Catcher In The Rye Phony Quotes

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Holden Caulfield internally rebels against society, choosing to value his own defiant, unorthodox judgment over the authority figures and institutions in his life. He describes nearly everyone in society as hypocritical and “phony,” and constantly points out people’s flaws. In the environment of The Catcher in the Rye, Holden is a social outcast, since he detests the phonies and refuses to engage in their pretentious behavior. Salinger demonstrates these people do not act according to their true personalities, and instead try to change their behavior to conform to social expectations. Furthermore, Holden observes that many continually focus on money and celebrities, leaving no room for any positive emotions or genuine connections. While J.D. …show more content…

Holden mentions that his previous headmaster, Mr. Haas, “would just shake hands with” weird or unattractive parents, then “give them a phony smile and then he’d go talk, for maybe a half an hour, with somebody else’s parents” (14). Outwardly, Mr. Haas’s false intentions appear acceptable, since he treats every parent “nicely.” However, his biased actions hold problematic consequences. Not only does the headmaster treat the supposedly weird parents unfairly, he also tries to maintain a positive appearance with his “phony smile.” Haas fails to realize that his connections with these parents will not be authentic, since he is insincere in his actions and no trust can be formed between them. For a genuine social connection, Haas would need to act honestly and remove his preconceived bias. Holden witnesses another insincere interaction on his date with Sally. When seeing her talk with an Ivy League boy, he says that the two act as if “they hadn’t seen each other in twenty years...It was nauseating. The funny part was, they probably met each other just once, at some phony party” (127). Both of them do not talk naturally, and instead pretend to be familiar with each other. Their interaction is “nauseating” to Holden because they act insincerely merely to appear a certain way, despite having little connection from “some phony party.” In other words, Sally and the boy try to form a social connection through inauthentic means, ultimately resulting in a false relationship. Authenticity is necessary to ensure genuine connections, and therefore should be prized over appearances in

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