Catcher in the Rye

5 Pages 1276 Words

Catcher in the Rye
The American Dream for family will greatly vary between people, as it should. Throughout the novel you can see how Holden’s attitude and relationship vary greatly between family members. This book takes you to every side of the spectrum from friends to enemies. This would not be my typical family dream but to Holden it was, this was all he knew. Holden sees phoniness in the family as he does in society and he flees back toward the innocence of childhood rather than face this reality. In the Catcher in the Rye Holden and His "Phony" Family the protagonist, Holden Caulfield, interacts with many people throughout J.D. Salinger’s novel The Catcher in the Rye, but probably none have as much impact on him as certain members of his immediate family. The ways Holden acts around or reacts to the various members of his family give the reader a direct view of Holden’s philosophy surrounding each member. How do Holden’s different opinions of his family compare and do his views constitute enough merit to be deemed truth? Holden makes reference to the word "phony" forty-four separate times throughout the novel (Corbett 68-73). Each time he seems to be referring to the subject of this metaphor as -- someone who discriminates against others, is a hypocrite about something, or has manifestations of conformity (Corbett 71). Throughout The Catcher in the Rye, Holden describes and interacts with various members of his family. The way he talks about or to each gives you some idea of whether he thinks they are "phony" or normal. A few of his accounts make it more obvious than others to discover how he classifies each family member. From the very first page of the novel, Holden begins to refer to his parents as distant and generalizes both his father and mother frequently throughout his chronicle. One example is: "…my parents would have about two hemorrhages apiece if I told anything personal about them. They’re quite touchy a...