Alex Reich

Jr. Theology/Faith

August 23, 2007

 

The Catcher of the faith

 

Dictionary. COM’s most popular definition of faith is “confidence or trust in a person or thing”. Holden Caulfield was not someone who trusted anybody else. One might say that faith helps one become a well-rounded and good person. One might also say that there are three main parts of becoming a well-rounded and good person: relationships, health, and growth. Holden does not seem to better himself in any of these three areas. Holden Caulfield, therefore, was not a person of faith.

Holden doesn’t like to make new friends. He has something bad to say about anyone he knows. For example, he invites Ackley to go to the movies with him, which, to most people, would sound like something friendly of him to do, but Holden has plenty of rotten things to say about Ackley: “Besides that, he had a lot of pimples.  Not just on his forehead or his chin, like most guys, but all over his whole face. And not only that, he had a terrible personality. He was also sort of a nasty guy. I wasn’t too crazy about him to tell you the truth”.

Holden also has no morals when it comes to his relationships with females, especially his dating relationships. There is a girl named Jane Gallagher that Holden met one summer. They were with each other everyday, playing Checkers and such games, and Holden considered her his best friend and he wanted to take their relationship further, meaning he wanted to be her boyfriend. He never gets up the courage to ask her out on a date, however, and when Stradlater, his roommate, goes on a date with her, Holden is furious, even though he and Jane never even had a serious relationship. Then he decides to ask this girl that he knows named Sally out on a date. He only asks her because she is attractive and she has a reputation for being loose. Holden has confused ideas about sex; he won’t have sex with the prostitute he is meant to pay for, but he desperately wants to with Sally. It is the same thing between Jane and Sally; he is scared to date Jane, someone who is really special to him and he is the best of friends with, but he jumps into dating Sally, who he finds obnoxious and annoying.

He also doesn’t have good principles when it comes to his health either. He is fairly active, he is on the fencing team, but he smokes. He smokes a lot. He smokes when he is bored, when he is angry, when he is sad, and when he wants to show off. In most cases, as well, he is chain smoking. He also doesn’t sleep much, which has detrimental effects on your general attitude and health.

Holden doesn’t believe in growing older. He often talks about how things used to be and how everything was much less complicated when he was younger. For example, he visits the museum he used to visit in grade school. He speaks of the excitement in going there, the partners he had in line, the smell of the place. The main thing he speaks of when talking about the museum, however, is that everything stays the same. Everything is in a glass box, which keeps in contained and protected from growing and, more importantly, the rest of the world. This shows that Holden isn’t open to change (growth) and wants everything to stay the same, like when he was young.  He wishes that he could keep his little sister, Phoebe, in a glass case which would prevent her from growing up and facing the challenges of adolescence that he has had to face.

If Holden had faith he would believe in growing and maturing into a well-rounded human being. If Holden had faith he would want to keep himself healthy so he could reach adulthood without severe health problems (in other words, he wouldn’t smoke). If Holden had faith, he would want relationships (male and female; friendships and dating relationships) that would help him grow as a person. Holden does not have trust in any of these areas; therefore he is not a person of faith.