What parts of the novel shows Holden in denial and what quotes help show him in denial?

As a highly critical, sensitive, jaded teenager, Holden is in denial about various aspects of his life, which reflects his low self-esteem and lack of self-awareness. Holden is in denial about his inexperience with women and his inability to understand them. He struggles to develop meaningful relationships with women and is inexperienced when it comes to sex. Holden's refusal to admit that he is not a ladies' man is depicted when he says,

"Women kill me. They really do. I don’t mean I’m oversexed or anything like that—although I am quite sexy. I just like them, I mean" (Salinger, 31).

Holden is also in denial about the fact that he is an extremely lonely person, who is in desperate need of a genuine friend to talk to. While Holden subconsciously acknowledges his loneliness, he refuses to act on his impulse to reach out to a genuine friend. Holden once again illustrates that he is in denial by saying,

"Then I thought of giving Jane Gallagher’s mother a buzz, and find out when Jane’s vacation started, but I didn’t feel like it" (Salinger, 35).

Holden is also in denial about entering the world of "phony" adults. Holden is not enthused about becoming an adult and living a fast-paced, competitive life. Holden's angst about entering the world of adults is expressed through several of his thoughts. Holden's fear of becoming an adult is metaphorically represented by his comment regarding the ducks in the Central Park lagoon. Holden says,

"I live in New York, and I was thinking about the lagoon in Central Park, down near Central Park South. I was wondering if it would be frozen over when I got home, and if it was, where did the ducks go. I was wondering where the ducks went when the lagoon got all icy and frozen over. I wondered if some guy came in a truck and took them away to a zoo or something. Or if they just flew away" (Salinger, 8).

Holden refuses to explicitly state that he fears entering the world of adults and once again reveals his denial by commenting on his affinity for the Museum of Natural History, which symbolically represents his attraction to his childhood. Holden says,

"The best thing, though, in that museum was that everything always stayed right where it was" (Salinger, 72).