An Introduction to Phonyism
Hey everyone! Today I will talk about The Catcher in the Rye and something I have decided to call "phonyism." Throughout this book, the narrator, Holden Caulfield, describes people, actions, things, and places as phony. To start off, what does it mean to be phony? Well, it refers to someone or something false and/or allowing said person or thing to pretend to be "in," for lack of a better word. This could be as simple as when people say, "Glad to have met you," simply because it is the "right" thing to say because it is socially acceptable. However, maybe you weren't glad to have met that person. Then it would be phony because you only said that because you knew that that was what you were supposed to say to be acceptable. In fact, even Holden finds himself doing these things and is disgusted with himself. Now that that is out of the way, we can discuss "phonyism." This is a term I just invented while trying to come up wi