Holden Caulfield would be better off going to an American high school because he's completely depressed and hating life at private preparatory schools. Granted, Holden is depressed mostly because he never properly dealt with his brother's death, but if he were able to go home each night after school and be with his family, he may not have gone AWOL (absence without leave) like he did. He would probably still have the same foul mouth, smoke cigarettes and drink alcohol, but he might also be around girls more often who would encourage him to stop doing those self-destructive things.
Holden would still see bullying at an average high school, too, and he would more than likely find teachers and other adults to call "phony." Of all the words that Holden uses in the book, the word "phony" is definitely one of his favorites. However, in today's world Holden would probably use the word "fake" rather than "phony." Substitute "fake" for "phony" in the the following quotes and they would sound like a teenager from today.
"One of the biggest reasons I left Elkton Hills was because I was surrounded by phonies. That's all. They were coming in the goddam window" (13).
". . . then old Haas would just shake hands with them and give them a phony smile and then he'd go talk, for maybe a half an hour, with somebody else's parents" (14).
"He said he talked to Jesus all the time. Even when he was driving his car. That killed me. I can just see the big phony bastard shifting into first gear and asking Jesus to send him a few more stiffs" (17).
"The trouble with me is, I always have to read that stuff by myself. If an actor acts it out, I hardly listen. I keep worrying about whether he's going to do something phony every minute" (117).
(The first quote refers to his excuse for leaving Elkton Hills; the second one is about a former teacher; the third one is about a mortician; and, the fourth one is about reading classic books or plays versus seeing the movies about them.)
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