catcher in the rye

             said. "I mean they"re all right if they go around saving innocent.
             guys" lives all the time, and like that, but you don't do that kind of.
             stuff if you"re a lawyer. All you do is make a lot of dough and play.
             golf and play bridge and buy cars and drink Martinis and look like a.
             hot-shot. How would you know you weren't being a phony? The trouble.
             is, you wouldn't" (Salinger 172).
             .
             When Holden describes his mom, he always seems to do so with a sense of.
             compassion yet also with a jeering tone. Holden makes his mom sound.
             predictable and insincere. These phony qualities are shown in two.
             different examples when Holden is hiding in the closet of D.B.'s room as.
             his mom walks in to tuck in Phoebe: .
             .
             "Hello!" I heard old Phoebe say. "I couldn't sleep. Did you have a.
             good time?" .
             "Marvelous," my mother said, but you could tell she didn't mean it. .
             She doesn't enjoy herself much when she goes out.
             -Good night. Go to sleep now. I have a splitting headache," my.
             mother said. She gets headaches quite frequently. She really does.
             (Salinger 177-178).
             .
             The first two examples are excellent illustrations of how Holden.
             classifies people as phonies. However, when it comes to Holden's older.
             brother, D.B., more analysis is needed to derive Holden's true feelings.
             about his brother. Holden seems to respect his older brother somewhat.
             but cannot tolerate the imposed false image brought on by D.B.'s career.
             choice as a screen-play writer. For example, this sense of respect is.
             shown when D.B. takes Holden and Phoebe to see Hamlet: "He treated us.
             to lunch first, and then he took us. He"d already seen it, and the way.
             he talked about it at lunch, I was anxious as hell to see it, too".
             (Salinger 117). Holden feels that all movies and shows are false,.
             absurdly exaggerated portrayals of reality and subsequently because his.
             brother takes part in these perversions of realism, he is a "phony.