Catcher in the Rye Holdens Faliure in the Journey of Life

The Catcher in the Rye, by Jerome David Salinger, reveals the hardships that teenagers endure as they mature and enter adulthood. In this novel, Holden Caulfield, a sixteen-year -old who has been kicked out of several schools, undergoes a gamut of problems. First, at the beginning of the novel, it is clear that Holden has a difficulty accepting himself and others; he constantly defines people as “phony”. Secondly, as the novel progresses it becomes evident that Holden does not want to enter adulthood. Both problems lead to Holden’s failure in his journey of life.

Holden’s problem in life is that he is very judgmental of almost everything and everyone; this leads him to become isolated, unhappy and lonely. First, he criticizes people who are boring, insecure, and above all, people who are “phonies”. Holden’s use of the word “phony” stands for everything that is wrong in society; this gives him an excuse to withdraw into his own cynical world. Throughout the novel, Holden is continuously scrutinizing “phony” people. Ossenburger, of Pencey Prep, is an example of the “phony” people Holden encounters. Holden believes that Ossenburger is phony because he is making money off of dead people. Moreover, Ossenburger emphasizes that he talks to Jesus. This leads Holden to think of him as a bigger phony because he believes that he talks to Jesus, to send him more “stiffs” to get more business (17). Although this cynicism reveals the effect of his scrutiny of others, it also shows readers that Holden has a problem accepting death, and accepting the fact that people have to do this kind of business as a part of life. This posses a problem, because the fact that Ossenburger is successful compels Holden to think about his own ability to become successful some day. The fact that Holden has been expelled from school, and has continued to fail his courses, leads him to doubt his own ability to succeed in life. Thus leading him to become more depressed and isolated from society. Likewise, Sally Hayes is another character that helps readers realize another problem that Holden encounters. Throughout the novel, Holden desperately tries to make connections with genuine people. However, his need to identify phoniness prevents him from forming friendships and having intimacy. Holden is clearly sexually attracted to Sally, however, he perceives her to be stupid, and “phony”, and thus is unable to achieve intimacy with her (128). He believes she is phony because she wants to do everything that is perceived as “cool”. Holden perceives this as a shallow quality and labels Sally as a “phony” (130). Holden’s need to catalog “phonies” shows that he wants everyone to be perfect and act themselves even though in the real world, this would not be possible. The idea of everyone acting perfect poses a dilemma to Holden, because he does not have the ability to accept people for who they are. If Holden continues labeling people as phonies, he will become even more judgmental, and an outcast. He will not have the capability of communicate with people without judging them, thus having no friends or relationships. Without any friends, Holden will become isolated and ultimately depression would arise. Furthermore, even though Holden appears to have a lot of friends, he doesn’t seem to be making any meaningful contact with them; this is because Holden believes that he is the perfect person (which leads him to believe that he is surrounded by “phonies”). Holden, himself, however, is a phony. He admits to being “the most terrific liar you ever saw in your life” (16). This hypocrisy is shown when he is on the train with the mother of a peer from Pencey. Holden explains to her that her son is very shy and modest and that he ran for president. Holden, however, was lying because in reality, he perceived her son to be “the biggest bastard that ever went to Pencey” (54). This dishonesty shows us that Holden, himself, is a phony, which means he doesn’t accept himself. Since he is unable to accept himself, he is unable to accept the people around him. Thus, he is deliberately isolating himself from people and society, leading himself to unhappiness and depression. Moreover, even though Holden sees others as “phonies”, he, himself, cannot even live up to his own unreasonably high standards and expectations. Since he cannot live up to his own acceptations, he is unable to connect with people, and withdraws into his own world. In other words, even though Holden might try not to be a phony, in actuality, he is. This is a problem in his life because he is very judgmental, and makes snap conclusions without taking the whole person and his/her complexities into consideration. Holden doesn’t take into account that he is judging a human being with feelings and emotions. He considers one aspect about a person’s personality and portrays it as his/her character. For example, he believes