Why Is The Catcher In The Rye Banned

The banning of books has long since been a tradition for the censorship of the media, and no book has seen the red tape more than J. D. Salinger’s picaresque novel The Catcher in the Rye. Salinger’s Catcher examines Holden Caulfield, an emotionally conflicted teenager takes New York City after leaving his prestigious school to find his way back home. Upon the opening of the novel, Holden explores controversial slang, curses, and sensitive topics. The language of the novel, which includes but is not limited to, curse words, coarse language, and slang all are a major factor people often have for disputing Catcher. Holden often uses common curses from “hell” (234, 4, 74, 173), to the shortened “damn” (72) from “goddam” (234, 97, 185), as well

as the occasional “crap” (3). He also uses words that are jumbled together, such as “sonuvabitch” (45), “Chrissake” (46), “wuddaya” (46), and even “hellja” (47). Holden also calls people like Stradlater a “bastard” and his typewriter “lousy” (44). If the book is opened, virtually any page has a common curse which parents and administrators alike would hope to shield their children from. The novel touches upon the prostitution of Sunny, and the fact that Holden pays her, despite only wanting someone to talk with. Parents find that unsuitable, as Holden is the age of many teenagers who are required to read the book, and it sends the message that prostitution is condoned by. Sunny also brings in some of the violence of the novel, whether it be Holden being beat up by Stradlater in their dorm or Holden being beat up by Maurice. When Maurice comes by Holden’s room with Sunny to weasel out more money, Holden refuses to fork it over, when suddenly “[Maurice] smacked [him]. [Holden] didn’t even try to get out of the way or duck or anything. All [he] felt was this terrific punch in [his] stomach” (115). Not only does the book include violence, but it has sexual undertones, in particular from Mr. Antolini, and the hints towards perverts that have been around Holden in the past. When Holden goes to visit Mr. Antolini, he falls asleep on the couch only to wake up and question “what [Mr. Antolini] was doing...sitting on the floor right next to the couch, in the dark and all...sort of petting [Holden] or patting [him] on the goddamn head” (211). Holden then explains that he knows “more damn perverts, at schools and all, [more there] than anybody you ever met, and they’re always being perverty when I’m around” (212). It is a subtle hint that perhaps this is not the first time Holden has felt uncomfortable with adults, which creates his intense distrust of adults.

Whether it be Maurice beating him up, to the teachers that always want something from him, or Mr. Antolini, Holden creates an atmosphere where adults are all corrupt. Lastly, Holden wholeheartedly expresses his atheistic beliefs which goes against the common thread of religion. Holden reminds the reader that he is not religious and “[his] parents are different religions, and all of the children in [their] family are atheists. If you want to know the truth, [he] can’t even stand ministers...They sound so phony when they talk” (112). For many religious schools or town, this poses a threat to their mutual understanding with teenagers, who can make their own choices about religion. There have been numerous occasions where religion is one of the key reasons to ban the book. Catcher, however controversial, uses these disputes to talk about the real issues that schools and adults refuse. Catcher will always be considered controversial, from its language to adult and contentious themes, however Holden remains the constant, unadulterated voice of J. D. Salinger’s skepticism of the corrupt adult

world.