Mayson Broccoli-Romanowska
Social Contract Theory
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Firstly, Holden’s acceptance of various social contracts makes this story a good portrayal of the philosophy. When adapting the social contract theory to The Cather in the Rye, Holden easily breaks rules and gets upset when other break them, but doesn’t really follow them himself. One small example of his adherence is when he speaks to Earnest Morrow’s mother on the train. When speaking, he lies and tells her how great of a student Ernest is. Holden is lying about him, but he’s doing it for a goo cause. Mrs. Morrow obviously liked hearing such good things about her beloved son, ad Holden was amusing himself. One passage is, “Old Ernie…. He's one of the most popular boys at Pencey.” (p.31) To wrap up, Holden follows a handful of rules and doesn’t even execute them properly most of the time, which gives credit to the social contract theory.
Secondly, the social contract theory is demonstrated by Holden’s aggravation…show more content… Somebody'd written "F-- you" on the wall. It drove me damn near crazy. I thought how Phoebe and all the other little kids would see it, and how they'd wonder what the hell it meant, and then finally some dirty kid would tell them--all cockeyed, naturally--what it meant, and how they'd all think about it and maybe even worry about it for a couple of days. I kept wanting to kill whoever'd written it. (p. 201)
Another case is at the café with the nuns. The two nuns weren’t collecting money at the time, but Holden felt obligated to donate. He must have thought it would help some young kids. “They let me give them ten bucks as a contribution. They kept asking me if I was sure I could afford it and all. I told them I had quite a bit of money with me, but they didn't seem to believe me. They took it, though, finally.” (p. 59) All in all, Holden irritation with others breaking social contracts makes this story an example of the social contract
