The Unreliable Narrator
...’ll probably want to know where I was born, and what my lousy childhood was like, and how my parents were occupied and all before they had me, and all that David Copperfield kind of crap…[well] I’m not going to tell you my whole goddam autobiography or anything. (Salinger 1)” With this statement Holden establishes himself as a distant character, not wishing to give away any of his past or personal information. However, this becomes quite ironic as Holden then proceeds to inform the reader about his brother D.B, his “touchy as hell (Salinger 1)” parents, and his unhappiness in Pencey Prep. Within the first few pages of the novel Holden establishes himself as an unsure individual who doesn’t realize his own contradictions. The reader then learns that Holden views the world around him as so full of phonies “they were coming in the goddam window (Salinger 13).” Holden sees others as being fake; hiding their true selves under a layer ‘phoniness’, yet Holden admits that he’s “the most terrific liar you’ve ever saw (Salinger 16). ” “Terrific liar” is in itself an oxymoron, but the larger impression it makes on the reader is that we lose Holden’s trust. How can the reader believe someone who “if on [their] way to the store to buy a magazine” and asked where they’re going are “liable to say I’m going to the opera. (Salinger 16)” Holden then admits, “I’m crazy. I swear to god I am. (Salinger 103)” This is confirmed as the reader later learns that the novel is a flashback told by Holden from within a mental hospi...