Y u Always Lyin'
You might have told a lie before. Whether it was by accident or on purpose lies are a part of human interactions. Holden Caulfield is no different. He has told one or two or maybe a couple hundred lies before. Thinking back, I was wondering about the whiteness of the lies he told, wait that sounds wrong. What I mean is how many of the lies he told could be considered as white lies. I do not really want to cite a source in MLA format on what the definition of a white lie is and for a joke (you might get later) so if you do not know what a white lie is, according to me, a white lie is a lie that is relatively harmless to the person on the receiving end of the lie. Now let’s look back on the lies Holden has told and determine whether they are white or not. I mean whether the lies Holden told can classify as being a white lie or not based on the prior definition. Now it's time to play white or not white! I mean white lie or not white lie!
For the first example, can I get a drumroll please? Holden says, "I would, I really would, but the thing is, I have to get going. I must go right to the gym. Thanks, though. Thanks a lot, sir." (Salinger 21). If this quote is not enough to jog your memory, Holden was talking to the history teacher at Pencey Prep, Mr. Spencer or old Spencer as Holden refers to him is offering him a beverage and is in fact lying because he states “So when I told old Spencer I had to go get my equipment and stuff, that was a sheer lie.”(Salinger 22). Now, a sheer lie may not be a white lie, but this is in fact a white lie! Mr. Spencer probably does not know Holden is lying to him and the lie could be considered as relatively harmless to the Mr. Spencer. Another lie Holden told was when he was talking to a classmate's mom. He lied about a storywhere his classmate did not want to run for class president because he was shy, but Holden claims the classmate was someone who would snap their towel at people. This is… also a white lie! Before you start screaming at me in your head saying she would find out when the classmate got home, we do not know what would happen. Therefore, we cannot come to any premature conclusions, and this lie would classify as a white lie because the classmate’s mom probably does not know Holden is lying and the lie is relatively harmless to the classmate’s mom. If you still disagree just know we are using my definition of a white lie, and I think it is a white lie. Another lie Holden told was when he was at the abode of Mr. Antolini and claimed he wanted to get his bags to leave his house after he woke up to Mr. Antolini patting his head. This is… not a white lie! Mr.Antolini was harmed in the lie as he says, “I wanted to touch Holden so so good” (Definitely Not Salinger 67).
Jokes aside, I think Holden mostly tells white lies (as of what we know) and says a lot about his character. You might think lying is bad, but I think it shows how thoughtful he is as he is trying not to harm people when he lies. Hopefully you do not think he is inherently a bad person as he might have mental problems which were probably not as popular during the book’s setting. I think his constant lying does raise concerns about narrative reliability. We kind of just need to hope Holden is being straight with us when he tells his story, but at the end of the day it's the reader’s choice to read the narrative and whether to trust the narrator is up to the reader.
Hi Robert! I like the examples you use of how Holden uses white lies to not hurt others' feelings, but to me personally, it seems like Holden lies sometimes just for the sake of lying. If not, the other cases where I remember him lying a lot is to try to pretend to be somebody he is not, which we constantly see in places like bars and also in the train ride with his classmate's mother. And I also hope also that this hasn't affected the story that he as told us, for the fact that he is trying to pretend to be somebody he is not to us. Great job!
ReplyDeleteHi Robert,
ReplyDeleteI liked reading about your take on Holdens lies and whether or not he really has bad intentions behind them. Yes, Holden lies a lot, but most of his lies technically don't harm other people. Instead it is more for his own self-satisfaction and a way for him to appeal to others by presenting himself as someone he is not. I believe he just lies out of insecurity, rather than with the intention of hurting other people. This can definitely make us question our trust for him as a narrator, but it also makes for a more interesting story. Good job!
I'm a little confused as to what point you are making about the Antolini scene (maybe the attempt to make a "joke" about such a distressing moment in the text gets in the way of clarity), but I am intrigued by the discussion of Holden as a "white liar" rather than a "phony." I would say that motives have a lot to do with it: when Holden talks about "phonies," he isn't talking about people politely saying things that might not be true, like "glad to've met you" when you meet someone. The "sheer lie" about where he keeps his equipment is a good example--it doesn't MATTER where Holden's equipment is; Spencer isn't going to fact-check him; it's just a polite way to extricate himself from the situation. It is interesting that he gives a similar excuse to get away from Antolini, but that too seems like a "white lie" to me, because there's a HUGE issue that is remaining unaddressed. He doesn't tell Antolini the real reason he's getting out of there. And I don't think we blame him for that.
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't categorize the fantastical tale he spins for Mrs. Morrow in the same way: it goes beyond "white lie" sheerly because of its gratuitousness. He *embellishes*, and he "can't stop himself" once he gets rolling, casting the world-class prick Ernest Morrow as a nice, humble guy who bears no resemblance to the scourge of the boys' locker room after showers. There's no practical reason for him to lie, it gains him no advantage, it doesn't make him look any cooler in Mrs. Morrow's eyes--he's just amusing himself, while also setting up some awkward moments in the Morrow home during winter break ("Oh, Ernest, I met a friend of yours on the train--Rudolph Schmitt! He was on his way home to have brain surgery, and he told me all about the elections!"). I don't really see Holden as "lying" here--he's *telling a story.* The story happens to be fiction, and it has the structure and plotting of a televised fiction, a melodrama. And in Holden's "crazy" mind, he actually thinks he's doing Ernie's mother a "favor" by giving her the gift of his storytelling.
Hey Robert, I think your blog got at the thought most readers were experiencing throughout the novel. Holden's tendency to lie should honestly be a bit concerning to the reader, as time and time again we witness him lying to those around him, even if it's something he obviously didn't even have to lie about at all. We're in a weird position where Holden doesn't have to lie to us, but he didn't necessarily have to lie to anyone he interacted with either. Great post!
ReplyDeleteI think you make an interesting point about Holden lying in order to spare the feelings of the people he interacts with throughout the book. I agree that Holden's ability to lie without remorse does raise the possibility that he is an unreliable narrator. But, I think that Holden is almost always honest with people he knows and respects, and the book frames him as having that kind of trust in the reader, so I personally believe he is being candid with us.
ReplyDeleteHi Robert, it is interesting that holden presents himself as a manipulative harmful liar but most of his lies are white lies. We also see with the Antolini scene that it is a defense mechanism and even in less severe circumstances he may see it as protecting himself from the world
ReplyDeleteHey Robert! I must say I don't quite agree on your interpretation of Holden's character. Yes, many of the stories he spins could be considered white lies as he is ultimately trying to bring joy to others, but we have to wonder about why he feels compelled to manipulate others so casually. These examples also leave out many lies he told which were far less harmless. Especially Holden's constant attempts to find his place in adult society, which could very well get himself or others in serious legal trouble. Overall, good post!
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