Compare And Contrast Essay, Research Paper

Holden attackes various weaknesses in our society. Many incidents in the novel portrayed Holden as a person with full of hate in society. He critiques everything that had happened to him, many of the situations that he has experienced come across in today’s society. His point of view on phonies; loosing a loved one; not remembering the true meaning of Christmas, are all the weaknesses in society.

As we read further, we start to understand Holden’s reason for hating phoneys. The many people that Holden mentioned were phonies, one being Ackley. In chapter 3, Ackley told Holden, differently every time that he was suppose to have sex one summer. This is an example of the many people in society, lying and bragging about all kinds of things. More phonies were mentioned in this novel than pure and sincere people. Ones classified by Holden as pure and sincere are Jane, Phoebe, Mrs. Morrow and the nuns. Holden thinks that there are more phonies in society than people who are pure. This opinion is true to some and not to others and will remain controversial.

Many people have lost a loved one, the way Holden is reacted is understandable. Loosing a loved one is the hardest to face for many families and friends. Leaving sadness and regret. Families, like Holden’s go through great changes, in which they must adapt to. It is hard to understand the meaning of life and death, this to Holden is impossible to accept. Keeping Allie’s baseball glove, mades him feel that Allie was still there with him, like many families who keep the belongings of their loved ones. The death of Allie resulted in Holden’s change, so to many others. People may feel bad for a long time but they have to except the fact and try to move on.

Christmas is the favourite time of year. However, Christmas to Holden it’s nothing but depression because he knows what others think, people have forgot the real meaning of Christmas. Holden’s point of view is agreeable, people worry more about what to give to others and what to receive from others, that they tend to forget the real meaning of Christmas.

Even though Holden critiques everything in life, however, he is still partially right about society. He revealed all the weaknesses in society. As a 16-year-old boy, he seems to understand the society better than most people. Society has many undesired things for everyone. Holden hates phoneys, hated that his brother had to die and sad about how people forgot the true meaning of Christmas. Society is filled with anger, sadness and happiness, all equally divided.

Moral Beliefs are lessons about the right or wrong behaviour that is shown in a fable or event. Everyone has moral beliefs; it is hard to name them all or to even name any at all. However, situations in society help reveal and confront ones’ moral beliefs. Like Holden Caufield, in The Catcher in the Rye, conflicts and situations in society, forced him to confront his moral beliefs. The fight with Stratlater and Maurice, the confrontation of Mr. Antonlini and the many visits to the museum all were associated with Holden’s moral beliefs.

Holden is a critic in society; he believes that the major weakness in society is the phoniness. He thinks everyone he knows or meets are phonies with the exception of Jane, Allie and Phoebe. When Holden heard that his phoney roommate, Stratlater was dating Jane, he thought of her all the time. She was one or the few people Holden thought was pure and innocent. Stratlater disliked the composition Holden wrote for him about his dead brother, Allie. Holden loved his brother he believed that he was pure, innocent and lucky that he would always be carefree and in his childhood state. Holden became furious when Stratlater disrespected what he thought were valuable and innocent. When the boys fought, Holden was fighting for his morals.

Holden fears change in maturity. He believed that being an adult is hard, however he tries to be an adult by going to the lavender room and wanting to loose his virginity. However, he doesn’t succeed and doesn’t fit in. When Holden and Maurice fought, Holden just broke down and cried. He couldn’t handle the situation. That meant he wasn’t ready for adulthood after all. After the fight, Holden felt lonely and depressed, he started talking to Allie believing that he was near. At that point he wanted to escape adulthood by committing suicide. He thought that once one dies, they would never have to grow up, they’ll be carefree and maintain in their own state.

Mr. Antonlini confronted Holden’s belief in death when he said that, “The mark of the immature man is that he wants to die nobly for a cause, while the mark of the mature man is he wants to live humbly for one.” It wasn’t proven that Mr. Antonlini was a homosexual. However, Mr. Antonlini also revealed that Holden don’t accept homosexuals. The stroking of Holden head awakened him, Holden immediately jumped to conclusions before even thinking of reasons. That showed that Holden is biased.

The museum showed Holden’s morals of growing up. The museum was the only place that he actually like and enjoyed going. He found that museum was a place where there is no change and brings back childhood memories. He liked the fact that it doesn’t change, “They were always showing Columbus, nobody gave a damn about old Columbus, but you always has a lot of candy and stuff with you .”p.120 “Then, just before you went inside the auditorium, right new the doors, you passed this Eskimo. The best thing, though is in that museum was that everyone always stayed right where it was. Nobody ‘d move. You could go there a hundred thousand times, and that Eskimo would still be just finishing catching those two fish. Nobody’d be different. The only thing that would be different is you.”p.120-121. This was when he realizes that life moves forward. When Holden showed the two boys where the Egyptian section was, the two boys were afraid and ran back but Holden continued to walk forward. This was a sign that Holden was ready to move on and enter adulthood and so does everyone else. This was a change in Holden’s morals of growing up.

The fight with Stratlater and Maurice, the confrontation of Mr. Antonlini and the many visits to the museum all were associated with Holden’s moral beliefs. Holden’s moral beliefs were not stated directly in this novel. However, only the reader is able to pick out some of Holden’s moral beliefs. If Phoebe asked Holden what his moral beliefs were instead of what he liked, Holden would have a harder time answering that question.

330