Holden Caulfield's Morality
In J.D. Salinger’s novel The Catcher in the Rye Holden Caulfield ventures into the grown up world dabbling in various aspects of maturity. Holden solicits a prostitute, drinks and goes to clubs, smokes, and uses adult language. No one can doubt that some of Holden’s activities are illegal, but his morals can be questioned. When the law enforcement decides to make an act illegal, it is to either protect someone from your wrongdoing, or to prevent someone from hurting him or herself. Holden’s drinking and smoking, and soliciting a prostitute, constitute illegality, but it can be argued that despite the laws, Holden hurts neither anybody else nor himself. J.D. Salinger gives Holden these adult qualities because Holden grows up quickly, and because Holden never hurts anyone, these acts are not immoral. To define someone as moral or immoral you first have to put it in a context. Is it morality in legal terms, religious, social, or a matter of integrity? If Holden wants to participate in an illegal act, such as drinking alcohol, then let him. Holden’s smoking cigarettes and drinking alcohol does harm his body, and the law says that until he is 18 and 21 he does not have the maturity to decide if he should be in charge of w
When Holden drinks alcohol, he knows he is doing an illegal act. He does not drink champagne on New Years, or other times where drinking is more accepted, Holden walks in to bars and drinks beer and liquor. Holden comments that he looks older than 16, due to his hair turning a little gray, and being taller than many boys. J.D. Salinger wrote that not as a simple description of Holden, but as a clue to the way Holden thinks of himself. He does not describe himself to justify why he gets into bars; he says that so we know that he can, and will, take advantage of his appearance. Many times kids justify shop lifting or lying by saying that it is necessary and that no one really gets hurt. In Holden’s case he knows that it is a crime, and tells the reader in a straightforward manner that he can get away with something, so why not? It becomes almost impossible to judge Holden’s morality, since what the law dictates is not what everyone considers right or wrong. Religiously, Holden would be seen as immoral, because he commits crimes, and committing crimes is sinful. Socially, Holden’s morality becomes subjective, since people have different opinions. However, no one could dispute Holden’s integrity. Holden never stole from anyone, killed an animal, defaced or vandalized property, or any other act that has a lasting negative affect on an innocent person. Holden Caulfield is guilty of being a teenager who wants to live life how he wants, and thinking he should be entitled to do as he pleases. If one can’t see beyond the law, then Holden would be found immoral. But if you can look at something subjectively, and see that Holden was a good to everyone around him, then y
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Approximate Word count = 1134
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)
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