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figure that they school has in order to get admission from their environment as the students from Pencey School.
“She asked me where I went to school now, and I told her Pencey, and she said Pencey was a very good school. Even if Id wanted to, I
wouldnt have had the strength to straighten her out. Besides, if she thought Pencey was a very good school, let her think it” p.108.
This condition relates with Holden Caulfield situation. Holden is strongly influenced by his environments. He is influenced by the family, school, and elitist
standard of living. It is not surprising that Holden experiences pressures because each of those environment. Holden rejects his school because he feels upset upon his
school. He cannot live under the elitist standard that creates stratification made by hypocrite people in his school. He chooses to run away from it by quit from his
school. This situation creates a dilemma within Holden’s conscious because his parents are eager to see him become a successful person by attending such
prestigious school. This situation dissatisfies Holden because his parents push him to live in social class, in his family social class. Holden’s dilemma is reasonable since
these two closest environments press him. He can no longer attend the school because he hates it. Keeping being under the educational institution makes Holden
depressed. In the other hand, Holden cannot go back to his home and meet his parents since his trust has been broken by his parents who want him to be a member
of hypocrite society.
4.3 The Failure of School
From Holden’s experience the nature of school as one of social product is evident. School portrayed in this novel implements economical aspect as their way of
classifying each student in the school. Pencey, the school that Holden attends is one
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of the most prominent schools. People who able to attend this school are only kids who come from adequate family since their parents are able to afford their tuition in
that school. Holden describes this school as institution rather than place to get education because everything that have been done and reflected by this school is
contrast with the concept of general education. Rather than making an intellectual people, this school has turned to place that change the students to be lack in moral
values and tend to observe others from their deficiency.
“Oh, God, Phoebe, don’t ask me. I’m sick of everybody asking me that”. I said. “A million reason why. It was one of the worst schools I
ever went to. It was full of phonies. And mean guys. You never saw so many mean guys in your life. For instance, if you we’re having a
bull session in somebody’s room, and somebody wanted to come in, nobody’d let them in if they were some dopey, pimply guy.
Everybody was always locking their door when somebody wanted to come in. And they had this goddamn secret fraternity that I was too
yellow not to join. There was this one pimply, boring guy, Robert Ackley, that wanted to get in. He kept trying to join, and they
wouldn’t let him. Just because he was boring and pimply. I don’t even feel like talking about it. It was stinking school. Take my word.”
p.90
From the quotation above, it can be seen whether the character of student in the Pencey School tend to discriminate other. Several students are gathering in their
room and they do not allow other student who does not fulfill their standard to come to join them. In addition, they will try to isolate the person by clearly refusing him
since he is not appropriate with their standard. The attitude implemented by most of students in this school will further develop into classifying tendency. This tendency
will create a gap among the students and create situation that put the minority as the victim of bullying. Holden doesn’t like this attitude and dissatisfies toward the school
because it never tried to adjust the wrong concept attitude of the student.
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Teenage who had reached puberty often having reasonable conflict within their self. They are unable to control their hormone and they are struggling to find
their identity. The role of school in helping these youth to find their identity is being questioned by Holden Caulfield. It is obvious that youth is the most unstable phase in
human living. The people who are living in this phase usually find complexities in regard with personal identity. School as educational institution from Holden’s
perspective should be able to help students to overcome the crisis of lack identity for young people during their youth. However, the fact that Holden sees in his real life is
definitely contrast with his thought. School is not able to help the students to find their identity as people who respect equality, in contrast, the students are devastated
by classification attitude that they learn from the school, and once again, the school does not try to adjust it. Holden is questioning the stratification in this school since it
brings harm for students. Students like Holden feel physically at risk because the stratification triggers the students’ tendency to oppress others in order to show their
greatness.
Holden tendency in questioning his friends’ attitude in treating each other can be related with his dissatisfaction toward the role of school as an educational
institution. Holden Caulfield does not agree with his school colleagues who try to show their arrogance in every aspect of their educational living. Holden refuses the
attitude of bullying and the attitude of classifying other that his colleagues do. He doesn’t agree with the abrupt attitude of most of the students in his school. From
those facts, Holden questions the role of school in shaping the moral attitude of human living.
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“ There was this one boy named James Castle, that wouldnt take back something he said about this very conceited boy, Phil Stabile. James
Castle called him a very conceited guy, and one of Stabiles lousy friends went and squealed on him to Stabile. So Stabile, with about
six other dirty bastards, went down to James Castles room and went in and locked the goddam door and tried to make him take back what
he said, but he wouldnt do it. So they started in on him. I wont even tell you what they did to him--its too repulsive--but he still wouldnt
take it back, old James Castle. And you shouldve seen him. He was a skinny little weak-looking guy, with wrists about as big as pencils.
Finally, what he did, instead of taking back what he said, he jumped out the window. I was in the shower and all, and even I could hear
him land outside. But I just thought something fell out the window, a radio or a desk or something, not a boy or anything. Then I heard
everybody running through the corridor and down the stairs, so I put on my bathrobe and I ran downstairs too, and there was old James
Castle laying right on the stone steps and all. He was dead, and his teeth, and blood, were all over the place and nobody would even get
near him”. He had on this turtleneck sweater Id lent him. All they did with the guys that were in the room with him was expel them. They
didnt even go to jail. p.91
The school has failed to create justice even for its student. School treats students differently and tend to side on the students who have power and influence.
This situation has created a danger situation for students who do not have power to confront. They become the object of oppression since they cannot defend their self
from the bad treatment. From this fact, it is clear that school plays important role in creating the habit of bullying among students. School and its element do not try to
sentence students who do violation toward other students. This situation will become the reason for stratification that causes violation never finds the ending. Since justice
is never been realized, bullying will always become the tradition among students to
oppress the other and to show their greatness.
School through its teacher is failing to be a good role model upon the students. Teachers in Pencey School never try to influence students moral
development. They never show the action of being good role models toward their
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students. They also never try to show appreciations to bring to their relationships with students day to day. Teacher’s appreciation in education process is very crucial
since teachers’ ability to appreciate students perspectives are important to show students their ability to admit and learn from moral error, their moral energy and
idealism, their generosity, and to help students develop moral thinking without shying away from their own moral authority. That level of influence makes being a
teacher in a school a profound moral challenge. And it means that it will never greatly improve students moral development in schools without taking on the
complex task of developing teacher moral and ethical capacities. It is important to think the nature of moral development itself. The failure of teacher as the element of
school in showing their moral values creates sensitivity from Holden’s view. Holden’s massive sensitivity to the qualities of the school is caused by his
disappointment to the teachers who have broken his trust due to the teacher’s keen to hypocrisy, injustice, and materialism.
For instance, they had this headmaster, Mr. Haas, that was the phoniest bastards I ever met in my life. Ten times worse than old
Thurmer. On Sundays, for instance, old Haas went around shaking hands with everybody’s parents when they drove up to school. He’d
be charming as hell and all. Except if some boot had little old funny- looking parents. You should’ve seen the way he did my roommate’
parents. I mean if a boy’s mother was sort of fat or corny-looking or something, and if somebody’s father was one of those guys that wears
those suits with very big shoulders and corny black-and white shoes, then old Hans would just shake with them and give them a phony
smile and then he’d go talk for maybe half an hour, with somebody else’s parents. I can’t stand that stuff. It makes me crazy. It makes me
so depressed I go crazy.” p.8
The school has failed in making the teacher-student relationships that is important in shaping students moral development. In addition, their influence on
students emotional development is defective since they do not become good role
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model upon the students. Most of them only talk about moral development in school without teaching students to behave morally by importing virtues and standards of
morality in them. Their teaching method has created a vague sense of right and wrong toward students. School does not simply transmit moral qualities and beliefs
to students. These qualities and beliefs emerge and continually evolve during the interaction that every student have with school and its element. From Holden’s
delineation about Pencey, it can be seen that school has failed in creating students- teachers interaction. The students end of being unable to feel the knowledge of what
is true or false. In these relationships, students will not be formed into an idealistic human who understand what they should stand for, what traditions are worth keeping
how to contribute to their family, classroom, and community. In other words, Pencey has failed to teach the students of how to be a decent human being.
The right educator model can effectively guide students in overcoming their crisis of identity. Teacher is very important to express how their own moral in order
to answer student’s moral questions. It will be easier for students to adapt moral values when teacher become the model to think through moral issues and dilemmas.
Holden is dissatisfying toward his school because each people in Pencey Prep. tend to classify and to differ others. The students in this school dont value
equality and respect toward other. More likely, they tend to be egoistic and think about themselves. Egocentrism of each people in this school has blinded them to
others feelings. School has broken the students’ morality because it has changed the students into an egoistic person.
“It’s full of phonies, and all you dos is study so that you can learn enough to be smart enough to be able to buy a goddamn Cadillac
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some day, and you have to keep making believe you give a damn if the football team loses, and all you do is talk about girls and liquor
and sex all day, and everybody sticks together in these dirty little goddamn cliques. The guys that are on the basketball team is stick
together, the Catholics sticks together, the goddamn intellectuals stick together, the guys that play bridge stick together. Even the guys that
belong to the goddam Book-of-the-Month Club stick together…” p.71
The students tend to ignore their morality in order to accomplish the school’s standard though it is contradict with their conscience. When students moral beliefs
conflict with their immoral actions, many will change their beliefs to accommodate their actions. They will justify classification because school, family, and society tend
to appreciate this action that is regarded as the nature of elitism.
Schools, of course, are effective at turning around the downward values of stratification. It also capable at justifying the misleading value and teach ethical
qualities upon the students. However, Holden doesn’t find these things to be done by school and the teacher of Pencey. The school has been failed since teachers as the
educator do not possess the moral qualities. They do not express morality and respect through interactions with students day to day. These teachers will not be able to
reach out the students since they do not attempt to see students perspectives, and have lost their idealism about being a good role model for the student. School has
created dissatisfaction and depression since it discriminates the students. This situation undermines Holden’s rebellion against schools. It is refer in the novel that
the school implement elitism standard upon the students. This situation creates acute depression that afflicts the students who cannot follow the elitism standard like
Holden ends up of doing a rebellion.
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The school turns to be more depressing since the teachers never try to help the students to get out from this condition. Students are afflicted since they cannot
show their rejection to classification and they are banded by the school’s rule that has been set by the school’s authority. Holden describes school as an overwhelming
institution that push the students and put them in difficulty. This condition makes him angry and decides to rebel against his school.
“Ed Banky was the basketball coach at Pencey. Old Stadlater was one of his pets, because he was the center on the team, and Ed Banky
always let him borrow his car when he wanted it. It wasn’t allowed to borrow faculty guys’ cars but the athletic bastards stuck together. In
every school I’ve gone to, all the athletic bastards stick together.” P.23-24
School faces the challenge of creating values where school and its elements come to be appreciative and to be generous to others, acting with fairness and
integrity. The value that passes for character education in Pencey School simply has no influence on students emotional or moral qualities. The constant exhortations that
Holden receives to become a good student from his teacher generate by him as a fake instruction to cover the teachers’ hypocrisy. From Holden’s opinion, an ideal good
education effort from teacher would include specific strategies for helping students deal with their perplexity about morality. A good teacher would focus on creating
self-identity that supports their students’ emotional and moral growth.
The role of school has changed. It should be one piece of a broad effort to support both students’ ethical growth and their ability to be a kind human being.
Teachers should provide positive instruction such as earning respect and trust.
Student like Holden needs opportunities to reflect on their opinion. He lives in disconcert stages of human phase from being children into adult. He has difficulty in
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understanding the existence of classification in his school. On his failures in absorbing classification values, which breaks morality and Holden own ideals,
Holden needs emotional support from his environment especially from parents and teachers who are the closest colleagues in dealing with his depressing stages. In
addition, he needs places to stand and to rely on. He deserves get opportunities for emotional support from school without being pushed to enforce the school’s elitist
standard.
None of this, of course, is provided by the school for Holden and another student like him. The task of school has been burdened with the hard work of
improving prestige in society. The school cannot support the students and cannot promote good instruction upon its students, and much of it, it is creating elitist
standard and classifying instruction, which bind the students. This school is fail in helping students with moral anxiousness. School in the other hand, does not prevent
stratification that will certainly serve abrupt personal identity and reduce moral values. Best of all, morality approach in educational system in Pencey School has
been broken. It breaks character education effort with stratifications and high elitist standard. It does not stand a real chance of shaping each student the qualities that
they need to become caring and respectable human being.
Holden’s rebellion against his school is because of the stratification values that schools promote. It can be observed whether Holden’s rebellion against Pencey
School is contemporary his rejection toward stratification values mirrored by the school patterns. Holden rejects the school’s value through his rebelling action.
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The final thing that makes Holden rebels is the failure of school that fails to create human who respect equality in society. Human is the inhabitant of society and
it stands generally because school actually renders human to occupy the social environment. Humans and schools are affected to each other. School is the medium
for human to get education and it influences the development of human personality. The existence of school that fails to educate human who respect equality will create
discriminative people in society because society will be the place for human interaction after they graduated from school. Since students from school are lack of
equality respect, they will tend to implement the idea of classifying people when they join society. As the result of the abrupt moral education, stratification will become
general phenomena in society. Based on Holden view, this condition of stratification in society proves that school as educational institution has been fail to shape an equal
environment in society. Holden blames the school for the social gap that exists in society.
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CHAPTER V CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTION
