So Far, in this book, I see Holden as a young teenage boy who is having a difficult time in his life. He's been kicked out of schools, and he doesn't fit in very well. I think that he tries to act tougher than he is because he doesn't want everyone to know that he's having a difficult time and it's getting to him. I think maybe Salinger wrote this as a comparison of something similar that's happened in his life. Maybe in some way he's like Holden and he didn't fit in very well with the "popular" crew and didn't do so well in school. Maybe he tried to act tougher than he was just like Holden.