He has the concept that all adults are phonies yet at the same time doesn’t acknowledge that his actions make him look like one as well. The protagonist of the novel introduces many characters whom he’s tried to discuss his feelings with, but ultimately fails to do so since he tries to shift his problems into his way. Holden struggles with trying to make himself stop reaching adulthood yet behaves in a way where he is older than he really is. At the same time, however, he tries to protect the innocence of the young and himself as for every moment Holden becomes adult-like, he shrivels down to a childish manner. He stumbles upon becoming childish when it comes to the adult-world because he thinks of what children are taken away of once they reach adulthood. The balance between the adult-world and the innocence of children is what Holden tries to reach out for, in which irony is the way the novel manages to project its morals to the reader. The concept of “phoniness” is something the protagonist feels is what shapes the society we live