Holden Caulfield

5 Pages 1150 Words

Would the Real Holden Please Stand Up?

Do you ever stop and really think about people and the way they act? Holden Caulfield, the contradicting and judgmental main character in J.D. Salinger’s novel The Catcher in the Rye does quite frequently, and has even come up with his own stereotype, which he likes to refer to as phonies. To Holden, people who lie are some of the biggest phonies, as well as not being yourself, showing off money or looks, fake personalities/attitude, and not practicing what your preach. Fake people aggravate Holden to the point where he feels sick, and has to get away from them. After flunking out of many different schools to rid himself of all the “crooks,” lying to friends, family and strangers to get what he wants, and doing the exact opposite of what he thinks others should be doing, Holden turns out to be a phony himself. Running away and trying to isolate himself is one of Holden’s many methods of coping with fake people. He also likes to lie extensively and about everything, it doesn’t matter the subject or the person(s). Although Holden gets very upset when other people cannot seem to follow their own advice, it is evident that he can’t either. Despite his disgust of counterfeit people Holden ends up becoming the perfect example of the personality he hates.
One of Holden’s biggest pet peeves is when people run away or hide from what they don’t like, something he seems to do a great deal of the time. Mr. Haas, a former headmaster of Holden, is one of the “biggest phonies” in Holden’s words. If this teacher didn’t like the way one of the student’s parents looked he would not stay and talk with them, just shake their hand and move onto a better looking couple. Holden hates how Mr. Haas runs away from the people he does not like, but ironically Holden turns around and does the same thing. After already being purposely kicked out of many schools, Holden is kicked ...