The Catcher in the Rye chapters 13-15
Holden resists giving Maurice five dollars yet he feels like he wants to give more money to the nuns. Why? Respond in a complete thought of at least one paragraph and provide textual references to support your comments.
Labels: $5: the price or the value?
posted by dr. dalili @ 12:41 PM
18 Comments:
I think that Holdon gives more money to the nuns than to Maurice, because he feels as if it the right thing to do. Just before Sonny arrives at his door, Holdon begins to contemplate what he has just and he rethinks his decision of losing his virginity to a hooker, because it goes against the few moral values that he expresses(he may have more.) And I also think he gives more to the nuns because he felt sorry for them in a way and he wasn't pressure into it like Maurice had done to him.
I personally think Holden gives more money to the uns that to Maurice because he knows that it is the right thing to do. Also, Maurice had originally told Holden that the cost for the prostitute was $5. Obviously he had lied and Holden probably didn't think that it was the right thing to do for Maurice to lie about it. So as a result, Holden was being greedy with his money and didn't give it to Maurice. The nuns were kind people and they seemed to be deserving of the money. Their use and values for the money was a lot different and better than Maurice's.
I think Holden gives money to the nuns because he knows that he's rich and that the nuns live a life of self denial with no luxuries. He might feel bad for them. Also, Holden says that one of the nuns remind him of Ernest Morrow's mother (page 112). He liked her mother and might've been happy to see another person similar to her. He probably didn't give money to Maurice because he doesn't like to be cheated. He didn't even have a throw, but Maurice is still charging him 5 dollars more. He felt that the money was rightfully his.
First of all, I think it was right of Holden to resist giving Maurice the money because: 1. that's not the original amount that was offered and 2. obviously, Maurice would probably just go use the money on drugs and alcohol. I think it was right for Holden to give the nuns the money because he knew, we knew, and everyone knew that giving money to charities always is just the right thing to do. That way, you know the money you give is well appreciated. For example Holden said, "The both of them kept thanking me so much" (110). From this you know the nuns really appreciated the donation.
I think Holden refuses to give the money to Maurice and Sunny because their cause is more of a greedy cause unlike the nuns who are around to help the greater good. I agree with what Phillip said. The nuns do live a life with no luxuries and are actually beneficial to the community. Maurice lied to Holden and therefore, I agree with Holden and think he did the right thing by resisting as long as possible in giving the $5 to Maurice. However, I don’t think Holden should have said yes to the prostitute in the first place. And although Maurice said “nobody’s tryna chisel nobody” (102) obviously was trying to cheat Holden because he was young and alone with money (and somewhat involved I guess). And like Daria said the nun’s had a better idea on how to use the money. And the money made a greater impact and had a greater impact to the nun’s than to Maurice.
Holden does not want to give money to Maurice because he is trying to face his fears and change his life. When Holden is thinking to himself on pages 89-90 about being a coward, he talks about not being able to punch someone in the face because of the look that would be on the other guy’s face. Holden wants to stand up and fight this time, and not give in and give Maurice an extra five dollars. Holden does not want to stay being a coward because he says himself that when he would lose something, he would not go to look for it, and “it used to drive [his] mother crazy” (89). His mother already had enough to worry about with Holden getting kicked out of school, and Holden felt that losing five dollars was just another burden for her mother.
The reason that Holden gives ten dollars to the nuns is that he feels bad that he has so much and they have so little. He sees what they are eating, how they are dressed, and what kind of suitcases they have, and feels that he needs to somehow give them something. Just like when he had better suitcases than his roommate, Dick Slagle, and he hid his suitcases to make his roommate feel better, he wants to contribute something to the nuns. If there were no basket, Holden probably would not have donated any money, but as soon as there was an opportunity to give, he took it. He mentions after he donates the money that he cannot stand when he is eating bacon and eggs and someone else is eating toast and coffee. Later, Holden wishes that he had given more to the nuns and how money makes you blue as hell. Holden probably wants to contribute because he does not like having a lot of money, especially when someone else does not.
I think that Holden feels like the nuns need money for a good cause, where as Maurice just wanted the money for himself. also Holden actually likes the nuns as he said on page 146 that he enjoyed talking to them. Because he enjoyed talking to them this means that he did not think they were phony or annoying. So giving them the money was out of the goodness of his heart. He fought back with Maurice because he felt like he had been chiseled, and he obviously did not like that. Being chiseled probably made him feel dumb, stupid, and yellow for not fighting back. And as he previously expressed he doesn't like being yellow. Also he thought that the girl was kind of mean and annoying. So he did not want to give her the money in the first place anyway. So maybe if the girl had been nicer and more understanding he would have given them the money or at least tried to compromise.
I think Holden gave the nuns 10 bucks to retalliate himself from last nite. He got into a big mess and I think he would feel better if he gave 10 dollors to a good cause. It was a good deed he did to make up for the mistake he made the night before. The nuns questioned him about cost and wondered if he had enough money and he stated " Yes I have plenty." p.99. And if he had plenty why was he so resistant to give some to Maurce? I think it was because of feeling guilty and in the begining Maurce was saying it was only $5. I think Holden was resistant because he wanted to be less yellow and stand up for himself.
I think that Holden resists giving Maurice the extra five dollars because he's very stubborn on the principal. Maurice is Hustling Holden and its very clear he doesn't try to hide it from Holden Maurice simply tells him he doesn't have a choice. I think that angered Holden that he was looked at as a person that could be taken advantage of that easy. I think Holden might have felt offended at the fact that Maurice knew he could walk all over holden and there was nothing Holden could do. Holden puts up such a fuss simply because he doesn't want to go down that easily he wants Maurice to be afraid of Holden, although it doesn't work out. Holden just wants Honor
When Holden has to give an extra $5 to Maurice he feels like he shouldn't have ever ordered the prostitude in the first place. When he sees the nuns while eating breakfast he feels like he needs to give $10 to make it seem like nothing ever happened with the prostitude. I think he was sorry that he did what he was going to do so he felt like he had to put the money to better use. I'm not sure if Holden ever wanted Sunny in the first place. I think he was confused with what was going on and just did it for no reason. Once Holden realized that he didn't want the prostitude it was too late to turn back so he feels the eat thing he could do was give money to the poor.
Holden resists giving Maurice five dollars yet he feels like he wants to give more money to the nuns. Why? Respond in a complete thought of at least one paragraph and provide textual references to support your comments.
On page 91. Maurice says," 5 dollars a throw, 15 dollars till midnight". So when they try to get Holden to pay 10 dollars he refuses to. This is because they were forcing him to pay them for a greedy reason. Newt says," You are just trying to chisel me". Also he says," you aren't crooks, you are just stealing 5 bucks from me". This shows Holden felt that they didn't deserve the money and they shouldn't get it because they were crooks and were being greedy. Also Holden probably doesn't want to be taken advantage of or doesn't want to be a coward. He offers to give the nuns 10 dollars because they didn't ask for it and it was towards a good cause.t could make him feel good giving money to charity. He was not pressured to give them the money and he was more in comtrol of this situation. With the nuns, they didn't force him to do anything.
I think that Holden gave more money to the nuns because they talked to him and they didn't ask him for anything. Throughout the book, Holden has been searching for a friend to talk to. He just wants to have a friend he can turn to and who cares for him. Maurice didn't want the money for any reason. He just attacked Holden and stole money that Holden neither owed nor gave willingly.
I think that Holden gives more money to the nuns because he feels that he is doing something good and helpful to others. It makes him feel good to give money to a good cause, but its strange because since he was so happy that he gave them money and wanted to give more its kinda like he is getting a rush from helping others. Remember Holden is a very strange kid and would think like that.
I think Holden gave more money to the nuns rather than Maurice because he feels that the nuns would use the money for better use than Maurice. Maurice would just use the money for himself and he really cheated Holden out of his money. Holden was trying to stand up for himself and show that he wasn't going to back down and just let someone take his money. The nuns worked as school teachers and they maybe were having a fundraiser for the students or just for them but they would use the money in a better way. Holden didn't even touch Maurice girl so he shouldn't have to give him an extra 5 dollars for no reason. Holden did the correct thing in my eyes and didn't give Maurice the money but gave the nuns a 10 dollar bill in their basket. Even though Maurice took it, Holden stood up for himself and made a good choice.
I think that Holden feels as though he has to give money to the nuns because he feels like its the right think to do Knowing all the wrong things he has done because he is lazy. He wants to feel innocent and giving back will make the things he did not as bad.(he thinks)Maurice was different because he was trying to take his money for bad reason. Holden didnt want to let that happen because the man told him only $5 and by paying him he would be gicving in and not being couragous and standing up.
Holden did not want to give Maurice an extra five dollars because Maurice's use for the money was selfish and only benefited himself. However, the nuns were trying to raise money to help those who were in worse conditions and actually needed it. If one looks at both situations side by side, one realizes that Maurice's value over the money was for material goods to feed his wants, while the people the nuns were helping needed money as a necessity to survive.
I think that the reason Holden gives more money to the nuns than to Maurice is because the nuns are going to do something good with the money while Maurice clearly would not. Another reason I think this is because Maurice lied to Holden about the original price of the prostitute so I think that Holden wanted to stand his ground and prove that he was right.
Holden gives more money to the nuns because he feels he needs to do something good to cancel out the bad. He didn't want to give Maurice the money because it wasn't right to do. Because he willingly gave the nuns money, he was cancelling out the money he gave to a bad cause. The nuns were for a good cause and Holden respected that. That is why he gave the nuns 10$ willingly
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