Catcher In The Rye Bildungsroman

A bildungsroman is a novel that details one person’s moral or psychological growth. One such book is The Catcher in the Rye but J.D. Salinger. It follows Holden Caulfield, a 16 year old as he tries to decipher what is right from what is wrong with the help of the people he meets throughout the story. One idea that Salinger presents, specifically when Holden makes distinct observations about people’s suitcases, is that, while many people do try to change their conventional moral viewpoints, it is very hard to reach the postconventional moral developmental stage.
Firstly, refer to Kohlberg’s theory of moral development as seen on the Encyclopedia of Children’s Health. According to this, conventional moral development is when children, teens, or adults make decisions based off of what their social group

Holden has very expensive suitcases while Slagle has “these very inexpensive suitcases” (Salinger 108). In The Catcher in the Rye, suitcases symbolize different financial, social statuses. This particular example shows Holden trying to move into a postconventional morality because he does make an attempt to get past the previous social constructs that he had due to his family’s amount of wealth. He and Slagle stayed as roommates for two months before neither could take it and both asked to be moved. The reason this is an example of postconventional morality is because Holden said “You think if they’re intelligent and all...and have a good sense of humor, that they don’t give a damn whose suitcases are better, but they do” (Salinger 109). At this point, he does mean the other person but he is also referring to himself. He is admitting that even if he tries to understand that it doesn’t matter whose “suitcases” are better, it’s still hard for him to truly understand because of the social rules of conduct he’s learned because of his family’s financial and social