Many critics consider JD Salinger to be a very controversial writer, due to the topics he writes about. JD Salinger's works were generally written over two time periods. The first period was during World War II and the second period was in the 1960s. Critics believe that the works from the 1960s period were very inappropriate, due to the issues he was writing for. The main characters were usually misfits in society. In most of his works, he sets the protagonist of the story in search of happiness. Salinger does not conform to material happiness; the characters experience spiritual happiness. The characters usually start out as in bad conditions, until the end of his works they undergo changes that change them for the better. JD Salinger's works show the quest for happiness through religion, loneliness and symbolism. Salinger's works often use religion to describe comfort. In Salinger's Nine Stories, Franny Glass continues to recite the "Jesus Prayer" to cope with the suicide of her brother Seymour (Bloom in Bryfonski and Senick 69). Salinger is able to use this prayer as a means of comfort for Franny. Prayer represents the last hope for Franny in this situation. Franny would be lost if there was no prayer. (Bryfonski and Senick 71). Salinger shows us comfort in Catcher in the Rye. Holden Caufield, the protagonist, is very desperate over losing his girlfriend, so Caufield reads a passage from the Bible. This helps Holden change his outlook on life (Salzberg 75). Holden was all alone at this point and had no one to turn to, until he found the Bible (Salzberg 76). In both stories, the characters found themselves in bad situations. The characters in these works have obstacles that they must overcome to achieve happiness (Salzman 34). Happiness is the very substance that all of these characters aspire to in Salinger's works. Salinger uses religion in his works to comfort them so that they can continue their pursuit of happiness. Salinger uses religion as a means of liberation. Salinger uses much of Zen philosophy, as in the case of Nine Stories, to achieve this liberation (Madsen 93). In Nine Stories, one of the characters, Seymour Glass, is depicted as Buddha in the sense that he wants to be liberated like Buddha was in his life (Madsen 93).