The Role Of Censorship In Catcher In The Rye

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Censorship has been a topic of debate within the United States when it comes to books and the education system. Censorship is examining books and removing the unacceptable parts. Catcher in the Rye has been censored because of its controversial content. Catcher in the Rye was written by J.D. Salinger and published in 1951 by Little, Brown, and Company. The novel is a Bildungsroman about a sixteen year old, Holden, who has just been expelled from another boarding school. This novel is told from the perspective of Holden in a mental institution. As a therapeutic exercise, Holden is retelling the events leading up to his mental breakdown. These events vary from him being expelled from Pency Prep to running away to New York without his parents knowing to being robbed by a prostitute and her pimp. Holden …show more content…
The reasons many people promote the censorship of the book is because people believe that Catcher in the Rye is filled with profanity, violence and sex (California State University, Northridge). One scene is particular that demonstrates some of the reasons for censorship is when Holden mentions the idea of killing his roommate which is very alarming to. Holden discusses how he wanted to kill his roommate simply because his roommate, Stradlater, had been on a date with a girl that Holden likes a lot (Salinger 57). Holden stating this is alarming due to the fact that he resorts to violence. Teachers talk about how violence is never the answering, but then there is Holden is using violence as the way to solve his problems. Holden talks about how he finds himself to be the “biggest sex maniac” that anyone has ever seen (Salinger 81). This might be a little concerning to some parents to hear that this 16 year old boy is obsessed with sex and wants to murder someone when he is still a child. This portrays a negative image of boarding
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