Andrew Danter
8-28-08
Theology 3

Holden Caulfield and Faith

In J.D. Salinger’s, The Catcher in the Rye, I believe Holden Caulfield is a character with no faith of any kind. At the very beginning of the book, Holden admits to not believing in religion or God. Therefore, he definitely has no Faith. Throughout the book, one of Holden’s main problems is that he cannot deal with change. He wants to preserve everything as it is because he has no faith that time and change are natural and do not necessarily lead to bad things. I believe that one of the reasons for Holden’s lack of faith in change is because of the death of his brother Allie. Holden was so hurt by the death of the brother he loved so much that he is afraid that it might happen again. He constantly wishes he could forever preserve a state of innocence among everything he encounters, and just does not have any faith in whatever the future may hold.

The last line of the book emphasizes Holden’s lack of faith in change and friendship when he says, “Don't ever tell anybody anything. If you do, you start missing everybody.” What Holden is saying is that it is better to never have a friend or love someone at all, than to share good memories, friendship, and love with a person and then lose them. Holden has a complete lack of faith in love and the bonds that tie we as humans together. Holden simply cannot bring himself to put his faith into anything because he is just too afraid that he will lose it.

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