A Catcher in the Rye

A detailed Summary of A Catcher in the Rye

In J.D. Salinger's Catcher in the Rye, Holden is a character in denial. He greatly dislikes phonies, and even though he too carries the characteristics of a phony, he refuses to admit to himself that he is a phony as well as the rest of them. In Holden's point of view, phonies are those people who lack innocence, have already matured, and metaphorically speaking, phonies are those people who have fallen off the cliff of childhood. Although Holden shows much dislike for phonies, in reality, he is a phony himself.

Throughout the novel, Holden uses the word "phony" numerous times. As the novel begins to progress, the reader can finally understand the actual meaning of the word itself. "Phoniness is the generic term that Holden uses to cover all manifestations of cant, hypocrisy and speciosity" (Corbett 178). By observing the way Holden uses the word "phony", the reader can see that in each situation the word is used, it is, in some way, connected with society, adults, places and the variety of lifestyles. For example, Holden is constantly surrounded by adults and it "just kills" him. He won't show it most of the time, but he will keep it to himself that the person he is dealing with at the moment is a phony. The situation u

Having an understanding of who "phonies" are, and why Holden tends to turn away from them, there is only one more question to ask. Who does Holden refer to as "antiphonies"? "The only people with whom he can communicate are the two young boys at the museum, the girl with the skates at the park, his dead brother Allie, and his younger sister Phoebe: all of them are children, who cannot help him in his growing pains, but remind him of a simpler time, one to which he wishes he could return" (Hayward 2935). There are many problems in Holden's life that he needs to get out of his system to make it easier on himself, and the only person he turns to for help is Phoebe. "The reason why he finds his sister Phoebe and children in general so refreshing is that they are free of this phoniness" (Corbett 178). Whenever he is near her, she brings him a childlike atmosphere that brings his spirits up. Holden tells his sister of a wish he has to be a "catcher in the rye"-one who stands on the edge of a cliff near a rye field where thousands of children play. "What I have to do, I have to catch everybody if they start to go over the cliff...That's all I'd do all day" (Salinger 173). Holden sees this job as being a bodyguard for all the children. He wants to protect them from falling off the cliff into adulthood. As for Holden, he had already taken his fall.

sually makes him feel uncomfortable and he would even sacrifice his good time to get out of the situation. A good examp

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Approximate Word count = 989
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English