The Catcher in the Rye is the story of Holden Caulfield and his attempt to weed out the "phonies" and find someone who sees the world like he does. Holden rejects the prep school life style. According to him everyone has become an indoctrinated follower an walks blindly. I think Salinger main argument in the book is that it is not necessary to do what the system wants from you. Salinger uses Holden to say that school and the rest of life is filled with a lot of unnecessary events and things and people over complicate life. Holden wants to regain the innocence of childhood because it isn't full of unnecessary facts items.
The way Holden views prep school and his colleagues is a perfect example of student perception of school. His anger with nearly everyone who is associated with Pencey shows his overall feeling that school is phonies." Holden's perception of what school does and what everyone around Holden are completely different. According to Holden school serves as the proverbial gateway that obstructs the innocence of childhood and turns it into a do nothing society.
The Catcher In The Rye demonstrates that the institution of school can be misleading, it can sell you one thing but give you another. It is not just teenage angst because Holden associates himself with his former teacher who even tries to tell him the positives of school. To Holden the institution of school is a lie, and all the people who come out of it whether it be his brother or his roommate are also lies.
The constant phonies that Holden identify are those who he sees as frivolous and shallow, they are those who have been sold the lie and believed it so much that they try to sell it to others. The phonies are a way for Holden to classify what is wrong with school and with society. All of the narration and identifying of what is wrong and what is good help distinguish what Holden thinks about school.
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