themes of teenage problems and alienation. Holden Caulfield is a 17-year-old narrator and protagonist of the novel. He speaks to the reader directly from a mental hospital or sanitarium in southern California. Throughout the story Holden has his own idea of phoniness. Holden believes that phoniness is anything hypocritical, shallow, superficial, inauthentic, or otherwise fake. He sees such phoniness everywhere in the adult world, and believes adults are so phony that they can not even see their own phoniness…
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In J.D. Salinger's novel, The Catcher in the Rye, the protagonist Holden Caulfield frequently uses the term "phony" to describe the people he encounters. To Holden, a phony is someone who is insincere, fake, or pretentious. He believes that almost everyone he meets is a phony, and this perception is a recurring theme throughout the novel. Holden's obsession with phoniness stems from his desire for authenticity and genuineness in others. He is disillusioned with the superficiality and hypocrisy of…
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Phony friends, phony words, and phony movies, this is the way that J.D. Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye character Holden Caulfield sees the world. In Holden’s journey from Pencey Prep to his home in New York he talks about many people some of whom he met on the journey and others he had met during his time at previous preparatory schools. The one thing that almost everyone he talks about has in common is that according to Holden they are all phony. This includes teachers, friends, acquaintances, and…
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In The Catcher in the Rye Holden Caulfield isolates himself from everything and everyone. Holden encounters many people throughout the book but he pushes them away, he does not go to certain places because he wants to isolate himself from people who are “phony” which is why he did not go the football game at his school “Anyway, it was the Saturday of the football game with Saxon Hall. The game with Saxon Hall was supposed to be a very big deal around Pencey. It was the last game of the year, and…
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Holden Caulfield is the main character and protagonist of the novel The Catcher in the Rye. The sixteen-year-old, who’s demeanor suggests further maturity then others his age is thoroughly convinced that an exceeding amount of people he has interactions with are phonies. In appearance, Caulfield has gray hairs on the right side of his crew cut, and he is six foot two with a lanky stature. Caulfield also possessed a red hunting hat that he bought when he was in New York, and wears constantly throughout…
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Holden Caulfield is depressed, unquestionably judgmental of everybody around him, antisocial, and a compulsive liar. Holden’s judgmental attitude towards people made him leave most of the schools he was attending, “One of the biggest reasons I left Elkton Hills was because I was surrounded by phonies. That’s all,” (Salinger 13). Holden hated phonies. Phoebe Caulfield is very intelligent for her age, a joyful person, and she is stable. Holden was going through all of the books on D.B.’s desk when…
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AND HOLDEN CAULFIELD By Luka Vukovic Mr. M. Dempsey ENG2DE-04tygh December 18, 2013 The novel “The Catcher in the Rye,” revolves around the protagonist Holden Caulfield as the story is told from his perspective. J.D. Salinger constructed Holden Caulfield as a cynical person who cannot accept to grow up. Throughout “The Catcher in the Rye,” J.D. Salinger uses symbolism to reveal and reinforce critical aspects of the protagonist Holden Caulfield. Three important aspects Holden acquired…
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III 30 March 2015 The Catcher in the Rye Holden Caulfield is a young boy traveling in and out of schools with a questionable mind. He particularly posses a negative mindset towards the world and the people in it. In the novel Catcher and The Rye, J.D. Salinger utilizes past events to reflect Holden Caufield's present state of being to express how he must contend with different aspects of the past contributing to his negative approach towards life. Holden attended many different schools and always…
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is a story that explains events in the life of the main character, Holden Caulfield, while also exposing his thoughts and the inner workings of his mind. Throughout the novel, Holden expresses multiple different emotions while the author explicates his relationship with his younger sister Phoebe Caulfield. Is it easy to tell by the way Holden describes her, that the two have an extremely close relationship. We constantly find Holden affectionately referring to her as “old Phoebe,” when he thinks about…
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about a boy named Holden Caulfield who believed in the innocence of children and would do anything to protect it. Holden has a younger sister(Phoebe), a younger brother(Allie) who died of leukemia, and an older brother(DB) who is a writer in Hollywood. Holden has a unique and different personality; he finds himself lonely and depressed most of the time. Holden is always moving from school to school and the last school he is at in the novel is Pencey Prep. At Pencey Prep, Holden is bullied a lot;…
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