’t see where they’re going I have to come out of somewhere and catch them.” (Salinger, 173)…

    • 529 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Catcher in The Rye

    • 1011 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Phoniness is the key theme illustrated in the controversial author J.D. Salinger 's Catcher in the Rye. This novel depicts the main character Holden Caulfield 's experiences just after getting kicked out of the prestigious Pency Academy. Through his journey Holden often describes people and situations he comes in contact with as phony. In fact it is Holden 's "phony phobia" that keeps him from maturing from an innocent boy to an independent adult. It is Holden 's "phony phobia" that keeps him from experiencing intimacy, and being a part of the adult world he is so fearful of becoming a member of. This essay will explore the meaning of Holden 's favorite expression by studying how Holden hides behind his use of the word, Holden 's love for children and what they mean to him, and finally coming to the conclusion on whether or not Holden is in fact "phony" himself.…

    • 1011 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Imagine what it feels like to be a teenager. Is a teenager considerate and open minded? The novel The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger talks about a teenager named Holden Caulfield who tells his story about a school named Pency Prep in Pennsylvania, away from his sister and parents. Throughout most of this book, Holden explains his inner thoughts regarding everyone he knows, and most of them are judgmental. Holden is considered to be a typical American teenager in this novel. First of all, teenagers like to express their thoughts. In Sylvia Plath’s article “Sylvia Plath at Seventeen”, she begins saying,“As of today I have decided to keep a diary again―just a place where I can write my thoughts and opinions when I have a moment. Somehow I…

    • 691 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The genuine joy Holden gets from watching Phoebe is a striking image of his fantasies of innocence and his collapsing psyche. For a moment Holden sees the joy that he envisions all the children of his rye field are like. Within Phoebe’s happiness Holden is transfixed and distraught, because the sudden realization that he is transitioning to a world he does not feel equipped for triggers the end of his ambivalence. As the carousel spins so does Holden’s reality, he loses sense of even further sense of himself. The Catcher in the Rye is a bildungsroman, but it is unique in how Holden not only resists growing up, but also he ends the novel more unstable and lost than he started off as. A quest or journey is supposed to lead to a literal or metaphorical…

    • 481 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    I understand you have many things to consider at your point in life, but you are over thinking many things. In you conversation with Sally you mention the word “phony” often when you describe most of the people you have met. You said: "I hate living in New York and all. Taxicabs, Madison Avenue buses, with the drivers and all always yelling at you to get out at the rear door, and being introduced to phony guys that call the Lunts angels, and going up and down in elevators when you just want to go outside..."(pg 130) This type of thinking is just meaningless, your critiquing people and things without finding an answer to how to feel better. You are isolating yourself from many others by thinking you are the only one that…

    • 696 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    These phrases and words used in the novel was demonstrated when he was at Mr. Spencer’s house and he was talking about the meeting with his parents. As Mr. Spencer talks that his parents are grand people, he replied in his mind that, “Grand. There’s a word [Holden] really [hates]. It’s phony. [He] could puke every time [he hears] it” (Salinger 12). Holden uses “phony” to emphasize his emotions by calling the word “grand” as “phony.” This not only shows the lack of his trust with Mr. Spencer, but also shows the lack of communications and trusts between him and his parents. After he overcomes the struggles such as the loss of his friends such as Sally Hayes, he had no one and no where to meet or visit to, as a result, he decides to meet Phoebe, his sister. After he was able to sneak into the house, he mentions about him liking Allie to Phoebe. But she replies that Allie is already dead. Holden opposes her and says, “I know he’s dead! Don’t you think I know that? I can still like him, though, can’t I? Just because somebody’s dead, you don’t just stop liking them, for God’s sake — especially if they were about a thousand times nicer than the people you know that’re alive and all” (Salinger 189). He sometimes uses words such as “God’s sake” to describe his loneliness throughout the novel. Although he is in the house with Phoebe, he is still…

    • 785 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    In the novel, Holden got kicked out of Pencey Prep for failing four of five classes. On his way out, he decides to pay Mr. Spencer, his history teacher, a visit. They sit down and Mr. Spencer begins to lecture Holden about his effort in school and his future, but Holden refuses to listen to Mr. Spencer criticize his life. Holden abruptly left Mr. Spencer’s house because he viewed Mr. Spencer only as a man trying to criticize him, and not a man trying to help him. “You will,’ Old Spencer said. ‘You will, boy. You will when it’s too late.’ I didn’t like hearing him say that. It made me sound dead or something” (14) When Mr. Spencer says this to Holden, he is saying how it’ll be too late when Holden finally wakes up to reality. Holden strongly dislikes this and that’s the reason he left. That is one of the first instances of Holden judging and pushing away those around him. He then returns to his dormitory and his neighbor, Ackley, stops by. Ackley is described as a pimply nerd and that is the first impression of Ackley, solely his physical description. Holden focuses on his pimples, and his nail-clipping, and his mannerisms to portray Ackley as a disgusting human instead of focusing on who he is as a person. Because Holden is the narrator, his view of Ackley is easily seen as shallow and it makes Ackley look like an…

    • 1091 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Holden is metaphorically at war with most of the adult world. He thinks adults are phony, which is the epitome of deficiencies. Some such people in Holden’s life include his history teacher, Mr. Spencer; his roommate, Stradlater; and the headmaster at his previous school, Mr. Haas. Mr.…

    • 1530 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays