Holden Caulfield, from The Catcher in The Rye, is a person of no faith for most of the novel because his choices and actions are centered on his own personal pleasure and he doesn’t believe in natural growth of humans.
Though Holden seems to know about the Christian faith, shown when he is able to argue with a boy in his class that the disciples were not the greatest bunch in the Bible, and in his decision that the man in the cave hurting himself possessed by a demon was his second favorite person in the Bible next to Jesus. But, Holden through his life choices shows he has little or no faith. A person of faith would reasonably think about the choices he or she makes, taking into consideration not only the effect their actions will have on themselves, but also on the community. All of Holden’s decisions just made things easier for him at the time. Holden in his school decided to choose not to do his work causing him to get kicked out. He didn’t think about the heartbreak this would cause his parents especially since this was the third school he was kicked out of. His decision to call for a prostitute showed his quest for his own personal pleasure. Also, Holden’s decision to get drunk and call Sally in the middle of the night first, again shows his goal personal pleasure, but also shows his lack of respect for Sally and Sally’s parents.
Holden also shows that he doesn’t have the faith to accept the natural course of children losing their innocence and growing into adults. When Holden goes to the Museum of Natural History he is baffled by the idea of change. He says that the only thing that changes in the museum is the people who visit. Holden would just like things to stay the same. Also he sets up the imagery of children on top of a hill in a rye field and when they “fall off”; it symbolizes their loss of youthful innocence. Holden wants to be their protector preventing the children from falling off, thus preventing them from growing. Holden doesn’t have the faith to believe that the growth of the children is the natural and best for the children and for him.
