Hypocrisy in Catcher in the Rye
Victoria Matero
English II H
March 3, 2013
Holden Caulfield is one of the most hypocritical characters in literature. He spends the entire book complaining about all of the 'phonies’ around him when in truth he is one of the biggest phonies of all. Throughout the novel, there are many events where Holden exemplifies his hypocrisy. There are three primary examples. Holden first displays hypocrisy when he met Earnest Morrow’s mother on the train on his way to New York. Also, when he speaks about Stradlater’s sexual advances and his own. Finally, excellent examples of Holden’s hypocritical actions are the several times he goes to the bars while in New York. Holden boarded a late train to New York where an attractive older woman chose to sit right next to him instead of any of the other seats in the cart. The woman noticed Holden had a Pencey Prep sticker on his suitcase and asked if he went there and if he knew her son, Ernest Morrow. Holden says yes and the woman was very happy and sweet. However, Holden truly exemplifies his own personal phoniness when she asks him what his name was. Holden quickly said, ‘Rudolf Schmidt,’ who was actually the janitor at Pencey. Holden then started, "shooting the old crap around a little bit" (Salinger 71). Holden told some of the most absurd lies to Mrs. Morrow about her son. He referred to Ernest like they were good friends when he said, " Old Ernie" He's one of the most popular boys at Pencey" (73). Then Holden " Really started chucking the old crap around" (73). Holden then starts telling lies about the class elections and how a bunch of kids wanted old Ernie to be president, and that he was the unanimous vote, and how he thought he'd really be able to handle the job (Salinger 74). Meanwhile, when Holden thinks about Ernest Morrow, he referred to him as "doubtless the biggest bastard that ever went to Pencey, in the whole crumby history of the school" (71). This alone shows how even though Holden
English II H
March 3, 2013
Holden Caulfield is one of the most hypocritical characters in literature. He spends the entire book complaining about all of the 'phonies’ around him when in truth he is one of the biggest phonies of all. Throughout the novel, there are many events where Holden exemplifies his hypocrisy. There are three primary examples. Holden first displays hypocrisy when he met Earnest Morrow’s mother on the train on his way to New York. Also, when he speaks about Stradlater’s sexual advances and his own. Finally, excellent examples of Holden’s hypocritical actions are the several times he goes to the bars while in New York. Holden boarded a late train to New York where an attractive older woman chose to sit right next to him instead of any of the other seats in the cart. The woman noticed Holden had a Pencey Prep sticker on his suitcase and asked if he went there and if he knew her son, Ernest Morrow. Holden says yes and the woman was very happy and sweet. However, Holden truly exemplifies his own personal phoniness when she asks him what his name was. Holden quickly said, ‘Rudolf Schmidt,’ who was actually the janitor at Pencey. Holden then started, "shooting the old crap around a little bit" (Salinger 71). Holden told some of the most absurd lies to Mrs. Morrow about her son. He referred to Ernest like they were good friends when he said, " Old Ernie" He's one of the most popular boys at Pencey" (73). Then Holden " Really started chucking the old crap around" (73). Holden then starts telling lies about the class elections and how a bunch of kids wanted old Ernie to be president, and that he was the unanimous vote, and how he thought he'd really be able to handle the job (Salinger 74). Meanwhile, when Holden thinks about Ernest Morrow, he referred to him as "doubtless the biggest bastard that ever went to Pencey, in the whole crumby history of the school" (71). This alone shows how even though Holden