Eric Lampe
Junior Theology/Faith
August 24, 2006
Was Holden Caulfield a Person of Faith?
I believe that Holden Caulfield was not a person of faith. This is not saying that he didn’t ever have faith, because he did, but most of the times when he had faith in others, they were the wrong people. In my opinion a person of faith has plenty of faith in plenty of people and things but is smart about who he or she places the faith in.
Holden begins his story at Pencey Prep where he was asked to leave because of bad grades. On a small scale this is the first mistake we see Holden make. Holden did not have faith in himself that he could make the grades to stay in school. We see that this is not just a one time thing either he has been kicked out of three different schools before that. As he is leaving Holden stops by Spencer’s house, his history teacher, to say goodbye but is disappointed that Spencer talks about him not doing well in school. Here Holden comes to Spencer in hopes of having a good friend but instead he is reprimanded. When he goes back to his room, his roommate, Stradlater, says that he is taking Jane Gallagher out on a date. Holden used to date Jane Gallagher and instead of trusting Stradlater he gets really nervous that Stradlater won’t treat her well. When Stradlater gets home Holden persistently questions him and Stradlater gets increasingly annoyed and Holden ends up getting beaten up over the whole thing all because at the beginning he had no faith in Stradlater.
Holden
decides to leave school three days early. It is not this that causes Holden to
go through all the trouble that he goes through throughout the entire rest of
the book but it is the decision that he makes to not tell his parents what he
is doing. In my opinion this is the biggest mistake and sure sign that Holden
is not a person of faith. Had Holden trusted and had faith in his parents and
just talked to them or went home and realized they do love him there would be
no use for the rest of the book. However Holden did not have faith in his
parents and went to
Holden stays at the Edmont Hotel. In the hotel he makes one of the more notable mistakes in the book. In the elevator, the operator, Maurice, offers Holden a prostitute. Now it is one thing to not trust your roommate or maybe to be overly faithful of a history teacher but it is a whole different thing to place faith in an elevator operator who tries to sell you a prostitute. Believe it or not Holden gets lied to about the price of the prostitute and when he won’t pay the rest of the money he is beaten up. This is the second time in a couple of days that Holden has been physically hurt because he either put faith in the wrong person or had no faith in a decent person.
Later on in the book Holden goes to his old English teacher’s house. Mr. Antolini is very kind in accepting him into their home. Holden once again has faith in someone who he probably shouldn’t. Holden wakes up in the middle of the night to Mr. Antolini stroking his forehead.
Throughout the story of Catcher In the Rye we are in Holden’s point of view and a lot of the time we tend to think ‘what are you doing?’ after he makes one of his many strange choices. Overall I think Holden is not a person of good faith but that’s not to say there’s nothing to be learned from the story. I think pointing out how Holden didn’t have faith in some people or had faith in the wrong people can really help us think about who we have faith in. There’s a good chance that I don’t give enough faith to some people who have been nothing but nice to me and deserve it. I’m also sure that I have placed trust in the wrong people before. We don’t think of these things just going throughout our day; who we have faith in and who we don’t. This is definitely something worth looking at because no one can go through life alone and how you act is greatly influence by what people you trust and have faith in.