Re: BANANAFISH digest 248

AntiUtopia@aol.com
Fri, 20 Feb 1998 07:17:20 -0500 (EST) 

In a message dated 98-02-20 05:39:10 EST, you write:

<< Secondly, about blind teenage spirituality, I agree with you completely 
 (AntiUtopia) however, you also seem to imply that Holden and Franny's 
 issues are of an "Immature" spiritual nature...I have to differ. I think 
 its a very bad idea to label all teenage spirituality as incomplete; 
 I think that is, in part, what let to Holden/Franny's breakdown to begin 
 with. Look at Teddy; or the young Seymour Glass. 
  >>

hmmm, no, I don't think the spiritual issues dealt with by teenagers are
immature in themselves.  I do think all teenagers are a bit immature (on
different levels, of course, and taking into account that many are more mature
than at least some adults--but just imagine what those adults were like as
teenagers :) ), but They Should be, you know?  It's silly and wrong to expect
othewise.  I don't think Teddy is a very believable character, to be honest
with you--at the least he's an anomaly.  Perhaps liteally one in a million or
more.  

I think Holden/Franny's breakdows are precisely the result of an incomplete or
immature spirituality.  They highlight exactly the way in which their
spirituality was incomplete--an inability to cope with some of the facts of
human existence, an inability to hold to realistic expectations of people
while still keeping a firm grip on the things they valued the most, a still
present tendency to face the world making demands of it, instead of
understanding the futility of that approach and seeing it as their
responsibility to meet those demands, rather than impose them....and on and
on.  

They saw clearly how the world "should be," but didn't see very clearly how to
respond to it and live with it as it was within the context of their
spirituality.  Even Teddy complained about being reincarnated in America and
held to an unrealisitic vision of "easier" spirituality in India or some other
place.  They didn't see how to work to make the world better without giving up
when their efforts made little difference, and sometimes gave up before they
properly started trying--a la Franny.

This isn't, of course, exclusively a teenage problem :)  But those who do
mature out of this stage generally seem to go thru it when younger and grow
out of it as they age.

You know, that description of teenage spirituality was largely based on
personal experience--mostly my own habits and thoughts, and partly my
perceptions of the attitudes exhibited by others :)

Jim