The Importance of Censoring in The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger

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J.D. Salinger was an American author well known for his best seller The Catcher in the Rye, a considerably influential novel that portrayed the feelings of alienation that were experienced by adolescents in North America after World War II ("J.D. Salinger Biography"). Salinger’s work appeared in many magazines, including a series of short stories which inspired many new authors ("J.D. Salinger Biography"). His inspiration for Pencey Prep boarding school in The Catcher in the Rye stemmed from his own difficult education at a military school (Feeney). Salinger went through an emotional series of events after being drafted into the army during World War II, and it is evident that his story is very reflective of his own negative views of the world post-trauma (Feeney). The novel features a teenage boy who is kicked out of his prep school and, on the verge of a breakdown, kills time in New York City to avoid going home and facing his parents (Andrychuk). It earned strongly mixed reviews and a lot of negative feedback upon its publication, and was accused of “promoting immoral values” ("J.D. Salinger"). The narrator of the story, Holden Caulfield, has become one of the most iconic male characters of rebellion in history (Feeney). Consequently, The Catcher in the Rye is filled with characters that serve as bad role models, and the story’s explicit and inappropriate remarks can cause too much damage to leave it uncensored.
The Catcher in the Rye has been highly criticised for its profanity, lying, violence, and vulgarity, as well as mentions of suicide, drugs and alcohol. This was especially the case in the 1950s, when the majority of the American population held conservative beliefs, and the story strongly went against these beliefs (Re...

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...ed-book-week-celebrates-freedom-1.1060005#.UxfQgvldW8o>.
Feeney, Mark. "J.D. Salinger, Portrayed Teen Angst in ‘The Catcher in the Rye,’ Dies at 91." Boston.com. The New York Times, 28 Jan. 2010. Web. 05 Mar. 2014. .
"J.D. Salinger Biography." Biography.com. A&E Networks Television, n.d. Web. 04 Mar. 2014. .
Reiff, Raychel. J.D. Salinger: The Catcher in the Rye and Other Works. Tarrytown: Michelle Bisson, 2008. Print.
Salinger, J. D. The Catcher in the Rye. Boston: Little, Brown and Company. 1951. Print.
Zoričić, Dunja. "J.D. Salinger: ‘The Catcher in the Rye’ - Rebellion and Controversy."Academia.edu. Academia, n.d. Web. 05 Mar. 2014. .

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