17;s another war, I’m going to sit right the hell on top of it. I’ll volunteer for it, I swear to God I will.”(Pg.141) Holden starts to think about this horrible idea because of his natural melancholy attitude about his own life. Even to the untrained eye this is an obvious sign of mental illness. In conclusion, subconsciously Holden is so morose about being lonesome and getting kicked out of school that it disguises itself within thoughts about his surroundings that in turn causes his mind to react in suicide tendencies.Second, Holden likes no, excuse me, loves to lie to people; this is another factor that makes him mentally unstable. For example, “I’m the most terrific liar you have ever saw in your life”(Pg.16) His lying consumes him in a way that he cant control himself. He doesn’t realize that lying is morally wrong and cannot be made a habit of. In addition, “ Well a bunch of us wanted old Ernie to be president of the class…I mean he was the only boy that could really handle the job”.(Pg.56) He kids himself by saying that he made Mrs. Morrow happy by letting her think that Ernie is just a shy modest guy instead of a “Rat” who likes to hurt people. But deep down inside Holden just likes to “chuck it” as he might say. Finally, Holden tells Mrs. Morrow that he is going to South America with his grandmother to have a brain tumor removed. Holden sadistically takes pleasure in lying to her. When he lies he feels like he is acting like someone else so he can hide the kind of person he truly is. Lying is a quality in Holden’s personality that makes him extremely untrustworthy thus, making him incapable of interacting with others.Lastly, Holden is extremely hypocritical to the point where he is a hypocrite about all his values. For example, He says he hates movies and people who get anxious to see them. Holden goes right around and does bo...
