Holden Caulfield is not a saint. He is not above everyone else. He is not a prophet, and he is definitely not a god. So, why does he portray himself as such? Throughout the course of The Catcher in the Rye, the main character, Holden Caulfield, acts as if he is on a different level than other people. He treats other people like they are below him, criticizing their every action and calling them phonies. He is a classic example of a hypocrite with a God complex and an inflated sense of self. He insults others for committing actions that he considers to be phony, while doing the same. Holden Caulfield sees the world through the eyes of a prophet, but, in fact, he is not as perfect as he makes himself out to be.
At the beginning of the novel, readers learn that Holden Caulfield has been kicked out of Pencey Preparatory. Holden describes this school as a place that is supposed to shape boys into “splendid and clear-thinking young men.” He thinks that this statement is completely phony. However, Holden just uses this “phoniness” as an excuse to not apply himself, much like he had not applied himself at the various other schools he had been kicked out of. He is suspended for failing every single one of his classes, except for English. Instead of taking responsibility for his actions, he blames the school’s way of teaching and states that there is a low amount of students that actually meet the standard that the school aspires to. However, this is proven to be untrue.
Apart from this, as Holden introduces his brother D.B in chapter 1, he says that he lives in a “crumby place.” This statement makes it seem like he lives in a inadequate home, but in reality it is quite the opposite. Holden lives in a nice two-story home with his mother and father. This misleading statement makes Holden seem like a hypocrite. This statement also reveals a bit of insight into what is going on in Holden’s mind. It shows that Holden victimizes and pities himself for trivial reasons. Additionally, Holden looks down on his brother oftentimes throughout the novel. This is because D.B. works in Hollywood as a writer for scripts.
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Holden credits his brother with being an incredible writer, who has written many short stories, but he hates the fact that he is wasting his time working in Hollywood. He refuses to realize that this opportunity is good for D.B., and that it’s his dream job. Instead, like always, he only thinks of himself and the way that the actions of others affect him. At an extreme extent, it can be said that this lack of concern for others may show a sign of sociopathic tendencies, as he is extremely self-absorbed and does not care about the feelings of others. He only cares about being liked by others and getting attention from people.
At the best of times, Holden can be defined as an unreliable narrator. He is not as saintly as he pretends to be. In fact, multiple times, Holden brings up his great lying abilities. He mentions that he lies for fun. This could show that Holden is a pathological liar, which might tie in with the many other blatant psychological issues that he has. He lies to other characters, and even misrepresents events often when he doesn’t want to open up about things. The reader is not aware of whether or not Holden is lying at any given time, as the novel is written in the first person point of view, from Holden’s perspective. This also means that everything in the book is written in the way that Holden sees it. The readers see no other side to any story. His hatred of other characters, his descriptions of events, and his outlook on certain things; they could all possibly just be painted from a biased memory affected by Holden’s experience.
As the novel progresses, it becomes more and more clear that Holden Caulfield is not perfect. He may have some redeeming qualities, like his sense of humor and likeability, but, overall, Holden is unreliable and hypocritical. He refuses to reflect on his negative personality traits and constantly places blame on others. He has many psychological issues that are defined through his personality and actions. Holden Caulfield may very well believe like a prophet or a saint, but at the end of the day, all he is is a phony.
