WHAT IS MATURITY ANYWAY?:

So I just finished reading the catcher in the rye. My first impression was "wow there sure is a LOT of bad language in that book, and I would sure not want my children to see all of that language."
My second thought was "gee I remember going through all that 'angst' and being a teenager". I really understood the jaded perception/s of Caufield. but then I came across the line that made me think the most.
"the mark of an immature man is the desire to die nobly for a cause; the mark of the a mature man is to live humbly for one.

I pondered the meaning of that statement and I ended up finding myself in disagreement. I would instead say the mark of the Immature is to want to be a hero the mark of the mature is to be quietly heroic.
I think that is actually what the author was getting at.
See I think that when you believe in something (a cause) to the point that you are willing to sacrifice your life is a very mature thing. The United States of America wouldn't exist if not for this drive, Slavery would not be abolished, and no one would be safe to sleep at night because there would be no police officers to keep us safe. (I mean do you really want the immature to carry guns?)

Our country was founded by men and women who felt that to die nobly for the cause of freedom was the greatest thing possible (Nathan Hale and his " I regret that I have but one life to give..." statement leap to mind.) and it has continued thanks to that sense of sacrifice. Slavery was abolished in our country and in England by the same kind of sentiment.

Even the Christian faith, which has done so much for the world though the world would deny the good done, was comprised of people who were willing to die for their belief/s.
In fact when I think of Rome and Christianity and I think of the many Christians who were sacrificed to lions as entertainment for the general populace of Rome I have to say that I find those who were entertained by the violent death to be MUCH more immature than the way that those Christians died, NOBLY FOR A CAUSE.

So I will stick with the idea that it is the desire to be a hero, because you don't realize the sacrifice involved, that is the mark of immaturity. And it is the man quietly, HEROICALLY going to work daily to feed his kids, the mother who goes without a new dress so her daughter can have dance classes, the son who fights the war, the daughter who helps her family, these people are going around quietly being heroes and I think that is the most noble AND the most mature thing there is.