Phony Catcher In The Rye

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In life, there are different kinds of people, with different perspectives on what is fair and how the world is supposed to work. Due to the many different perspectives of various people, when a person thinks that their life is not fair or they are the only right ones in the world, they are forced to live in their own reality, making their life seem bearable. In J.D. Salinger’s, Catcher in The Rye, Holden is a character who makes his own reality, in which he is a hero, and everyone around him, including most of his family, are phonies.
Holden’s antagonists in the book are phonies. In his world, he is surrounded by them, every other person is a phony. Most of the phonies he mentions in his life are successful, happy people, who Holden can not relate to because he has not had the same fortune. As Holden is talking to Mr. Spencer, she tells Holden he has met his parents and they are grand people. “Grand. There's a word I really hate. It's a phony. I could puke every time I hear it”(12). As Holden is talking to Mr. Spencer, he takes the time to point out how the word “grand” is phony, he has to do this in order for people to understand everything making up a phony. The type of people who would say “grand” are people who are literate and know how to speak. Holden thinking this word is a phony word, could represent anything, Holden is inclined to do or say could be defined as phony in his opinion. …show more content…
Even though some people may have different expectations for themselves and for others, if one person calls everyone around them a phony, the chances are that the real phony would be them. Whenever someone is alone in their thoughts or beliefs, and different from everyone else around them, they may be living in their own reality. Not realizing it may just be the tipping point, causing them to melt down, leading to the

Phonies In Catcher In The Rye

Catcher in the Phonies “One of the biggest reasons I left Elkton Hills was because I was surrounded by phonies. That’s all. They were coming in the goddam window” (Salinger 13). These are the feelings of Holden Caulfield, the main character in J.D. Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye. He has a wide definition of what he considers a phony. He believes that anyone other than his brother Allie and his sister Phoebe are phonies. Included in his long list of phonies are all adults, his school, and even the…

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Catcher In The Rye Phony Essay

J.D. Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye is a story about a young man’s fall into despair. The main character named Holden tries to find a meaningful relationship with someone but everything appears to be “phony” in his eyes. Holden’s life gets worse and worse over the course of the book as he flunks college and continues to find this meaningful and not “phony” relationship with a person. Even though Holden has a grudge against these so called phonies, he doesn’t realize that he shares similar qualities…

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Examples Of Phony In Catcher In The Rye

Catcher in the Rye Essay English 10H-4 10/01/17 Throughout humanity, people have often conformed to the society around them. In The Catcher in the Rye by JD Salinger, the main character Holden continuously identifies other people in his life as “phony,” or better known as superficial. During Holden’s short time at Pencey, he encounters numerous "phonies,” such as Ackley…

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Catcher In The Rye Phony Analysis

on his ranch in Colorado, and harasses her about a stupid haircut somebody gave her. So why'd he get kicked out, anyway? A million reasons, Holden replies—mostly, everyone there was mean and phony. He can tell Phoebe is listening, even though she refuses to turn around and face him. Even the teachers were phony, like the way Mr. Spencer would kill himself making jokes when the headmaster was sitting in on his class, or the alumni that would come back on Veteran's Day to see if the initials they carved…

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Caulfield And Phoebe's Phony In Catcher In The Rye

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 he started looking through Phoebe’s school supplies. “ The book underneath…

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The Carousel In The Catcher In The Rye

who haven’t a carousel is a revolving machine with model horses or other animals in which children ride for amusement. In the Catcher in the Rye, the carousel is a symbol of Holden’s acceptance of his loss of innocence and his realization that he will not be able save other children from growing up. In the novel, Holden said that his dream job would to be the catcher in the rye; he thinks that all the children’s parents are ruining their innocence. Rather than recognizing that adulthood terrifies and…

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How Does Holden Lose The Innocence Of Children

Lillian Angu 6/8/16 American Literature 11 / Period 1 Mrs. Lagomarsino Innocence of children The Catcher in the rye is 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…

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Rain Symbolism In Catcher In The Rye

the hidden meanings and reasons behind symbols and words that authors use in their text. With each chapter and new subject Foster introduces, lists of examples are provided, but none of the examples are from the novel The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger. The Catcher in the Rye is a universally known novel that offers textual evidence that readers can relate to and first hand see the literary examples described by Foster. In this novel, irony and symbolism through the use of seasons and rain prove…

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Catcher in the Rye Essay

The Catcher in the Rye In “The Catcher in The Rye”, author J.D Salinger uses a plethora of meaningful symbols that help main character, Holden Caufield, find his true purpose in a world full of phonies. A symbol is something significant that represents something else. Symbols are used everyday in our world whether we know it or not. There are three really important symbols in the book that are connected to a greater aspect in Holden’s life. The second most important symbol in Holden’s…

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Catcher Of Innocence Essay

Catcher of Innocence Take a moment to picture little kids playing a game in a big field of rye. Thousands of kids but nobody is as wise or as grown up as the protagonist, Holden. In his mind, like in the poem, he is standing at the edge of a steep cliff, keeping a watchful eye over the playing children. As some get dangerously close to the edge, lost in their excitement, Holden leaps forward, catching them at the last moment - a catcher in the rye. Yet Holden is the one that is caught, snared by…

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