One of the many fascinating themes in the novel, "The Catcher in the Rye," brings us face to face with a jarring assault not unlike road rage on modern society and serves as a wake up call to each succeeding generation of its readers. J.D. Salinger, speaking through the protagonist Holden Caulfield, exposes the bogus standards and false values and the insensitive, sham relationships we face in our pretentious modern society. Alone, Holden stands tall against those counterfeit standards and the flagrant hypocrisy that surrounds us in the most casual and innocuous of life's endeavors-a simple conversation, and all from a quixotic yet desultory view of society. It is almost ironic that we learn this from the first person point of view. Salinger popularized the interior monologue in this novel. This approach helps us to understand Holden, observing a society he cannot accept, forever the outsider desperately clinging to the garish, ostentatious red hunting cap that is emblematic of a childish security blanket or a badge of honor.
             What is a phony? Webster's Collegiate defines it as someone or something that is fraudulent or spurious. When Holden uses the word "corny," he means fake or artificial, as in a false character or appearance. Holden sincerely believes that society in general claims an appearance of importance not justified by the thing's value or the person's standing. Holden seems obsessed with the concept since he uses it on pages 52, 77, 84, 86, 100, 142, 151, 172, and 205. In Chapter One, Holden describes Pencey's ad campaign as "strictly for the birds." He tells Spencer that he was "surrounded by phonies" in an earlier prep school. Even the headmaster discriminated against "funny-looking parents" on visiting day. Holden labels teachers and administrators phonies because they are less than perfect. He even dismisses his b...