Joe Hoffmann
Jr. Theology/Faith
Holden without Faith
Holden Caulfield from the Catcher in the Rye was without faith because he failed to believe that he and others were growing up, failed to see any positives in life, and he always lived in or for the past, never for the future or for God.
To Holden the past was the idealistic life. He did not believe in growing up, and believed that doing so was one of the worst things that could happen to him. Holden lacked the faith in himself, and that adulthood could be looked upon as a positive. Holden loved children. It seemed he would rather be in the company of a child than an adult. One reason he loved his little sister was that she was a child. He saw her as perfect and innocent, sinless. After living in his world at school and realizing everyone around him is growing up he flees. He still doesn’t believe himself to be an adult and runs away from the adult world he was in. Holden runs away from the adult life to his younger sister, the one person he is close to that is still a child. When he realizes that even his sister is growing up he plans to run away, live burrowed in the woods with just his family. He wants to be in a solitary place, because there he can build a world where no one grows up. Holden is lost and in need of guidance, but while on his own, staying in hotels and buying hookers he is unable to get the advise he needs. Holden doesn’t have the faith in God or himself to grow up and live his life as an adult.
From beginning to end Holden has a negative attitude towards everything but children. He sees all adults as “fakes and phony’s” when he is an adult himself. Holden’s inability to grow up and mature leads me to believe he is not mature enough to be a person of faith. As an older person, stuck in a child’s mind he cannot fully understand what it is to lead a holy life. Also, Holden’s pessimistic outlook on life and most people in general leads me to believe his is a man without faith. Holden is constantly criticizing others, only seeing positives in children. Holden rarely if ever speaks of god, and never mentions a thing about church. Holden is very narrow minded which leads me to believe he would never believe a thing from the bible. As we have seen he is not very accepting of new things (adulthood), and I doubt he would be very accepting of a life for Christ.
Overall Holden is not a person of faith because he is constantly pessimistic towards others and life, he is very narrow minded, and he lacks the necessary maturity. These attributes don’t make for a very faithful person.