Integrity in the “Catcher in the Rye” In the “Catcher in the Rye” J. D. Salinger shows both side of the main character. He represents Holden as a guy who always lies to everybody and calls everybody a phony though he is one and as a guy who can be honest with himself and others. So does Holden have integrity or no? That is what reader can decide according to the one’s definition of it.
Integrity means following person’s moral convictions and doing the right thing in all circumstances, even if no one will realize it. And it is very important if a person is ready to do the right thing even if it can heart and nobody is going to see it. Having integrity means one is true to him/herself and would do nothing that demeans or dishonors him/her. …show more content…
He also admits that he often has feeling and beliefs he doesn’t really have. There a lot of examples where Holden showed no integrity in the book. The first and the best one would be how he does not have enough courage to tell his parent that he got kicked out of school and tries to come back home later and lie to them that everything is ok. He is ready to stay alone in the hotel with nobody who can support him drink and smoke cigarettes instead of going home and telling his parents the truth. Another good example of Holden having no integrity would be this quote from the book that shows he is also a hypocrite: “At the end of the first act we went out with all other jerks for a cigarette. What a deal that was. You never saw so many phonies in all your life, everybody smoking their ears off and talking about the paly so that everybody could hear how sharp they were. “-J.D. Salinger (Holden Caulfield) He admits that he is liar but keeps calling other people phonies though he is the biggest phony there. Probably there are some people who will say that Holden does have integrity, but the is not point in the middle. If one lies to a person or is a hypocrite it does not really matter what he or she does later, this person loses integrity at the moment when makes a decision to lie. Boo Radley from “To Kill a Mockingbird” would a good example of a character that has integrity. Granted, he is a mysterious figure in the beginning of the book, but he only shows kindness and he does so in secret. At the end of the book, he saves Jem and Scout. He does what he thinks is right to defend the children by killing Bob Ewell, even though he does not know the consequences. “Keep true, never be ashamed of doing right, decide on what you think is right and stick to it” (George
Integrity means following person’s moral convictions and doing the right thing in all circumstances, even if no one will realize it. And it is very important if a person is ready to do the right thing even if it can heart and nobody is going to see it. Having integrity means one is true to him/herself and would do nothing that demeans or dishonors him/her. …show more content…
He also admits that he often has feeling and beliefs he doesn’t really have. There a lot of examples where Holden showed no integrity in the book. The first and the best one would be how he does not have enough courage to tell his parent that he got kicked out of school and tries to come back home later and lie to them that everything is ok. He is ready to stay alone in the hotel with nobody who can support him drink and smoke cigarettes instead of going home and telling his parents the truth. Another good example of Holden having no integrity would be this quote from the book that shows he is also a hypocrite: “At the end of the first act we went out with all other jerks for a cigarette. What a deal that was. You never saw so many phonies in all your life, everybody smoking their ears off and talking about the paly so that everybody could hear how sharp they were. “-J.D. Salinger (Holden Caulfield) He admits that he is liar but keeps calling other people phonies though he is the biggest phony there. Probably there are some people who will say that Holden does have integrity, but the is not point in the middle. If one lies to a person or is a hypocrite it does not really matter what he or she does later, this person loses integrity at the moment when makes a decision to lie. Boo Radley from “To Kill a Mockingbird” would a good example of a character that has integrity. Granted, he is a mysterious figure in the beginning of the book, but he only shows kindness and he does so in secret. At the end of the book, he saves Jem and Scout. He does what he thinks is right to defend the children by killing Bob Ewell, even though he does not know the consequences. “Keep true, never be ashamed of doing right, decide on what you think is right and stick to it” (George