In the story, Holden is portrayed as a hypercritical, jaded adolescent, who is extremely naive and judgmental. Holden is also a hypocrite and views most adults and peers as "phony." After flunking out of Pencey Prep, Holden wanders throughout New York City and eventually goes on a date with Sally Hayes. Holden seems to dislike Sally Hayes because she is a shallow, superficial girl, who is concerned about her reputation and appearance. Sally also enjoys watching movies and attending plays, which Holden claims to despise. She is also outgoing and friendly, which are attributes that Holden finds annoying and insincere. Essentially, Holden views Sally Hayes as a "phony," who is materialistic and irritating.

Despite Sally Hayes's off-putting personality and insincere nature, Holden continues to date her because he is a lonely hypocrite. Although Holden judges others for being superficial and shallow, he too possesses these unflattering attributes and simply dates Sally because she is attractive. Holden is only attracted to Sally's physical appearance and seems to date her because she is one of the few people who is actually willing to entertain him. Throughout the story, Holden continually interacts with people whom he claims to despise or finds annoying rather than reaching out to genuine people like Jane Gallagher. Instead, Holden finds himself being rejected by others or complaining about the phoniness of people like Sally Hayes. Holden even refers to Sally as a "pain in the ass" and ends their date on a bad note.