Catcher In The Rye Loss Of Innocence Quotes

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People murder one another for a variety of reasons. Whether these murders are inspired by outside sources, done with rash thinking, self-inflicted and/or premeditated, they all have a main reason or reasons. In the case of Mark David Chapman, the murder of John Lennon he committed was both premeditated and inspired by an outside source called The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger. In this book, Holden, the main character, is a unique person with a different outlook on life. Throughout the book many different themes are explored through Holden’s mind such as phoniness in modern society, mental health issues, and the preservation of innocence. Chapman took a heavy liking to this book and especially the main character Holden and what he believed …show more content…
In his point of view, “Chapman saw Lennon as an innocent who was himself about to be corrupted…[Holden’s] older brother, D.B., is the novel’s clearest example of innocence gone bad. D.B….was apparently a writer of great promise who “sold out” and began to “prostitute himself” in Hollywood” (Stashower 243). Chapman believed Lennon was becoming corrupted by society as Lennon started to become more mainstream and accessible. Since Lennon’s Beatles days, Chapman’s perception of Lennon is shown to be a hero of the underground degrading into what the phony world wants. In an excerpt from the book, Holden says, “Now he's out in Hollywood, D.B., being a prostitute. If there's one thing I hate, it's the movies. Don't even mention them to me” (Salinger 1). This quote makes a comparison between Holden’s view of his brother and Chapman’s view of Lennon. They both believed that they were selling out and engaging in phoniness. Throughout the book, Holden exhibits resentment towards his brother for selling out to Hollywood. He preferred when his brother was doing work that was meaningful and would not appeal to all the masses. One Chapman ended his reclusion in Hawaii, he “traveled to New York to find John Lennon. He later told lawyers that he had considered other celebrities such as Johnny Carson, Jackie Onassis, Paul McCartney, Elizabeth Taylor, George C. Scott, and Ronald Reagan...Mark David Chapman identified with Holden Caulfield’s sensory overload. For both, existing in a modern society was too much to handle” (Whitehead 1-2). A society that glorifies celebrities is something that Chapman despises, and in his head, a way to help mend this issue is by taking out phony figures that are looked up to by so many. This philosophy and hatred of society caused him to hate
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