Haters Gonna Hate.

C'mon Holden... Shake it off!

Yes, we get it. Holden Caulfield is a hero that wants to prevent children from losing their innocence. The only thing he would like to do with his life – because he hates everything else – is to catch these kids that are falling, as they grow up, in this toxic society full of phoniness. So beautiful; this guy deserves a novel price for his soul is so pure and only means well.

… I’ve seen overestimated things in my life, like Coldplay, iPhones, and now Pokémon Go. So I get it. Most of the people who happen to read The Catcher in the Rye fall in love with Holden, but I just can’t.

The author’s a genius, though. Salinger takes us to this guy’s mind through the so well-used technique, stream of consciousness; therefore, we get to know Holden’s most secret thoughts. And the vast majority are not that nice. It’s also important to mention the way in which Holden expresses himself: so colloquial that we all get to feel related to this book, at some point. These characteristics make this Holden guy so real. I know many people like him. More than I would like, though, if you want to know the truth.

If I had to describe Holden Caulfield, I would say he’s just this kid who constantly finds himself in some kind of trouble because he just can’t tolerate phoniness. The problem here is that everything and everyone’s phony. That depresses him, it kills him. He observes people, and every single detail of their lives, and the way they act. No matter who they are or what they do, he will always find a reason to call them phonies.

It impressed me the way in which he referred to other people throughout the whole story: so judgmental, underestimating his classmates, old people, and women as if he was the only person with his five senses working. They were all ugly, disgusting, stupid, and of course, phonies. Everyone but him.

Madman: He's crazy and he knows it... 

Fun Fact: Chapter 17, after realizing he’s alone and nobody is there to hang out with him, Holden calls Sally Hayes and they go out on a date. Holden took Sally to the theater, where she happens to meet George, an old friend of hers who went to Andover – or the “phony Andover bastard”, according to Holden –, and they started talking. Holden just hated this guy, and Sally as well, in the moment in which they said “hello” (as expected). When narrating the part in which George leaves, Holden said the following:

“(…) he had to meet a bunch of phonies for cocktails, he said. I could see them all sitting around in some bar, with their goddam checkered vests, criticizing shows and books and women in those tired, snobby voices. They kill me, those guys” (Salinger, 1984:70).

Are we still talking about George and his friends? Or about you, Holden? Because I kind of got lost there… Yeah, you kill me, too. Very phony, even for you. So hypocrite, so conceited, so stuck in your own world, you can’t even realize you’re the biggest phony of them all, and a liar. You told Ernest Morrow’s mom your name was Rudolf Schmidt, a bunch of lies about her son, and that you had a brain tumor, “just for the hell of it”! You told Sally you were in love with her because you wanted to sleep with her (most common lie, though). You’re a phony anytime you need to get something, just like everybody else. You lie about your age so you can get drinks at bars and get laid with older women, but you don’t want kids to lose their innocence. Kind of ironic, just saying…

Holden is lonely, so lonely that he would do anything just to have a drink, and a conversation with someone. In Chapter 18 he meets with Carl Luce from Whooton School. Holden feels alone, and does not have anyone else, so he gives this guy a buzz just because he’s smart (high I.Q.). The cynicism is impressive here (from both parts) since Holden had called Carl a “fat-assed phony” back in school. It’s hard to understand Holden here, because even though he doesn’t like certain people, he still hang out with them. The explanation could be related to the fact that he’s more scared of being on his own than he could admit, even though he says he would like to live as a deaf-mute guy so nobody bothers him. It just doesn’t make sense.

Likewise, Holden goes to the movies, though he hates them, and criticizes his brother, D.B, for working in that field. One could say that Holden never does what he really wants to. He’s a coward, a yellow in his own words. He criticizes everyone and everything but he acts like everyone else. He throws shade at everyone calling them conceited, while he is conceited himself: he thinks he’s smarter, that he knows better. He’s not, he doesn’t. He’s just a kid who wants to be treated as an adult, but he doesn’t like the way adults treat each other, and see the world. So all he does is get drunk in places where he can get alcohol, and smoke, and socialize. The problem is he’s not that good at socializing with adults, because he’s not one yet.

Caulfield hates, we all realized that, even his own little sister, Phoebe. However, in Chapter 24, he states he doesn’t hate forever, that it’s temporary. He hates these phonies for a while, but then he kind of misses them afterwards. Extremely bipolar. I don’t even think he understands himself. Then is when Mr. Antolini appears in the picture:

 “The mark of the immature man is that he wants to die nobly for a cause, while the mark of the mature man is that he wants to live humbly for one” – “(…) you're not the first person who was ever confused and frightened and even sickened by human behavior (…) Many, many men have been just as troubled morally and spiritually as you are right now” (Salinger, 1984:103).

I don’t know about you, but I found Mr. Antolini statement very wise, despite the pervert episode, which was really disappointing. My point here is, I think everyone feels discontent about society once in a while, I admire Holden for he doesn’t want children to be phonies, and to stay good people. Nonetheless, I feel like Holden is all about words, and no actions: a yellow.

Holden Caulfield behaves like an A-hole when encountering with people, he hates and despises everyone who he thinks is a phony, and he sees everyone as phonies. When the book gets to its final lines, he admits he kind of misses those phonies. You realize all he wanted was to be accompanied; taxi drivers, nuns, strangers, they were all welcomed into his world (when he was in the mood). But once he realizes they are fake people, and that society is twisted, he wishes to be alone again. So kids are his only hope, kids like Phoebe, and the ones who still don’t get what “FU” means. Then is when you feel sorry for him, when you sort of understand the whys, when you see yourself in the mirror and see a bit of Holden Caulfield in your reflection. You’re just too busy trying to find a way to fit in to realize this.

Salinger, J. (1984). The Catcher in the Rye. NY: Bantam.