Dan Baxter
Junior Theology
Holden Caulfield: A Faithless Character
Through
his choices, we see Holden Caulfield’s cynicism, lack of love for other humans,
and misunderstanding of life in general in the story Catcher in the Rye,
proving that he is not a person of faith.
The question of Holden Caulfield being a person of faith was a particularly difficult one for me to answer. The problem is that I do not exactly remember very many details about the book myself. I think this is partially because for the first half of the book or more I strongly disliked it and therefore did not pay attention as I was reading. I was not concentrating on the little details and even not very much on the major ones because I did not care what happened in the book. My lack of concentration was, in my opinion, a poor choice and one which I made based on my emotions at the time, specifically my dislike for the story and its main character. I think if I had concentrated harder despite my distaste for the book I would be able to remember things better and possibly have a better answer to this question available. I know this because I did enjoy the second half of the book and am able to remember numerous very specific scenes and even a few names. During this later half of the book, I was more interested and chose to concentrate more on what I was reading, making it easier, I believe, for me to retain the main points. From the scenes I can remember and the qualities I am able to recall of Holden, he certainly does not appear to be a person of faith to me.
One scene I remember that directly mentions something related to faith is the scene involving Holden in his dorm room with Ackley when he asks about joining a monastery. It never explains his reasons for wanting to join a monastery but his question for Ackley is whether or not you need to be Catholic. If Holden did not want to join the monastery for the reason of religion or because he loved others and wanted to devote his life to doing good, then he must have had some other reason for wanting to do so. This choice was obviously not reasonable or thoughtful since the whole point of joining the monastery, to my understanding, is to increase one’s faith with a closer connection to God through prayer. Holden, therefore, must have wanted this as an emotional choice because of something offered in the monastery. This could have been one of many things but, if what I remember of Holden is correct, he was not exactly fond of most things in society or life. This leads me to believe that he would have possibly wanted to join the monastery because it is a life of seclusion from these things he can’t stand. To Holden, the monastery simply represented an escape or a way out from life and society instead of a place dedicated to God and worship. Therefore, this choice to possibly want to join a monastery leads me to think that he is in no way a person of faith because he doesn’t even seem to understand the true nature of what a monastery is.
Holden Caulfield is in no way a person of faith therefore due to his complete lack of understanding in the context of the monastery along with his lack of respect for life. He admits willingness to enter one but for the wrong reasons. This is the best opinion I am able to offer on the subject due to the lack of recollection I have of this book as a result of some poor choices I made while reading it causing me not to remember. Had I paid more attention to what I was reading I would possibly be able to expand on the subject more and offer a more insightful view on why I do not believe Holden to be a person of faith.