A Tale of Adventure, Abandonment, & Truth

Kicked out of his prep school because of his grades, Holden Caulfield, age 17, is traveling around New York City killing time before he will return home for Christmas break. For a majority of Holden’s life he has bounced from prep school to prep school for one reason or another, but mostly because of his struggle to find any drive to do well in school. Holden is afraid of returning home too early because he is worried how his parents will react because he has been kicked out from another school. Holden therefore decides to go on an adventure that leads him from his school into the city of New York and eventually back to where it all started, his home. Behind the antics of this seventeen-year-old are deep hurt and pain that stem from his parents’ or any adult’s lack of involvement in his life. The adventures of Holden Caulfield, as told by Holden himself in the book Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, have become a tale all to true.

At first Holden appears to be a child crying out for attention by acting out against everyone and everything in his environment. Yet, as the reader continues, the character of Holden becomes much more complex. While the reader can never really tell if Holden’s tales are truly what they appear to be, through Holden’s depiction of his own story a teenager who is searching for true connection with another, looking for his purpose in life, trying to discover grace, and find love. In fact the boy character goes to extreme measures for even human interaction, even buying a prostitute one night, just to have someone to talk to. It is never clear why Holden is the way he is, but there is a clear lack of adult influence, community, and trust in his life. One point in the story that this becomes very clear is when Holden, while seeking a place to stay, turns to an old teacher, who after giving him advice about life, does something that makes Holden feel taken advantage of. While it is not clear whether Holden is justified in his feelings, what becomes evident is his total lack of trust in all adults. In fact, this one event leaves Holden with the desire to run further away from the life he has known and the parents who raised him.

As I read I could not help but think of today’s youth and how much of their hurts and desires are perfectly depicted within Holden’s character. I was reminded of a time when I sat down and had a conversation with some youth during a visit to a local high school during the school’s lunch time. As I sat there and listened to the cries and hearts of ten youth who told me about their disconnection from any adults in their life, use of drugs and alcohol to feel something and have fun, their lack of trust even in their closet friends, and their desire for grace and love from anyone willing to hear broke my heart. I remember thinking to myself, how have we allowed this to happen? Many of today’s youth have drifted far away from just the antics of a person going through adolescence, but are now dealing with much more. Current youth are being forced to cope with the hurt and pain that has been passed from generation to generation, still left unredeemed by the only one who can redeem them.

During my reading of J.D. Salinger’s book I began to see the faces of the youth in my community in the tales of Holden, in the hurt, pain, and abandonment of a boy on the run in search of adventure and someone, anyone, who might show him love.

May the Church be that person. May the Church be the one’s who give hope to the hopeless and show love to those teens who need love. May the Church join in the work of God in the world and manifest the Kingdom of God in world of today’s teens.