He's 'Just Like Me for Real'
Holden is always looking for something deeper than what he sees on the surface, which is why he comes to the conclusion that everyone is "phony", besides the people he cares about the most, who are his siblings, Allie, DB, and Phoebe, and his friend Jane Gallagher. He wants someone to have a meaningful conversation with or for them to genuinely care about him and listen to whatever he has to say, which is why he pours himself out to the reader and is so brutally honest. He truly has good intentions, but they often don't translate very well outside of his own thoughts. As I was reading, I noticed a lot of myself in Holden. He actually comes off as quite relatable. I could definitely relate to him in the way that he thinks about people being phonies. I sometimes feel the same way about people and it's really confusing to tell who is being truly themselves or whether they really want to be friends with me. The truth is, we don't really know people's intent