Holden takes issue with the shallowness of society. In what ways does Lillian Simmons represent the shallowness of society? Who else represents shallowness to holden?

1. In what way does Lillian Simmons represent the shallowness of society? Lillian demonstrates how people will be nice to get what they want.

2. Who else represents shallowness to holden? Holden’s experiences, particularly his encounters with Mr. Antolini and Phoebe, reveal the shallowness of his conceptions. It is his catch-all for describing the superficiality, hypocrisy, pretension, and shallowness that he encounters in the world around him. In Chapter 22, just before he reveals his fantasy of the catcher in the rye, Holden explains that adults are inevitably phonies, and, what’s worse, they can’t see their own phoniness.