We all hope to be different. We hope that we won't be like everyone else and just walk by when we see someone in need, leaving them for the next person to deal with. But when the time comes, what do we really do? When you walk the streets of Chicago and you see the overwhelming number of people in need, do you immediately pass judgments? If your first thought is that they are not your problem and that they put themselves in that position, then you are like so many others. This is something I thought I was above; however, chapter 13 of The Catcher in the Rye tested this for me. If you don't know (spoiler alert), in chapter 13, Holden hires a prostitute. I am sad to say this immediately made me think poorly of Holden. Without hearing the rest of the story, I had passed judgment on him as if he were not as admirable as I once imagined. Of course, I learned that Holden didn't do anything and that all he was looking for was company - even if he was not even consciously aware of this. So now I feel like I am no better than I once thought. While some will say it is a perfectly normal reaction, I can't help but wonder if my reaction makes me like all the rest. Is judgment something that is imbedded in us as we grow up here in America? Can it not be helped? It makes me long for the childhood days. The days were there was no such thing as prejudice, because the only thing that matters is whether or not this new person will play with you or not. Why can't we all have this childhood innocence?
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