Holden Caulfield, the protagonist in The Catcher in the Rye, is a memorable character whose attributes and actions truly form him as a person. His behavior and choices throughout the book can lead a reader to conclude that he is not a man of faith. When one thinks about a person of faith, they may visualize a calm, collected being. These types of people control their bodies and minds through prayer and meditation and by coming to the belief that some supreme being, God or Allah or Zeus, is leading them through the events of their lives for a reason, which gives them purpose and reason to live a better life. People of faith seek to be an example of peace and self-control for others and to avoid spreading hostile behavior. In several occasions, Holden resembles the opposite of this idea. He allows his emotions to rule his actions and these actions have permanent effects on his behavior. When his brother Allie dies of cancer, Holden retaliated against this death with anger and shattered all the windows in his garage. When Stradlater returned to he and Holden’s apartment after his date with Jane, his reaction to Holden’s inquiry about the date led Holden to believe that Stradlater did not respect Jane on the date in the way he should have. Holden’s emotions drove him attacking Stradlater and enticing Stradlater to violence by striking Holden. These happenings show that Holden’s lack of faith forces him to rely solely on emotion to the point where he spreads this behavior onto others.
Holden often times allows his carnal pleasures to rule the actions of his body and mind. He, while on the train to New York from Pencey Prep, meets Mrs. Morrow, the mother of an upper classmen at Pencey Prep. For his own personal enjoyment, Holden lies directly to Mrs. Morrow about her son Ernest and his status at Pencey and even invents an alias for himself, Rudolph Schmidt. Holden also accepts Maurice’s offer of sending him a prostitute for $5 with little thought or, at that time, remorse. These two occasions show an utter lack of self-control in two situations of sin. Even if he was never taught that these acts were “sins” he would have seen them as instances where only he gains anything and others involved might actually lose something.
Holden does show certain traits that a person of faith may have. He admires the selflessness of the nuns that are moving to Manhattan to teach. He reflects on the evils of the prep school he recently left and gives $10 to them as charity. He also displays a deep love and, sometimes tolerance, of his sister Phoebe and his brother Allie. These traits and occasions may cause some to believe that Holden is a person of faith. His irrational, thoughtless behavior, which leads him to sinning and forces him to be a poor example of faithfulness, overpowers his charitable, laudable traits.