Catcher in the Rye Phoniness vs. Loss of Innocencce
Phoniness vs. Loss of Innocence
In the novel, The Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger, the protagonist Holden is scared of losing his innocence because he doesn’t want to have to deal with his problems in a mature way. Throughout the book Holden is afraid of losing his innocence and believes that once he does he will no longer be the same person. Holden refers to the people that have fallen off the cliff of innocence as “phonies” to disassociate them from the people that he feels have real emotions and act in a truly natural and unprotected way. In the novel, The Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger, he uses the motif of phoniness to try and convey Holden’s fear of the loss of innocence and anger with the mature.
In the beginning of the book Holden does not show a lot of love for immaturity and children, instead he uses the motif of phoniness to show his contempt for maturity. To show his anger for mature language Holden says “Grand. There’s a word I really hate. It’s a phony” (9). Holden realizes that the word grand is generally reserved for adults because of its semi-complicated meaning and the situations in which it is used. As a result, Holden labels the word a phony, clarifying this yet again when he is talking to Sally on the phone. Another example of how Holden dislikes maturity is when he says “…and give them a phony smile and then he’d go talk, for maybe a half a hour, with somebody else’s parents” (14) when referring to the principal of his old school. Holden has not yet discovered that some people are just nice and mature, and are not doing things for their benefit, which is what the word “phony” implies. Holden feels angry with this principal because of his maturity, and therefore calls the principal’s actions “phony”.
Holden shows his fear for his loss of innocence in particular in the middle of the book. In the Edmont hotel, Holden tells the reader that “In [his] mind, [He’s] probably the biggest sex maniac you ever saw. Sometimes [he] can think
In the novel, The Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger, the protagonist Holden is scared of losing his innocence because he doesn’t want to have to deal with his problems in a mature way. Throughout the book Holden is afraid of losing his innocence and believes that once he does he will no longer be the same person. Holden refers to the people that have fallen off the cliff of innocence as “phonies” to disassociate them from the people that he feels have real emotions and act in a truly natural and unprotected way. In the novel, The Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger, he uses the motif of phoniness to try and convey Holden’s fear of the loss of innocence and anger with the mature.
In the beginning of the book Holden does not show a lot of love for immaturity and children, instead he uses the motif of phoniness to show his contempt for maturity. To show his anger for mature language Holden says “Grand. There’s a word I really hate. It’s a phony” (9). Holden realizes that the word grand is generally reserved for adults because of its semi-complicated meaning and the situations in which it is used. As a result, Holden labels the word a phony, clarifying this yet again when he is talking to Sally on the phone. Another example of how Holden dislikes maturity is when he says “…and give them a phony smile and then he’d go talk, for maybe a half a hour, with somebody else’s parents” (14) when referring to the principal of his old school. Holden has not yet discovered that some people are just nice and mature, and are not doing things for their benefit, which is what the word “phony” implies. Holden feels angry with this principal because of his maturity, and therefore calls the principal’s actions “phony”.
Holden shows his fear for his loss of innocence in particular in the middle of the book. In the Edmont hotel, Holden tells the reader that “In [his] mind, [He’s] probably the biggest sex maniac you ever saw. Sometimes [he] can think