Chapters 8-11

Holden is “shooting the crap around” in Chapter 8 when he finds himself talking with a classmate’s mother. It’s as though he doesn’t want Mrs. Morrow to know her son, Ernest, is a terrible person who snaps towels at other guys trying to hurt them. Then he makes her son out to be a saint and exaggerates the truth so much it would be unbelievable to anyone but his mother. I’m not sure where Holden toys with the audience (readers) except maybe where he talks about calling Jane and posing as her uncle, telling whoever answers that Jane’s aunt is dead, and then changes his mind. Or when he’s talking about what a good golfer he is or that he was almost in a movie short. Holden seems to be exaggerating to the audience just like he was to Mrs. Morrow. I think he’s trying to impress the reader with his exploits, but the words he chooses to express/describe himself are often unflattering.