Holden Caulfield as a Phony
Throughout the novel The Catcher in the Rye, the narrator Holden Caulfield calls other characters “phonies.” According to Holden, a person is a phony if they care too much about their social status or what others think of them. A person is also a phony if they don’t speak their mind or if they hide things from others. The concept of phoniness extends beyond people, applying to ideas, religion, and even words that Holden sees as inauthentic. The question arises, then, is Holden himself a phony?
One can argue that Holden’s habitual lying makes him a phony. He lies about everything, from his name and age to his medical condition. He lies about even the most insignificant things, concocting detailed stories and descriptions out of thin air. Holden himself says he’s “the most terrific liar you ever saw in your life” (Salinger 19). Wouldn’t someone who’s not a phony be willing to tell the truth and not lie on a regular basis?
Another, perhaps more troubling, aspect of Holden’s “phoniness” is him constantly judging other people as “phony.” Almost everyone else in his life, save for his sister Phoebe and Mr. Antolini, is “phony” in some sense or another. Sally and Jane are phonies, and so are his teachers. When he judges other people as “phony,” is that really a projection of his own internalized phoniness and insecurity? Holden seems to use the word “phony” to discredit anyone who disagrees with him or who doesn’t share his view of the world.
Finally, it seems that Holden himself holds back his true feelings to other people, only opening up towards the second half of the novel. He generally puts on a facade of “niceness” to some extent, concealing his true feelings towards other people. For example, when his teacher Spencer says “Life is a game that one plays according to the rules,” Holden replies “Yes, sir. I know it is. I know it,” while in reality, Holden reveals that he doesn’t believe in playing by the rules, telling the reader “Game, my ass. Some game” (11). He also comments that “I’m always saying ‘Glad to’ve met you’ to somebody I’m not at all glad I met” (98). Holden participates in the same niceties and courtesies that he sees as phony in others, holding back his feelings (to some extent) in order to seem socially acceptable.
wow you really turned the tables here. I also happen to agree, Holden really doesn't hold himself to the same standards that he does everyone else. In a way he sort of thinks of himself as a higher more enlightened being than everyone he comes across, especially adults. I like that you brought up the idea of a "façade of niceness", I definitely picked up on that as well. There's an incredibly stark contrast between his internal and external voice. Good observations!
ReplyDeleteSomething I've been thinking about this entire book that you brought up is if Holden's willingness to lie, and just *how much* he does it, makes him a phony. Because in Holden's own standards, I've never really seen him directly imply lying, at least in the way he does it, as really "phony". Like you'd assume it is, but the way he describes and identifies phoniness makes it seem like his real issue is when people do things they don't emotionally mean (if that makes sense) or are "fake" in the same way. But then, going by that standard, while not all lies are automatically phony (like the super outlandish, crazy ones), the kind of lying he does with Mr. Spencer, where he is saying one thing but feels/thinks something else, is definitely phony.
ReplyDeleteHolden recognizes his own phoniness several times though. I think the reason he is so opposed to growing up and becoming a phony is his own self awareness. He cannot be genuine anymore and he plays a part but he understands and acknowledges that but at the same time he does not want to play that part anymore. He wants to go off to a farm where he does not have to be anything for anyone. He thinks society and growing up have made him a phony but it is not too late for him. That is what I saw as his internal struggle.
ReplyDeleteI agree that Holden can be hypocritical at times when it comes to phoniness (like you mentioned with Mr. Spencer). One more example that I thought of was how he avoids telling his parents that he flunked out of school. He doesn't fake it directly to their face, but he is still hiding it from them to seem "socially acceptable" to them (at least for a while).
ReplyDeleteI feel like Holden realizes he's phony but he thinks that him realizing that he's phony dismisses the fact that he's being phony. That was pretty convoluted but basically it feels like Holden thinks he's ironically acting like a phony, compared to everyone else who is just phony by nature and are oblivious to their phoniness. He probably thinks this in order to put a barrier up between himself and the rest of the people he deems phony in order to not be considered like one of them. In reality though, he's no different from all the people he calls phony, and maybe he's even more phony than most of them.
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree - why does Holden so insistently dismiss or even get angry with others who he deems as phony, when he himself conforms to the same exact societal rules that make others phony? Something I noticed, though, was that he seems to call people phony not just when they are being deceitful like he often is, but more so when they are shallow or not thinking as hard or deeply about things as he is. His image of Sally being phony seems to double when she doesn't engage with his dreams of living on an isolated farm or whatever. Does Holden just call whoever disagrees with him phony?
ReplyDeleteIt is definitely hypocritical and it's strange to me that he deems everyone else phony yet anyone else could have the same notion about him. It's likely a struggle with self image, as he wants to go back to his childhood, however, his loss of innocence and naivety of a child have practically vanished, and Holden can't seem to accept that. I would agree that this is self conflict as well.
ReplyDeleteThe Spencer example is instructive: it's true that Holden "holds back" his true feelings and opinions about Spencer's conventional advice about how he needs to "apply himself," but would we like or respect Holden more if he were actually speaking his mind throughout this scene? Would we applaud him for being authentic, or would we be disgusted that he's so rude to this nice old guy who really seems to care about him? Holden can come off as mean and judgmental, but throughout the book we see him trying hard to be nice, and he does "feel bad" for making Spencer have to flunk him. He can come off as really cocky and even arrogant in his narration--and there is certainly a dynamic where his surface doesn't match his depth--but this "phoniness" also makes him a much nicer person. And it's not that his more generous feelings toward Spencer are false or fake: he *both* likes him AND thinks his advice is conventional BS that he doesn't have to listen to. Both can be true simultaneously, and I'm not sure we'd be so sympathetic to a Holden Caulfield who shows up at Spencer's sick bed just to tear into him and be rude.
ReplyDeleteI agree that Holden is himself a phony, but a lot of people are hypocrites and point out many of their own flaws in others. He may realize that he has the same issues or acts the same way as a phony, but its easier to point that out in someone who he doesnt agree with than himself.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with what you're saying about Holden being a phony. However, I am not totally convinced that it is just because of his internal feelings but I definitely think it contributes to it. I think that Holden just uses the word phony to describe anything that he finds uncomfortable even if a different word might be more appropriate and I think if he articulated his feelings about the world more it wouldn't all boil down to phony.
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