What aspects of society and culture as depicted in The catcher in the Rye, make Holden Caulfield and indeed J.D Salinger so critical of the phony adult world.

What aspects of society and culture as depicted in “The catcher in the Rye“, make Holden Caulfield and indeed J.D Salinger so critical of the “phony adult world”.

Born in New York City on the first day of 1919, J.D. Salinger is the son of a Jewish father and a Christian mother. The family had a beautiful apartment on Park Avenue. After restless studies in prep schools, he was sent to a Military Academy, which he attended briefly. Salinger’s life is very similar to that of the character Holden Caulfield in “The Catcher in the Rye”, and Holden himself even attends a number of different schools, Caulfield in many ways is reflection of Salinger himself. Holden seems to have the same judgemental and critical outlook on life that Salinger has. In 1939 Salinger took a class in short story writing at Columbia University, and During World War II he was drafted into the infantry and was involved in the invasion of Normandy. Salinger's comrades considered him very brave, a genuine hero. During the first months in Europe Salinger managed to write stories and in Paris meet Ernest Hemingway. He was also involved in one of the bloodiest episodes of the war in Hürtgenwald, a useless battle, where he witnessed the horrors of war. It could be said that it was these horrors that Salinger witnessed helped to develop his view on society and his hatred for the “phony”. By seeing that all is not as it is portrayed could have opened Salinger’s eyes and created in him an alternative mindset, that is furthered through his writing, the best example of which would yet again be Holden Caulfield.

Salinger had a number of short stories printed in magazines such as Story, where his first story was published in 1940, Saturday Evening Post and Esquire, and then in the New Yorker, which published almost all of his later texts. Salinger's first novel, The Catcher in the Rye, became immediately a Book-of-the-Month Club selection and won huge international acclaim. Salinger did not do much to help publicity, and asked that his photograph should not be used in connection with the book. From the late 60's he has avoided publicity. Journalists have assumed, that because he doesn't give interviews, he has something to hide. Despite not wanting to be interviewed or having any media coverage Salinger still writes, however only for himself, he still has the passion to write but only does it now for the love of writing and not for fame. This situation too is in a way reflected in “The Catcher in the Rye”, Holden as a child loved to read D.B’s (his older brother) short stories, which D.B wrote at the time as he had a love for literature, but in the search to future his career and social status he has now turned his back on and is writing purely to please the masses and to get money from their love of the cinema that movie after movie churns out a sickeningly happy view of the great American dream. Holden would rather his brother D.B write for passion than for greed.

In his book “The Catcher in the Rye“, a boy named Holden Caulfield, is faced with the obstacles of both society and life as he struggles to find direction as well as his relationship with the world. From page one, the reader can both understand and relate to what Holden has to say about the society in which we live and the way in which people in that society govern themselves. He opens his story in a some what apologetic manner, with the phrase “If you really want to hear about it” , Holden seems to be telling the reader the story is not an exciting one but if they want to hear it then he will tell them. Throughout the novel Holden tends to apologise and correct himself, in a way to keep the reader happy. The more we read the more we identify with Holden Caulfield.

The book is set between the end of 1940’s and the early 1950’s, despite being remembered for the idyllic image of depicted in paintings, literature and music of the time period, the 50s were a much graver decade. However, “The Catcher in the Rye” opens the reader’s eyes, and gives a different, more realistic look on the real, immoral, non-conformist events that took place during this time period, that were ignored by the media and conformists of the time. A number of these aspects may help lead to Holden’s and indeed even Salinger’s critical view of the “phony” adult world. Through Holden’s experiences we can get the sense of a period of repression. Although the laws of a free America were in existence, an inordinate amount of strict societal controls were placed upon everyday life. People were not allowed to do what they wanted to do, say what they want to say, or express their beliefs. There was tremendous pressure to conform, especially for adolescents. Holden essentially took one look at what everyone wanted him to be, and ran away from it, dedicating himself to be the exact opposite of what he was supposed to be and criticizing those who wanted him to be like that.

The idea of the “teenager” was born in 1950’s America, the maturing adult, longing for an identity. Until then teenagers were non existent, an adult was not born until the day they got married. The businesses of the time saw a gap in the market, the could create a new market aimed entirely at the teenagers of the time. Holden sees the world as an evil, cruel place where everyone is out to get him. He reacts to the people of the world as the ones creating these feelings of grief for him, so he distances himself from ...

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One of the reasons that Holden has trouble making friends is his abhorrence for what he terms as “phony”. Holden despises a lot of the aspects of the culture and people of the time. He feels that as the progress from childhood to adulthood happens, innocence is lost and corruption and falseness takes over. Holden's "phony phobia" restricts him from becoming a fully mature adult. In Holden's attempted journey forwards in becoming a fully mature adult, he encounters many scenarios involving friendships, personal opinions, and his love of children. His journey is an unpleasant and difficult one with many lessons learned along the way. He fears growing up as it would result in him becoming what he fears and hates the most in the world.

It seems like the typical, adolescent dilemma: How do I find my place in this life? Well, in most respects, Holden is not unlike the typical teenager. He, too, is on his own quest to find himself. He needs to find acceptance. Going to at Pency, Holden becomes the manager for the fencing team. In doing so, he tried to gain friends as well as social status within his peers. Even then the whole team “ostracized" him. Like most teens at that age, Holden was having trouble gaining acceptance and making friends. His school experiences also tie into his friendships with others, especially his infamous roommate Stradlater, and a loser of a next door neighbour Ackley. Stradlater is handsome, self-satisfied, and popular, but Holden calls him a “secret slob,” because he appears well groomed, but his toiletries, such as his razor, are disgustingly unclean. Stradlater is sexually active and quite experienced for a prep school student, which is why Holden also calls him a “sexy bastard”. A fight breaks out between the two that shows Holden's inability to control himself; Holden suspects that Stradlater may have slept with his old friend, Jane Gallagher, so Holden responds by punching him. This event reveals contradictory impulses within Holden. Although he claims that he is a pacifist, a dubious statement that reinforces his status as an unreliable narrator, Holden seems disconnected from the violence he causes and the pain that he suffers. His greatest concern seems to be whether Stradlater seduced , revealing an unhealthy, if predictable, view on sexuality.

Holden also is under the impression every teacher is a phony who pretends to be helpful to students. If Holden has trouble in school he feel that he cannot seek help from friends because he believes that they, too, are phony. Hence this point is connected into one of the reasons he is being kicked out of Pencey, failing 4 out of 5 courses. In one scene Holden goes to his ex-teacher Mr Antolini’s house to seek refuge after a return home to see his beloved sister Phoebe, which was interrupted by the arrival of his parents. Whilst at Antolini’s, Mr. Antolini patted Holden on the head while he was sleeping, Holden jumped up and ran out thinking that Mr. Antolini was sick a pervert as well. This

is the only time during the novel where Holden thinks twice about considering someone as a pervert. After reviewing Mr. Antolini, Holden finally concludes that maybe he wasn't making a "flitty"(homosexual) pass at him. Maybe he just likes patting guys' heads as they sleep. This is really the only time in the novel where Holden actually considers a positive side.

This event does not constitute a significant change. Holden's actions toward another one of his teachers, Mr. Spencer's his history teacher, Holden feels Mr. Spencer is a “phony“, someone of no importance. Holden goes to visit Mr and Mrs Spencer after being expelled and whilst there he finds the Spencer's house somewhat depressing, smelling of elderly people. Mr. Spencer sits in a ratty old bathrobe, and asks Holden to sit down. Holden tells him how (the Headmaster of Pencey) told him about how "life is a game" and you should "play it according to the rules" when he expelled him. Mr. Spencer tells him that Dr. Thurmer was correct, and Holden agrees with him, but does not actually agree with him. Holden tells Mr. Spencer that his parents will be upset, for this is his fourth private school so far. Spencer then tells Holden that he failed him in History because he knew nothing, and even reads his exam essay about the Egyptians to him. At the end of the exam, Holden left a note for Mr. Spencer, admitting that he is not interested in the Egyptians, despite Spencer's interesting lectures, and that he will accept if Mr. Spencer fails him. As Holden and Mr. Spencer continue to talk, Holden's mind wanders and he begins to think about the ducks in Central Park. Even Holden's style of narration reveals this lack of any coherent vision. He admits that he cannot concentrate on any particular topic, thinking about Central Park being frozen over while Mr. Spencer lectures him. Despite not having any interest in what Mr Spencer is say he humours and flatters him by agreeing with him.

Another aspect of life that Holden does not respect, yet on some level yearns for, is that of married life. It was very common of the time for a young couple to marry, the average ages of first time marriages were lowering year by year. Holden loves the innocence of childhood and fears to commitment of adulthood. He sees the ignorance of two people, both unprepared and inexperienced getting married simply to conform to the ideals of the time. Television shows, radio shows, movies and plays of the time would often depicted the seemingly gloriousness of the married life, the loyal housewife and the committed and hardworking husband. Holden, unlike the majority of teenagers of the time, saw that all was not as it seemed. He does not like the idea of young people, who are secretly yearning for freedom and independence, settling for what is expected of them, only because it was seen as healthy for the time. Holden does not see things the way others do. However on some level he does want, to a certain degree, to conform. He even thinks of marriage, albeit briefly. Holden’s ideal bride , however, was not the typical bride of the time, Holden dreams of marrying a deaf mute and living in rural America, away from the corruption.

Holden obviously has a love of childhood innocence. He talks very highly of his younger brother Allie, who died of when Holden was only thirteen. Despite the fact that Allie was younger than him, Holden idolized him. Holden has a love of a baseball mitt that Allie had covered in poems. The night of Allie's death, Holden smashed all the windows in the family garage with his bare fists just because he was so angered that someone so innocent could be taken from them world. Holden also talks highly of his younger sister Phoebe. She is in the fourth grade at the time Holden leaves Pencey. She can be seen as more mature than him, and she even calls Holden childish, Holden also to an extent idolizes her. She is the prime example of the youthful innocence that Holden so deeply desires. She is also the only character who seems to understand her brother's disturbed personality.

On a number of occasions in the book he tries to get alcohol and talks about how he looked older than his age. It is this desire to be seen as sophisticated that leads us to discover another aspect of the time that Holden sees as “phony” and that he is critical of. Holden goes to a few bars and jazz clubs in the book, as he thinks it is easier to get alcohol there, and it is in these clubs that we see Holden dislikes the conformist love of performers, young teenagers who go wild and are in love with musicians of the time. He is under the impression that the youth of America go to the clubs to see the jazz musicians as it makes them look “hip”. Holden does not like the idea of liking something just because everyone else does. He also sees the performers, to some degree, as prostitutes, playing on the venerable teens just to further their career and increase their status. He views them not as enthusiasts of their field, but as mere puppets in the very profitable entertainment business. People who once had a passion for their work, now only performing to please and not for art, this is one of the key reasons for his loss in respect for his brother D.B and his so called “selling out”. Yet despites his views of these places Holden heads to a jazz club called Ernie’s nightclub. Within moments of arriving the one of these clubs that he criticises so much Holden finds himself becoming increasingly depressed since he doesn’t have a date, or anyone else for that matter, to talk to. So he criticizes those around him for applauding at the completion of Ernie’s piano performance. He thinks to himself, "People always clap for the wrong things."

Another media output Holden despises is the “phoniness” of the movies and the thousands of Americans who go in their droves to the cinema week after week. It is quite well know that Salinger himself had a hatred of the movies and preferred the written word to the big screen sappiness of a movie. The movies offered regular teenagers a chance to see the perfect life, and experience life through someone else’s eyes, often a famous person or heroes of the time. Teenagers of the time lapped up the ideals of these movies and their feel good sense. Holden on the other hand sees them as “phony” and feels that they offer a fake sense of hope that all is good in modern day living, when in fact it was not. Movies are in Holden’s mind, a corrupt way to keep America happy, whilst at the same time take their money. However, yet again, despite his hatred of the movies and their phoniness, he does in fact attend quite a few movies himself, another sign of Holden’s confusion and warped sense of thinking. Holden attends the cinema with Ackley, a fellow pupil from Pencey who is, to a certain extent, a friend of, however not a best friend, and also with another pupil of the school. And he is disheartened to hear that the two have already seen the picture, and feels that they are only going because it was cool to be going to the cinema at the time. Holden only goes as he thinks that going to see a “phony” picture would be better than sitting in his dorm room depressed.

The movies also yet again tie in with Holden’s view of his brother D.B and his career in script writing for movies. In D.B’s attempt to further his career and social status he has now turned his back on and is writing purely to please the masses and to get money from their love of the cinema that movie after movie churns out a sickeningly happy view of the great American dream. Holden would rather his brother D.B write for passion than for greed.

Holden Caulfield is a very disturbed and confused young adult, he longs for a world where the innocence of childhood is kept throughout life, he despises the idea that all is fine in the world, and takes his anger out on what he sees as “phonys”. Despite his childish mindset, he has a rather advanced and profound outlook on life, the problem with this is why if he is still a child mentally can he have this train of thought? . One of the key figures that may add to Holden’s view on life, a view that the majority of teenagers of the time are incapable of seeing, is the death of his younger brother, Allie. Holden has a very close relationship with his brother, even in death. He sees Allie as a somewhat iconic figure, and regrets the tiniest of things he had done to annoy Allie.

The horrors of death and morbid occurrences were swept under the rug in the 1950’s, not to be talked about in public. The ideals of the time were that “if we act happy, all will be well” but as Holden has already experienced the pain and suffering of losing a relative, at such a young age, he has the view that all is not well. Holden can see that no matter how good a person you are, no matter what sort of lifestyle you live, there is just as much a chance of depressions, death and hardship. This could very well lead to his criticism of the “phonies“, who put so much value in superficial and pointless things, that they forget what matters in life. Holden is a person, so too was Salinger, who is not capable of dealing with the ideology of the time, and views the world and its inhabitants as fake, convincing themselves they are happy, when they know deep down that they are not. Holden values people that act the way the really feel rather than being pretentious. He has negative feelings for anyone that acts otherwise. Throughout the book, Holden talks
about being tired of “phonies” and wanting people to be honest. Of the many times Salinger shows these feelings, one is when Holden is discussing living out west in his own place. He hates “phony” people so much that he said, "If anybody tried to do anything “phony“, they couldn't stay".

Holden is so repulsed by this idea of the “phony” that he envisions a fantasy land in which only he and the innocent can live, he does not want any of the Stadlater types with their two personalities, any adoring teenagers worshipping pointless “fads”. Holden wants a blissful land where he can live a life of innocence, a land with none of the pressures of sexual maturity or the fears of adulthood, one where everyone one is open and truthful. This could very well have been one of Salinger’s own fantasies, and the pressures of the “phony” world had built up so much that Salinger could no longer take it and this could be one of the major reasons for his becoming a recluse and for Holden’s checking into a home in the end of the novel, neither Holden Caulfield nor J.D Salinger could deal with their phobias and so both were removed from the public world.