A Keen Eye and a Good Heart in a Shallow World

            As Lewis says, a friendship is, in part, a rebellion, and by befriending Holden, we can also participate in rebelling against the superficiality of the world, just as Holden does. The strongest weapon that Holden uses against superficiality is his keen eye. Holden, as a reader, possesses an eye that looks deep into those around him in an attempt to form meaningful relationships and defend innocence within the world. In spite of his claims that he is “quite illiterate,” Holden admits that he reads frequently.[1] According to Holden, the best stories are the ones that make the reader want to befriend the author and “call him up” at any time.[2] Holden reads not only for pleasure but also in hopes of forming a connection—a friendship—between him and the author. Given this understanding of Holden as reader, it makes perfect sense why he would want readers—which includes willing Christian readers—to take on the role of listener. Holden hopes that readers might befriend him and, through such friendship, provide him with the guidance he so desperately needs: that of an authority figure who will show him how to preserve innocence and expose superficiality.

            All around Holden are the superficial—the “phonies,” as Holden famously refers to them: the hypocrites, the shallow, the materialistic, and the perverted. And Holden’s understanding of superficiality is the same as Christian readers might have. There is, of course, the hypocrisy of the religious, which Holden does well to criticize. According to Holden, many religious people simply want to talk to a person just to know if he or she is of the faith, which is what Holden experienced with Louis Shane at Whooton, who, in Holden’s mind, ruins a decent conversation about tennis by asking Holden if there is a Catholic church in town.[3] Holden says, “He [Louis] was enjoying the conversation about tennis and all, but you could tell he would’ve enjoyed it more if I was a Catholic and all.”[4] Here, Holden is able to see past Louis’s façade: Holden understands not only how the practice of faith can become an idol and make one shallow but also how such shallowness prevents people from having a true conversation with others. Empathy is impossible in the realm of superficiality, and given the shallowness of many of Holden’s peers, Holden struggles to find one with whom he can share mutual empathy. By befriending Holden, we can join him in becoming more empathetic toward those around us, for we also seek genuine, meaningful relationships with the people around us.

            Furthermore, Holden, like Christian readers, understands the ills of materialism, and his keen eye allows him to see past the materialism in the three women at The Lavender Room. The three women (Bernice, Marty, and Laverne) represent a materialistic American culture. Holden says that he checks the women out—but not inappropriately.[5] Instead, it is as if Holden is, more or less, studying them, while also noticing their physical attributes as all sixteen-year-old males are, unfortunately, prone to do. Holden concludes in his study that the women are “three witches” and “three real morons,”[6] to use his words. When dancing with Bernice, Holden explains that she does not seem to pay attention to him. In fact, Holden says, “Her mind was wandering all over the place.”[7] Holden’s keen eye clues him in on the fact that Bernice is rather shallow and surface-level, apparently incapable of focusing on anything other than her own thoughts.

            When Holden sits down with the other two women, he discovers that they behave similarly to Bernice. Holden says, “. . . I tried to get them in a little intelligent conversation, but it was practically impossible. You had to twist their arms. You could hardly tell which was the stupidest of the three of them.”[8] Holden resists a shallow understanding of the world and the people who inhabit it. The three women, however, are shallow, blind, and materialistic, which prevents them from recognizing Holden’s humanity. They have no awareness of their surroundings or of those around them. Holden may be crass in this scene, particularly when he mentions the physical attributes of these women throughout the chapter, but he at least provides the reader with a clear vision of his perception of the women. By befriending Holden, we can set an example: we can begin to serve others by truly listening to other people and not being consumed by preoccupations. By doing so, we, by extension, are also serving Holden.   

            Along with a keen eye, Holden also possesses a good heart—and one which compels him to defend innocence. During his encounter with Sunny, a teenage prostitute, and Maurice, her pimp. Holden admits that he can tell that Sunny is his age.[9] Holden’s keen eye is able to see that Sunny, though a prostitute, is still an innocent child. After Sunny explains that the dress she took off was recently purchased, Holden says, “It made me feel sort of sad when I hung it up. I thought of her going in a store and buying it, and nobody in the store knowing she was a prostitute and all. . . . It made me feel sad as hell—I don’t know why exactly.”[10] Holden does not realize that it is his good heart that makes him feel sad.

            Furthermore, Holden desires to protect the innocent; he does not wish to corrupt Sunny. For, as Holden admits, he did not feel like sleeping with her, especially because of Sunny’s predicament and her dress: “. . . I just didn’t want to do it. I felt more depressed than sexy, if you want to know the truth. She was depressing. Her green dress hanging in the closet and all.”[11] Holden is depressed because, unbeknownst to him, he sees how her innocence has been corrupted, and he refuses to contribute to such corruption. This is why, later in this scene, he takes a stand against Maurice, calling out his vileness in spite of his threats.[12] On the surface, as Pinsker points out, Holden is simply saving face: the quarrel is more about money than anything else.[13] However, it would be wrong to say that this is all just about money. It is safe to assume that Holden’s depression turns into rage, and he directs it toward the corruptor Maurice.

            Unlike the shallow, the materialistic, and the hypocrites, Holden seeks genuineness and authenticity, and the nuns he encounters on his second day in New York fit the bill. In contrast to the women in The Lavender Room, for instance, the nuns possess a genuineness that Holden admires. The nuns are readers: they have come to New York to teach English and History, and they discuss literature with Holden.[14] Granted, they do not discuss Thomas Hardy’s The Return of the Native with him—and they change the subject after Holden gives them his opinion of Mercutio,[15] but they at least engage with him—and much more than other Catholics Holden knows. However, for Holden, the nuns do not ruin their conversation with him because they do not ask if he is a Catholic.[16] The nuns possess a genuineness not found in the three women—a genuineness that seeks not the pleasures of materialism but instead seeks to see humanity, particularly within Holden.

            The nuns also appear to possess rather unique qualities that Holden does not see in many other people, which suggests that the nuns—and by extension, Christian readers—represent the type of people that Holden seeks to find friendship with. For instance, Holden finds it difficult to place his aunt or Sally Hayes’s mother in the nuns’ shoes.[17] According to Pinsker, even readers could not fill such a role, for, outside of his sister Phoebe and late brother Allie, Holden finds fault—phoniness—in everyone. For that reason, if readers believe Holden would like them, they are mistaken.[18] However, what Pinsker fails to realize is that Holden respects the nuns, and in his discussion with them, does not detect the same kind of phoniness he does when with the three women. In fact, Holden is clear that he even feels bad that he did not give the nuns more money as a donation.[19] Therefore, it is safe to assume that we, who recognize the humanity in people like the nuns do, would be able to befriend Holden.

A Well and a Person in Need of Truth

            As mentioned earlier in this discussion, Holden seeks friendship from readers, and we as Christian readers should be the first to take up the call. Holden is a defender of the innocent. We should do likewise by befriending Holden and letting him come unto us. If we are to take the time to befriend Holden, then we can join him in the rebellion required of friendships. We can join Holden in calling out the hypocrites, the shallow, the materialistic, the perverse. We can decide to join him in his quest to preserve beauty and innocence. Paul says, “Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity.”[20] Holden most certainly, in his own way, teaches us such things—even in his youth and in his depravity. Therefore, we must not despise him and instead let him be the example he so desperately seeks to be, so that we, in turn, can be the example the world so desperately needs.

            However, such a thing cannot be done if we are quick to write off The Catcher in the Rye or any other text that is, or appears to be, un-Christian. In his discussion of Basil the Great, Jacobs notes that in Basil’s day, much of the literature that Christian students studied was pagan (like Homer’s works, for example). However, Jacobs explains that Basil did not see this as a problem because such literature still possessed much “wisdom and virtue,” so long as Christian students possessed sound enough judgment to glean such things from their reading. And, Jacobs adds, if readers are able to engage with such pagan writings in a loving way (what he calls “charitable reading” throughout his book), then readers will also be able to learn how to “love God and neighbor better through reading them” in spite of their un-Christian themes and symbolism, making such books not as wretched as they may seem at first glance.[21] All truth really is God’s truth, and if we as Christian readers can learn to accept this, then befriending someone like Holden becomes not only possible but also beneficial for us.

            As mentioned above, Christ walked through Samaria with a godly purpose. Therefore, I am not arguing that we simply read all narratives that are un-Christian just because they are un-Christian. But I am arguing that before we throw down the book, or write to the teacher, or punish our children or ourselves, let us take the time to truly listen to what that text is saying. We may discover, if we are to turn just a few more pages, that there is in fact a well to drink from and a person in need of truth—and who knows?—this person may even be ourselves.

               [1] Salinger, 18.

               [2] Ibid.

               [3] Salinger, 112.

               [4] Ibid., 112-13.

               [5] Ibid., 70

               [6] Salinger, 70.

               [7] Ibid., 71.

               [8] Ibid., 73.

               [9] Ibid., 94.

               [10] Salinger, 95-96.

               [11] Ibid., 96.

               [12] Ibid., 103.

               [13] Pinsker, 68-69.

               [14] Salinger, 110-11

               [15] Ibid., 111.

               [16] Salinger, 113.

               [17] Ibid., 114

               [18] Pinsker, 42-43.

               [19] Salinger, 113.

               [20] 1 Tim. 4:12.

               [21] Jacobs, 141-42.