Cather In The Rye

The Catcher and the Rye is a very controversial book even today. Many schools and libraries across the country have banned this book for various reasons. This paper will explore some of these reasons why this book is still causing debates among educators.

To first understand why this book has caused so many debates we have to look at the time it was written in, the 1950's. In the 1950's the world was just recovering from the devastations of World War II, which ended five years ago. The United States emerged as a Super Power, the wealthiest nation and the American way of life envied throughout the Western world. This was a time when people were friendlier, more caring, and honest. People were not afraid to leave their homes without locking their doors. Neighbors were always there to help you for whatever reason and, families were close knit. They would have dinner each night, watch television, and do activities together. Children in this time were brought up to respect their elders, conform, and behave according to the their elder's values. Most of them did so, although a growing spirit of rebellion and a new assertiveness of ideas and styles soon developed. The term "teenager" became widely used. Teenagers found their own taste in music and fashion. Girls were most likely found wearing clothes like people that they saw on television and the movies. Music had also changed. Teenagers were very fond of a new type of music known as Rock And Roll. Bill Haley and his band was just one group that caused a stir among the elders as to what was respectable, and banned Haley's movie as well as his record from jukeboxes. This was the first measure that elders took to "save the children", from destroying their values. However, the media with magazines, radio, television and the movies fueled the ideas of being a teenager. One popular song of this time was "All Shook Up" by Elvis Presley that seems to symbolize this time in history. (Stacy & Finkelstein)

One author J.D. Salinger wrote his first novel during this time and added to the controversy by his writing style. Salinger chose to write his novel in the first person, told by a seventeen year old boy named Holden Claudfield. Throughout the novel, Holden uses foul language, discussed sexual matter, and rejects the traditional American ideas. One of the reasons why this book has been banned in high schools and libraries is the use of teenage slang and profanity. One of the most famous lines in the novel, "If you had a million years to do it in, you couldn't rub out even half the "Fuck You" signs in the world." , is responsible for the banning of this book. Considered by itself, the language is crude and profane. It is difficult to argue, however, that such language is not unfamiliar to our young people or that it is rougher than the language they are use to hearing in the streets among their friends. But, seeing it in print is much more shocking than to hear it. Holden's vocabulary is such a habit, that he does not seem to understand how rough it really is. Twice in the novel his sister, Phoebe, reminds him to stop cursing so much. Holden doesn't even apologize for his language; he doesn't even acknowledge the fact that he is swearing and that it is offensive.(Steven, 103)

One critic, James Lundquist, said, "The Catcher in the Rye is a novel that fights obscenity with an amazing and divine mixture of vulgarity and existential anguish, and it does this through a style that moves the narrative effortlessly along on a colloquial surface that suddenly parts to reveal the terror and beauty of the spiritual drama that Holden enacts."(Lundquist, 519)

Another important issue critics always talk about is Holden's use of the word "phonies". Holden uses this word forty-four times throughout the novel. Phoniness is the generic term that Holden uses to cover all manifestations of hypocrisy and falseness. The reason that he finds the nuns, his sister and other children so refreshing is because they are free of this phoniness. They all have innocence to them, which Holden wants to have again. However, we see that Holden becomes the greatest phony of them all. Holden wants to be a sophisticated adult. He rejects the adolescent world and goes to New York City, which shows his disrespect to authority. By trying to act like a businessman -renting a hotel, ordering drinks, getting a call girl- he distorts his real self far more than anyone. In the end Holden realizes that the innocence and goodness found in children, does