m into trouble at school. Holden looks for the flaws in everyone and tries to eliminate that person he sees as a threat, such as when Holden decides to face off against the phony Stradlater after Stradlater’s date with Jane. Holden also thinks every teacher is a phony who pretends to be helpful to students. If Holden has trouble in school he does not seek help from his peers because he believes that they are phonies. Hence this point is tied into one of the reasons he is kicked out of Pencey, failing four out of five courses. Holden’s avoidance of things phony is very strong and he has a one-track mind. It is either his way or the highway, this is another example of how Holden’s phony problem hinders his chance at full maturity. Holden is so scared of becoming what he considers wrong- a phony- that he does not even want to experience new events, encounters, or new people. Holden comments, if he could star in a movie short ho phony he would seem. Thus he would turn down the offer if it arose “ I’d be a phony if I let them stick me in a movie short” (pg 72). Holden in other words does not like to open himself to others and shies away from interaction.Holden encounters “ Fuck you” (pg 202) written on the wall, he carefully rubs this off with his hand to protect the innocent children from reading it. Later on he finds “*censored* you” (pg 202) scratched into the surface with a knife. He discovers that he cannot efface this one. Even in the timeless peace of the Egyptian tomb room at the museum there is an inerasable “ *censored* you” (pg 204). This incident is the beginning of Holden’s realization that his dreams are infeasible and that he is helpless to stop the corruption and that there is nowhere he can go to hide from it either. Holden sees that he can not stop children from growing up and losing their innocence and that they will fall if they fall, there is n...
