Holden’s use of the word phony can be interpreted in many ways. I see him mainly using the word to describe things in the world that aren’t true to their form. Another word to describe phony would be insincere. Holden Caulfield is an extremely hypercritical boy, who is trying his very hardest to avoid transitioning into the phoniness of adulthood. Holden feels that the majority of adults and most teens his own age are “phony.” From Holden’s point of view, anyone who is the slightest bit insincere or “fake” is a phony. An example would be a very seemingly genuine individual like Mr. Spencer as he is quite sympathetic adult. Holden thinks that Mr. Spencer is a phony for laughing at the headmaster’s lame jokes. Holden’s holds this great unspoken fear of entering the adulthood which explains his constant criticism towards others and his need for everyone to be sincere. When Holden labels people as phony, it is just his own way of describing people who are dishonest, selfish, insincere, “fake”, has ulterior motives (like Mr. Antolini) or is primarily concerned with improving their reputation and advancing their social status. “Mr. Antolini was very nice. He said I could come right over if I wanted to.” “I felt something on my head, some guy’s hand. Boy, it really scared hell out of me. What it was, it was Mr. Antolini’s hand. 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.”>