I’ve always been told to not believe everything I read. Yet, when I fall into a good book, I naturally come to trust the words of the point of view. I’ve come to find that this trust has to be broken when reading “Catcher in the Rye.”

The first line of Chapter Three has Holden stating that he’s “the most terrific liar you ever saw in your life.” I took this line at face value as I continued to read. That is until about midway through the next chapter. I realized that Holden really is a great liar, and throughout the book he is lying to the reader.

At first, this is subtle, just influences of his strong bias as he talks about his roommates and how “horrible” it is to be around them. This deceit runs deeper when Holden and his roommate end up in a fistfight. Soon, I began to realize how true this book is to a real life conversation. As you read, you have to pick out the lies and biases Holden continuously throws out.

During class, I was pretty eager to talk about this new aspect of the book. Unsurprisingly, when I walked into my English room, I found we were writing a timed write. Unlike many of my peers, timed writes aren’t exactly the bane of my existence.

In this prompt, we were asked to analyze how the author characterizes Holden through rhetorical devices. Having to write an essay about this made me realize how strong of a writer Salinger truly is. His use of colloquialism is fantastic and the main reason the book is so personable.

Overall, lies and deciet are quickly becoming the best part of the entire book. Some may hate Salinger for trying to decieve them, but I take it as a challenge. I’m ready and willing to contour whatever this book can throw at me.