The Importance of Censoring in The Catcher in the Rye by...

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†¦show more content†¦Its profanity has been declared in numerous states, as parents claim to be fearful that their children will be scarred by the events and foul language in the novel (Reiff). This fear has been elevated so much, in fact , that in the 1960s there were â€Å"teachers from Kentucky, Okla, Tulsa, and Louisville† that almost lost their jobs for assigning the novel to their classes. As a result of this, the book was prohibited in many school libraries (Dutra). Many people in North America also find the references to sexual acts and prostitution to be completely disturbing, and consider them to be pornographic and â€Å"encouraging of â€Å"premarital sex, homosexuality and perversion† (Reiff). This concern was much more prominent in the years leading up to the 1970s, when most of society was not open to this type of literature. Additionally, rebellion and deception are consistently displayed in Holden’s thoughts and actions, and his obsession with human intimacy may send the message to young people that sexual intercouse is an appropriate thing for a person to discuss and think about regularly. When accounting for all of this, it is difficult to argue that the The Catcher in the Ry e should not be censored. Despite the high amounts of foul language, deception, and vulgarity that many justify as reason enough to ban the novel, many critics argue that the story gives young readers thatShow MoreRelatedAnalysis Of Salinger s The Catcher s The Rye 2525 Words   |  11 PagesThe Catcher in the Rye (1951) by J.D Salinger is a book with a truly controversial history by being banned from bookstores, libraries, etc. during the time of its release and even now is very scarcely being brought back into the high school setting to be taught as part of the high school curriculum. While being confronted about reasons for being banned, protesters of this book give very vague arguments on why it should be banned such as â€Å"its a very filthy book,† or â€Å"its explicitly pornographic.†Read MoreEssay on Censorship and Book Banning1838 Words   |  8 Pagesconcerning religion, traditional family values, and economic and political positions. The texts that are chosen usually convey vague meaning and many times religious aspects are not mentioned. Is it our right to neglect students to learn the importance these issues have on our lives? Reasons for banning books are limitless. Some of these reasons are that the books contain content that is sexually explicit, nudity, profanity, and obscenity. The bizarre thing is that many books banned are