J.D Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye: Holden Caulfield's Nihilistic Behavior

In the novel The Catcher in the Rye by J.D Salinger, the author constructs a nihilistic teenager who lives in a society dominated by phony adults and is trying to deal with both internal and external conflicts. Nihilism is the belief that there is no value to life. Nihilist people are very pessimistic and have no loyalties or moral principles. In The Catcher in the Rye Holden Caulfield is portrayed as a nihilist because he does not believe in any moral standards, believes suicide is a good escape, and has no religious beliefs.

Holden is a protective but alienated teenage boy who cannot seem to fit into society. He believes society demands children to conform to their “phony” views and there are two opposite sides to the spectrum. Society made life a game, and the people who were considered the winners of the game or in Holden’s eyes, “hot-shots” (Salinger 8), are those who manipulate everyone around them. Holden continuously rejects society’s expectations and views the world as a corrupt place with phonies “coming in through the goddam window” (Salinger 13 ). This skepticism of the “phonies” is what stems Holden’s dissatisfaction of the world. Characterized as a pathological liar and extreme pessimist, Holden exhibits many qualities of a nihilist. He always criticizes society by stating that everyone around him is losing their morality, but he himself does not have any moral values. In situations he is uncomfortable with, he lies to hide his true feelings. He tells the audience that he is a “terrific liar” (Salinger 16).

For example, he decides to lie to the woman on the train just to play around with her and for his own enjoyment. “I didn’t feel like giving her my whole life story. Rudolf Schmidt was the name of the janitor of the dorm” (Salinger 55). His lies are used to cover up how how he really feels so he doesn’t have to confront his own feelings. This lying plays a bigger role in Holden’s psyche. As the novel progresses the audience is introduced to Holden’s brother, Allie, who died of leukemia. Holden is evidently very heartbroken by his passing and has not come to terms with his feelings about it. Instead of talking to someone or even admitting to himself about his feelings, he chooses to lie to those he loves and to himself to protect himself from the ugly truth. Holden’s continuous habits of lying, proves that he does not have any moral principles that he holds himself too.

Nihilists believe that life has no real purpose and does not have any loyalties. One major reality Holden is trying to escape is the process of having to grow up. He is hesitant to achieve anything in life and hinders himself from mentally aging. Having gone through multiple boarding schools and not putting any effort into his education, he failed four out of five classes, which makes it seem like he is purposely trying to get kicked out to prevent himself from graduating. This mentality stems from Holden’s view of childhood. Holden holds children on a pedestal by viewing them as these perfect, innocent humans who have not yet been corrupted by the phoniness of the rest of the world. He is willing to sacrifice his own future to preserve adolescence. This is not a physical death, but a mental death of Holden Caulfield as he refuses to get a higher education and, eventually, a job. Holden not only hinders his mental development, but he also considers ending his life all together.

Often suicide is viewed as a cowardly way to escape from the world instead of facing it head on. But a nihilist would believe suicide to be a good and reasonable option of escape. Holden views suicide as a moral way to die. He considers life to be meaningless and would rather die than face the harsh realities of growing up. There are numerous times when Holden contemplates killing himself to prevent the “phoniness” from corrupting him. “I felt like jumping out the window. I probably would've done it, too, if I'd been sure somebody'd cover me up as soon as I landed. I didn't want a bunch of stupid rubbernecks looking at me when I was all gory” (Salinger 104). Holden claims to be loyal to Jane and Phoebe, but if he is willing to kill himself he will only be hurting those he loves. He does not consider the feelings of the people he loves and is only worried about how events will effect or benefit him. Holden’s praise of suicide becomes more evident when he describes the story about James Castle. “I put on my bathrobe and ran downstairs too, and there was old James Castle laying right on the stone steps ana all. He was dead, and his teeth, and blood were all over the place, and nobody would even go near him” (Salinger 170). In Holden’s description of the events surrounding James Castle he seems to support Castle’s decision of killing himself by portraying the story in a good light. Holden respects Castle’s loyalty to himself and loyalty to preventing “phoniness” from consuming him. Holden’s attitudes resemble those of a nihilist.

Since nihilists do not have any values, they do not believe in a God. Nihilism is a rejection of all values. Holden reveals to the audience that he is an atheist. This decision to reject religious beliefs is a characteristic of nihilists. Holden’s positive encounter with the nuns at breakfast offer a contrast to his normal views of religious people. Their conversation about Romeo and Juliet surprises Holden because the nuns do not fit into Holden’s stereotype of religious people. The nuns are intelligent and to Holden’s surprise, can actually hold up a conversation about an interesting topic. Though Holden has a good encounter with the nuns, he still judges religious beliefs. “Take the Disciples, for instance. They annoy the hell out of me, if you want to know the truth. They were all right after Jesus was dead and all, but while He was alive, they were about as much use to Him as a hole in the head. All they did was keep letting Him down” (Salinger 99). Disciples who are considered to be a symbol of morality and avid followers of Jesus Christ, are untrustworthy to Holden because they were useless to Jesus. To Holden, religion is another way society has created social barriers and encourage people to become phony.

In The Catcher in the Rye by J.D Salinger Holden Caulfield is portrayed as a nihilist because he does not have any principles, views suicide as a good escape, and he has no religious beliefs. Holden nihilistic views make him more identifiable to the reader. His awareness of the amount of phony people in the world and how easily people can conform to society’s views, reflects the problems many teenagers go through. As children grow up, in highschool especially, many people change their values to fit into society. Everyone wants to be popular, so a lot of people act very differently to attract more people. The novel appeals to what teenagers are experiencing as they watch others around them compromise their beliefs.