Outline

 I. Introduction a. Phony/pervert/screwball: Holden knows of many strange people that he refers to as phony/pervert/screwball. His relationships with these people might be over exaggerated and it is just him being critical. b. All of Holden's thoughts are very critical towards other people, which makes his chances at developing friendships and relationships with others difficult. i. Stradlater: what Holden thinks of him being a secret slob and how he acts towards other people is phony ii. Sally Hayes: what Holden thinks of her and how Holden’s decisions with girls are usually not good and his feelings about intimacy iii. Mr. Antolini: what Holden thinks of him and how he scared Holden away was his way of being a pervert II. Body One (Avenue one/Main reason 1) linked with THESIS STATEMENT a. Holden calls Stradlater a phony because he is a secret slob. i. “You remember I said that Ackley was a slob in his personal habits? Well so was Stradlater, in a different way. Stradlater was more of a secret slob” (Salinger 27). Stradlater razor that he uses is all rusted and full of hair. Holden says no one would recognize him as a slob because he doesn’t like one. b. “Stradlater was putting on his tie, in front of the mirror, when I got there. He spent around half of his goddam life in front of the mirror” (Salinger 33). ii. This quote states how Stradlater cares more about himself than others. He dates girls that he doesn’t care about it and then dumps them for no reason. iii. “I’ll still say he’s a sonuvabitch. He’s a conceited sonuvabitch” (Salinger, 24). iii. Ackley, another student at Pencey that Holden is friendly with, sums up Stradlater in those words. Holden thinks that he is conceited as well, but generous. Throughout Holden’s final moments at Pencey, his feelings towards Stradlater have changed since he hated the way he acted toward Jane, a girl that Holden likes, and the way he disrespected his schoolwork, which was about his brother. III. Body Two (Avenue one/ Main reason 2) linked with the THESIS STATEMENT a. Sally Hayes is a girl that Holden dates when he returns home from Pencey. She is very attractive, but not someone that Holden would date. i. Since Holden is lonely, he doesn’t care whom he’s with as long as she is by his side. Holden professes his love to her, even though it’s the first date. However as the date goes on, Sally becomes more distant to Holden as Holden tries to get closer. Holden finds this a turn off and thinks she is a phony. c. “The terrible part, though is that I //meant// it when I asked her. That’s the terrible part. I swear to God I’m a madman” (Salinger 134). ii. After professing his love to Sally, he asked her to run away with him. Sally acts turned off by the talk of this and she tells him to stop. Holden gets offended and tells her how she is a pain. Sally gets upset over this and leaves. Sally is not Holden’s type, which is a flaw in their relationships and how Holden makes relationships. He always seems to be with the wrong person and it never goes well. Holden only goes after attractive girls, but never goes for their personality. He always looks for the physical aspect of a relationship instead of the mental part. d. “Finally, though the jerk noticed her and came over and said hello. You should’ve seen the way they said hello. You’d have thought they hadn’t seen each other in twenty years. You’d have thought they’d taken baths in the same bathtub or something when they were little kids. Old buddyroos. It was nauseating. The funny part was, they probably met each other just //once//, at some phony party” (Salinger 127). iii. This quote summarizes Holden’s feeling towards Sally. Holden’s critical mind had got him thinking that Sally and anyone she ran into were phony, as he describes they met at a phony party. Holden seems to get himself involved with phony people often which results in problems. IV. Body Three (Avenue One/ Main reason 3) linked with THESIS STATEMENT a. Mr. Antolini is a former teacher of Holden. Holden doesn’t think that he is a phony, but more of a pervert since he rubbed his head while he was sleeping. He gives advice to Holden, which is important to his future. In a way, Mr. Antoloni helps Holden discover his problems in life, which is with the way he deals with people. Then, it downfalls afterwards. i. “I have a feeling that you’re riding for some kid of terrible, terrible fall” (Salinger 186). Mr. Antolini sees that Holden has problems his surroundings, mean with relationships. b. Holden sleeps at Mr. Antolini’s place that night and it becomes awkward. Holden wakes up feeling Mr. Antolini stroking his head. Holden believed he was trying to flirt with him, which makes him feel uncomfortable and leave. i. “ I know more damn perverts, at schools and all, than anybody you ever met, and they’re always being perverty when //I’m// around” (Salinger 196). This shows how Holden’s mind about people changes quickly. It happened with Sally Hayes, and now it was happened with Mr. Antolini. He claims he is a pervert for stroking his head and makes it difficult to stay with him for the night. c. Any person would be startled if someone that barley knew another would be petting or stroking someone’s head. Holden is afraid of intimacy, which is what the reader can find out easily. Even though Mr. Antolini doesn’t seem to be looking for that, Holden is afraid of that and becomes crazy which causes him to leave. i. “What he was doing was, he was sitting on the floor right next to the couch, in the dark and all, and he was sort of petting me or patting me on the goddam head. Boy, I’ll bet I jumped about a thousand feet. ‘What the hellya //doing?// ’ I said. ‘Nothing! I’m simply sitting here, admiring-‘” (Salinger 192). V. Conclusion a. All of Holden’s thoughts are very critical towards other people, which makes his chances at developing friendships and relationships with others difficult. i. Stradlater is a phony, who is a secret slob that Holden dislikes because of his disrespect towards himself and others. 1. Holden dislike for Stradlater shows how it is difficult for Holden to develop a friendship with others. Holden’s hate for phonies makes it even more difficult to make friends. ii. Sally Hayes is also a phony who Holden describes in the book 1. This represents Holden’s difficulty to get involved with a girl because he gets too jealous and he also admits for going towards very attractive girls that aren’t really his type. Holden is also afraid to get intimate with others girl since he dislikes affection. ii. Mr. Antolini is referred to as a pervert by Holden 1. This represents Holden’s difficulty with adults and even intimacy again. Even though everyone would be disturbed by an older man stroking their head, Holden acted too quickly and felt like Mr. Antolini had invaded his privacy. This represents Holden’s difficulty to get close with adults and, again, intimacy.