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Faith and the Search for Identity in the Works of J. D. Salinger
Pospíšilová, Tereza ; Veselá, Pavla (advisor) ; Roraback, Erik Sherman (referee)
The aim of this thesis is to study four characters in the works of the American Jewish author J.D. Salinger, namely in The Catcher in the Rye, Franny and Zooey, "Raise High the Roofbeam, Carpenters," "A Perfect Day for Bananafish" and "Teddy." The characters chosen for this thesis are Holden Caulfield, Franny Glass, Seymour Glass and Teddy McArdle. All these characters have found themselves at a critical point in their lives faced with questions about the meaning of life. They search for genuineness and struggle against "phoniness," to use Holden's favourite word, and do not feel content with the values set by the postwar American society. This thesis studies the reasons for their crises, their search for identity, together with its outcomes. It determines what role religion, faith and philosophy play in the process. The socio-cultural context of Salinger's work encourages questions about identity not only as a consequence of the confusion in identity and values brought about by the Second World War but also the tensions caused by the Cold War. Salinger's characters studied in this thesis are intellectuals who search for answers to existential questions in this period of change and as a result of not wanting to belong they alienate themselves from the society. This thesis examines the choice of...
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