First+Draft

First of all Holden is pretty much a compulsive liar because he lies all the time to people and by lying he makes people think that he is something else than what he really is. In the story he starts to talk to the mother of one of the students that goes to Pency and as soon as they start to have a conversation he lies about his name. He says that is name was Rudolf Schmidt, but he said that "Rudolf Schmidt was the name of the Janitor of our dorm." (55) Next he goes to a bar to get some drinks and when he gets there he meets three women from Seattle. He ends up dancing with all of them and he lies to the one because he got sick of her talking about a movie star that she saw. He remembers that he said "So I told her that I just saw Gary Cooper, the movie star, on the other side of the floor." (74) Also he lies about his age through out the whole story to everyone because he either wants to drink or he wants people to think that he is more mature. Next he lies about his name to a prostitute by saying "Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Jim Steele." (94) By lying about his name he is being known as someone else, which makes him a phony. Then in one of the articles the author says "He views himself as a liar, but he refuses to acknowledge that this means that he is phony too." (Mitchell 3) From this quote it is saying that no matter how much he lies, he will never admit to himself that he could actually be a phony like everyone else. So all the lying plays a huge part in why Holden is considered a phony, but there are two more reasons that add to Holden's phoniness. Along with lying Holden also associates himself with people he hates. In the beginning Holden goes over to his teacher’s house before he leaves for good from Pency, and "Like many young people Holden is intolerant of sickness and the debility of old age." (Seng 1) But Holden still goes over and tries to act like nothing is bothering him, but really he can not stand to be around Mr. Spencer, his teacher. He then decides to hang out with Stradlater, his roommate, he says "I didn't have anything special to do, so I went down to the can and chewed the rag with him while he was shaving." (26) Holden hates hanging out with Stradlater, but supposedly he had nothing better to do, which makes him a phony because if he really hated him then he would not want to hang out with him at all. After that he wants to go out and it is said that "He despises Ackley, but he invites him to see a movie; he hates movies, believing them to foster phoniness in society" (Mitchell 3) Also he said "I asked Mal if he minded if Ackley came along with us. The reason I asked was because Ackley never did anything on Saturday night." (36) So Holden hates Ackley, but feels sorry for him, and he thinks that Ackley is a phony. If he thinks that he is a phony then he should not be hanging out with people that he hates. When he is in New York City he has nothing better to do so he decides to call Carl Luce, which was someone that he used to go to school with and he says that "I thought he might want to have dinner with me somewhere and have a slightly intellectual conversation." (136) He ends up going out to a club with him, but he was surprised because back at school he called him a big phony right to his face. Basically Holden hates all these people, but if he has nothing better to do then he will hang out with people that he can not stand. This makes him a big phony because he says one thing about a person, but then he ends up hanging out with all the people who he talks about. Associating with people he hates may be a major reason to why Holden is seen as a phony, but there is still one more reason to come.

Adding to Holden lying, associating with people he hates, he also does activities that make him a phony. Like Duane Edward said "Holden is an ironic character who critiques his phony culture but ends up participating in the same phony culture that he condemns."(Bennett 3) It means that Holden makes fun of people for doing stupid activities, but he himself ends up doing the same things that he hates hearing other people doing. One example is when Holden is all upset because he can not stand the thought of Stradlater “making time” with Jane Gallagher, but when he gets to New York he agrees to have a prostitute come to his hotel room because he said "It was against my principles and all, but I was feeling so depressed I didn't even think."(91) So even though he was all mad that Stradlater may have “made time” with Jane, which never really happened, he decided to “make time” with a random person in New York City. It is said that "he doesn't follow his proclaimed norms; he is a phony."(Mitchell 3) This quote is saying that Holden sets up rules for himself so that he will not become phony, but he always ends up breaking his own rules like when he “makes time” with the prostitute, which makes him phony. Next “A number of the picayune traits he hates Ackley for in chapter three are traits he reveals in himself in chapter four when he talks to Stradlater” (Seng 1) Like when Ackley is hanging out in Holden’s room he is being very obnoxious while Holden is trying to write a paper, but then later that night Holden goes into Ackley’s room when he is trying to sleep and he asks Ackley "Do you feel like playing a little Canasta?" (47) This quote indicates that Holden is as phony as Ackley because he does the something that he hates Ackley for doing later on, which makes him just as obnoxious. Next the girls he met at the bar said that they were going to see a show at Radio City Music Hall and Holden thinks that it was stupid that they came all the way from Seattle just to see a stupid movie. However the very next day he said "I went to the movies at Radio City. It was probably the worst thing I could've done, but it was near, and I couldn’t think of anything else." (137) The last way that Holden is phony is when he asks Sally Hayes to go see a show, which he prefers not to see, but does anyway by saying "Swell. Well, listen. I was wondering if you were busy today. It's Sunday, but there's always one or two matinees going on Sunday. Benefits and that stuff. Would you care to go?" (106) Sally ends up going, but when Holden actually goes through with this it shows that Holden talks phony and does stuff that makes him as phony as everyone else. It is hard to figure out when Holden is phony so the "The reader must always read between the lines like a detective looking for hints and clues that might help explain which of Holden's insights are valid and which are as phony as the phoniness he condemns." (Bennett 3) This quote is saying that the reader must try to better understand the character of Holden Caulfield so that they will be able to determine the difference between when he is fake and when he is real. Doing activities that were phony was the last reason to why