Even though the Glasses are brilliant, they are not cerebral or distanced from the reader because of their brilliance and all the characters live in the same world and environment as the readers do. Holden Caulfield is no better or no worse than any young high school boy he is merely a bit more articulate and honest in his appraisals, more open with his feelings. The normality of the characters in Salinger’s stories is a primary attraction for readers. If anything, Salinger’s characters seem to move toward a “perfect” Christian ideology-indiscriminate love. The Glass family may mention Buddhism, but because of their acquaintance with all religions and their high intelligence and hyperkinetic thirst for knowledge, Salinger suggests that they have picked and chosen aspects from various religions and created a composite of them all. Holden Caulfield does not react as a Buddhist would, nor does he seek consolation from Buddhism. Although much has been made of Salinger’s Zen Buddhism, the stories do not seem to be about applying Buddhist principles to modern life, nor do they present a clear and coherent statement of what these principles entail or signify. Salinger (1958), offer an analysis of Salinger that claims he is the first writer in Western fiction to present transcendental mysticism in a satiric mode, or simply to present religious ideas satirically. The characters’ minds struggle to make sense of the dichotomy between love and squalor, often reaching a quiet peace and transcending their situation through a small act.įrederick L. Each of these characters is metropolitan in outlook and situation and is introverted: Their battles are private wars of spirit, not outward conflicts with society. Some characters, such as the young, mixed-up Holden Caulfield, adopt indiscriminate love to aid them in their journey through the world of squalor, while others, such as Seymour Glass, achieve a sort of perfect love, or satori, and are destroyed, in Seymour’s case by a bullet through his head. Salinger’s (January 1, 1919 – January 27, 2010) characters are always extremely sensitive young people who are trapped between two dimensions of the world: love and “squalor.” The central problem in most of his fiction is not finding a bridge between these two worlds but bringing some sort of indiscriminate love into the world of squalor: to find a haven where love can triumph and flourish.