Maurice Character Analysis in The Catcher in the Rye

The elevator operator at the hotel where Holden stays on his first night in New York, who turns out to be a pimp—Maurice offers to send a prostitute to Holden’s room for $5. Hesitant at first, Holden agrees, though he doesn’t actually have sex with the prostitute, Sunny, when she arrives. Nonetheless, he gives her $5, but she tells him he owes her a grand total of $10. When he refuses, she leaves, but she returns shortly thereafter with Maurice, who punches Holden in the stomach because he calls him a “moron,” at which point Sunny takes the extra $5 from his wallet.

Maurice Quotes in The Catcher in the Rye

The The Catcher in the Rye quotes below are all either spoken by Maurice or refer to Maurice. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:

). Note: all page numbers and citation info for the quotes below refer to the Little, Brown edition of The Catcher in the Rye published in 2001.

If you want to know the truth, I’m a virgin. I really am. I’ve had quite a few opportunities to lose my virginity and all, but I’ve never got around to it yet. Something always happens…I came quite close to doing it a couple of times, though. One time in particular, I remember. Something went wrong, though—I don’t even remember what any more.

Related Characters: (speaker),

Page Number and Citation: 120

Explanation and Analysis:

It took me quite a while to get to sleep—I wasn’t even tired—but finally I did. What I really felt like, though, was committing suicide. I felt like jumping out the window. I probably would’ve done it, too, if I’d been sure somebody’d cover me up as soon as I landed. I didn’t want a bunch of stupid rubbernecks looking at me when I was all gory.

Related Characters: (speaker), ,

Page Number and Citation: 136

Explanation and Analysis:

Maurice Character Timeline in The Catcher in the Rye

The timeline below shows where the character Maurice appears in The Catcher in the Rye. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

While taking the elevator back to his hotel room, Holden meets Maurice, the elevator operator. Maurice offers to send a prostitute to his room for $5, and... (full context)

Back in his hotel room, Holden waits for Maurice to send a prostitute. Before long, a young woman named Sunny arrives. Holden is surprised... (full context)

Sunny is frustrated by Holden’s lack of sexual desire, telling him that Maurice woke her up specifically to meet him. Trying to calm her down, Holden assures her... (full context)

...until a knock sounds on the door. Jumping up, he opens the door to find Maurice and Sunny. Maurice demands $5, claiming that he and Holden had agreed that he would... (full context)

When Sunny and Maurice leave, Holden imagines that he’s in an action movie, pretending that he’s been shot in... (full context)