Appearance and Personality
One of Holden's most striking and quintessential qualities is his powerful revulsion for "phony" qualities, a catch-all term for all the perceived hypocrisy that irritates Holden. It is this cynicism that consequently causes him to distance himself from other people. Despite Holden's strong disdain for phony qualities, he exhibits some of the qualities that he abhors, thereby making him a somewhat tragic character. Holden is very much a character of contradiction; At six feet, two-and-a-half inches, he is tall for his age and already has some gray hair - though he himself admits that he acts more like a 13-year-old than an adult. He continually fails classes and calls himself "dumb," yet he shows intelligence through his reasonably articulate narration. This idea in the book may be Holden's criticism of a society that is unable to acknowledge his hidden intelligence.
Read more about this topic: Holden Caulfield
Famous quotes containing the word appearance:
“Never before has a generation of parents faced such awesome competition with the mass media for their children’s attention. While parents tout the virtues of premarital virginity, drug-free living, nonviolent resolution of social conflict, or character over physical appearance, their values are daily challenged by television soaps, rock music lyrics, tabloid headlines, and movie scenes extolling the importance of physical appearance and conformity.”
—Marianne E. Neifert (20th century)