From the cold-hearted women crying at the movie theater, overly extravagant Christmas shows, and to cocky show-offs, I relate to Holden’s complaints. I love his noble morals: sticking up for what you believe, staying humble no matter one’s skill, and genuine honesty, but Holden takes it too far.
Holden feels that he’s better than the world. Why? Holden complains about “phonies.” In tandem, Holden doesn’t believe he’s a phony. He hates playing “life’s game” and believes that flunking out of school is the way to cheat the system. He over-fantasizes moral virtues to the point where he can’t even follow them without becoming an outsider to society. For example, deciding to become a recluse if he was good at something, caring about honesty when he’s the biggest liar we’ve ever seen, and looking to spark conversation with someone who doesn’t have an agenda when Holden’s the one with the agenda of finding someone to talk to. Simply speaking, his values make him the hypocrite. If he ever looked at himself in the mirror and analyzed himself — when he’s not checking out his bloody beaten face — the phony character he should hate would be himself.
Maybe I’m being too harsh on him. Holden’s a character dealing with the grief of Allie using the “I don’t care” defensive mechanism. Therefore, I understand his decision to not follow the rules and punish himself through aggravating people like Maurice and Stradlater. I can understand why he might be hypocritical at times. Yet, it gives Holden has no excuse for his high standards of life — it’s unhealthy to begin with. Holden has thought like this from way before — the proof is how he views movies (I think it’s fair he was watching movies before Allie’s death) — that type of mindset doesn’t form from one event (Allie’s death).
He still believes there’s a set of rules for the world like how he wishes everyone had the frozen innocence of a child or to receive praise would compromise pure intentions. To live by such standards would make anyone depressed. Sure people are annoying and everyone has felt irritated at some point in their lives, but it takes a certain type of mentality to feel justified to make these judgments. I know I have, but I also realize I’ve acted like a “phony” too. I too have acted cocky and I really would be lying if I said I’ve always been 100% honest. In this regard, I feel that Holden with his “I know better/I’m superior” complex gives him justification to hate everything. So, my question is, how can we still like Holden so much?
Disclaimer: By no means am I saying that I hate Holden Caulfield. However, I think it’s evident that our perspective of him is skewed because he acts as such a strong narrator. We’re expected to relate to his opinions and take his side. However, I find it amazing how a perspective can change our view on a person. By taking a step back to look at Holden, with a slight twist in perspective, Holden could’ve been an easy character to hate. Like who would love a guy willing to punch you for no apparent reason? Why would someone side with a guy who yells at you during a date and then calls you up drunk in the middle of the night?
I agree, I wouldn't call holden consistent in his judgment and actions. This annoyed me at first but now i think Holden is growing. Perhaps near the end of the novel Holden is starting to judge people less absolutely(Ackley+stradlater) and applying judgment to himself.
ReplyDeleteI also agree that Holden's high morals sometimes kind of make me want to tell him to stop and realize what's going on, and to get off his high horse for his hypocrisy, but I also think that his superiority complex (or inferiority, I kind of don't know which one it is) is just a coping mechanism he uses to put on a brave face for the readers and the world to show that he's okay. If he admitted to himself how he really felt, I think he would kind of break down and I don't think he feels he can afford to do that, whether that's conscious or unconscious.
ReplyDeleteI agree that Holden's morals are annoying at times. I do think that the way he thought before was probably nowhere near as obsessive as what happened after Allie's death, and I think he is healing now. I also think that it's just kind of hard to hate him at all, just because he always confides in you openly as a reader.
ReplyDeleteI feel like Holden acts that he's better than everyone else and is constantly negative because he feels like he's alone in the world and there's really no one that can relate to. Mix that in with the grief that he's going through and he's never fully processed that, it's obviously a recipe for erratic behavior. The thing is unlike the other characters in the book, we know that he's going through a lot of problems, so to them he's crazy, but to us we can understand why he's acting that way.
ReplyDeleteI like Holden because I know what's going on inside him. Probably if I was just another person he was randomly punching or yelling at, I would think he was loony. But as a reader I almost feel like I am him, and so I have more sympathy for him/see the reasons for his actions.
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