--- You wrote: This is not what most of us first think of as the equivalent of the modest carpenter's house in Galilee. Poverty is not the sine qua non of the religious experience but there seems to be a consensus among the great teachers that it helps. --- end of quoted material --- The most notable exception to this quite accurate generalization about poverty helping to facilitate religious awakening is, of course, the Buddha. And since Buddhism and Christianity are the two belief systems at work in Franny and Zooey one wonders if perhaps this juxtaposition is intended. I'm going to reread Zooey today if I get a chance--this line of discussion is interesting.