Holden's innocence

"In the first place, I hate actors.They never act like people.They just think they do.Some of the good ones do,in a very slight way,but not in a way that's fun to watch.And if any actor's really good, you can always tell he knows he's good,and that spoils it. "

Holden Caulfield, page 117.

This quotation reflects on Holden's thoughts about people and in general about phoniness as well. In this book he can't stop thinking and analyzing the world around him. He hates people that are not true to themselves. One category of those kind of people are actors. With no doubts, Holden will have to dislike actors. They never act real, they are fake and they just think they act like people. Holden is basically saying that actors want not to be obvious that they are just acting for shows. There are some good actors that act natural but anyway it is not fun to watch them. And, also, good actors always know that they are really good, and this thing simulates the situation.

I think that this quotation symbolize his perspective in life. I think that he is actually watching shows to see how people are acting even there. Everyone around him is fake. I think that Holden wants to find his ideal person that he would like and enjoy to be around. This is sort of impossible in his life because nobody is perfect. People are very different and everybody has their own issues. Holden is looking for his identity. He is a teenager that has some issues with finding it though. He is saving everything he learns from shows, in order to criticize more and more people. He does care about everybody. He seems to be concerned about how people are acting, but he is not looking at himself.

This quotation tells everything about Holden if you look at it in depth. This teen is really a non-conformist. He criticizes actors, even though he doesn't know anything about them. How can you hate people that are intelligent and hard-working enough to act like different characters in different shows? Does Holden even know how hard and challenging it is?? Did he even try?? I am a little bit disgusted with his way of thinking. This quotation made me realize how innocent he is. This is why i chose this quotation and I also think it is important.