Hello.
The group has read the first chapters of the book, and it is time for some discussion topics.
First of all, the main character is a boy named Holden Caulfield. The book is written in first person, and we meet Holden while he is going to an college preparation school called Pencey Prep, a little outside New York.
" I'm the most terrific liar you ever saw in your life. It's awful. "
- Holden Caulfield
Holden claims to lie even when people ask him where his going, just for the sake of lying.
Why do you think he is?
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I think there maybe different reasons why Holden lies. The more deeper and serious lies come from a different source than the more lighter easier ones, such as when Holden lies about where he's going, just for the sake of lying.
I think the white, more easier lies are the interesting ones. The serious lies of course are made up just to get out of something, for example lying about something someone says he is guilty in doing.
The "no-reason" lies, the lies that Holden come up with just because he can, I think describes his persona more. My thoughts about why he lies:
- He may not know who he is, so he lies to not confront with it.
- He knows who he is, but deep inside he wants to be someone else.
- He is bored generally in life, and telling lies may be his defence mechanism.
I think he, perhaps viewing himself as somewhat of a failure, has very low self esteem. Perhaps his habit of lying about even the most trivial things is a primitive way of covering up his insecurity.
The book portrays Holden as a young, misplaced boy, who doesn't seem to have the energy, or will, to do anything, particulary school-related things.
Another way to explain his constant lying is that he has a certain disregard, if not outright hate, towards society as a whole.
And, as Håvar Dadde has written before me, he also seems to lie because he, in reality, doesn't know who he is.
-Raptor Jesus
You have to look at the facts in this special situation. Holden is clearly a sysiopat with hardly no feelings and alote of anger managment problems. And the chapters i have been reading my way through, all I see is that he thinks everybody else is a sonofabitch. And so on he hates that and he hates that. If i would spend all my time saying sonofabitch, thinking I hate you and horsing around at the same time, then you have to not be good in the head.
He lies because he feels that thats his only way to be accepted by the society, is if he looks cool with his hat and lies about crap. To flank in all at school is also a typical sign of a sysopatico pelreaso (in latin: scyskcesckopo dreplersassco). This is something i hope i will not read about later.
My point of view is that Holden finds it "entertaining" to lie. To "Shoot the bull" he calls it. He often psychoanalyze his own lies, in a way that is really wierd i think.
The author uses a tool that was pretty rare when the book was written; Profanity. When he lies, he often makes up these absurd "avatars", which the protagonist lives to the full. One of the reasons i think he is doing this, is because he does not know himself.
One other reason, to the lying, is that he explains that he tries to "block out" all the hypocrisy in the world.
Other times he "shoots the bull", he lies to please the person(s) he's talking to.
I think it's strange that he is aware of the fact that he consistently lies, and that he admits himself that it is an awful habit, yet he still keeps lying to everyone. I guess he just got used to it over time, and it is now to the point where he no longer chooses to lie, it comes naturally - almost like a nervous habit that he can't controll. Maybe he's even compulsive about it, he feels driven to lie as a result of exposure over a long period of time, perhaps as an element from his childhood?
I know Holden also has other nervous habits, such as using particular words to keep himself entertained, and he turns the water on and off when he's talking to Stradlater (his roommate) in one of the first sections of the book. I think he even openly admits that he has compulsive thoughts in the begining of the book, though I'm not completely sure so I guess I'll have to go back and read it a second time through.
I think it's pretty interesting when people have certain problems that they themselves know about, yet they are not able to controll it. It's hard to imagine how it would feel to have compulsive thoughts like that, even though we all have some, just in a smaller scale.
People are different. Some people like to play soccer, some people like to read and some people like to lie. It is no doubt that Holden is lying because he wants to, not because he feels that he must. I don't know exactly why this is the case, it can be many reasons. Maybe his life is so miserable that he thinks he must lie to everyone just to cover up all his sadness. Maybe he’s so depressed that he doesn’t manage to face what a terrible life he has, and he therefore lies to himself and everybody else about it. Or maybe the lying just has become a part of his lifestyle.
Personally I get the impression that he’s lying just because he finds it interesting. It’s no doubt that Holden is kind of a strange person, and I sort of get the impression that he looks at lying like a hobby. He just keeps lying to everyone about anything, and it doesn’t seem like he’s trying to stop either.
At this point of time it’s not easy to understand why he’s lying like he does, and maybe will I never understand why he’s lying. But hopefully will this question be answered during the time I’m reading the book.
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