So why is it so controversial?

In 1960, a teacher was fired for assigning the novel The Cather in the Rye in class.
The now world-famous The Catcher in the Rye, written by J.D. Salinger was an extremely
controversial book because it discusses themes and ideas such as moral codes, mentions
sexuality, family values, and uses vulgar language throughout the entire book. Holden
Caulfield, the protagonist, is a poor role model because he encourages ideas about
rebellion, drinking, smoking, and sex. In 1981 it was both the most censored book and
the second most taught book in public schools in the United States.(Mybuffalo bills,
2012) But the book became even a more controversial novel when people found that it
existed as a sort of link with the shootings of John Lennon, Rebecca Schaeffer and Ronald
Reagan, since the assassins either carried a copy of the book that day or were obsessed by
it.
The 20
th
century had many important moral values, but Holden had propensity to
rebel against them; his moral codes are different than the ones one was supposed to
have. The protagonist, for example, tries to make us believe that lying is okay and often
beneficial.

I'm the most terrific liar you ever saw in your life. It's awful. If I'm on my way to the store
to buy a magazine, even, and somebody asks me where I'm going, I'm liable to say I'm
going to the opera. It's terrible. (Salinger, 1951, Ch. 3)

The best example the book has of Holden lying is when he meets Mrs. Morrow on the
train. Old Mrs. Morrow didnt say anything but the boy you should have seen her. I had
her glued to her seat. You take somebodys mother; all they want to hear about is what a
hotshot their son is. (Salinger, 1951, Ch. 8) He thinks lying is okay if it is going to make
someone feel good. Im always saying Glad tove met you to someone Im not at all glad
I met. If you want to stay alive, you have to say that stuff, though." (Salinger, 1951,
Ch.12) This is one of many examples of moral codes the book presents. Other moral value
Holden embodies is the readiness to criticize. He is extremely judgmental towards boring
people and calls them phonies. He applies this term to people that seem too typical.
When he uses this word he is often referring to superficial people. We can see that Holden
wants to stay young forever, and he also wants to protect other kids from growing up. In
the quote: "What I have to do, I have to catch everybody if they start to go over the cliff
I mean if theyre running and they dont look where theyre going I have to come out from
somewhere and catch them. Thats all Id do all day. Id just be the catcher in the rye and
all." (Salinger, 1951, Ch. 22), Holden uses the cliff to symbolize the way in which kids will
fall and die because they will become adults if Holden doesnt catch them. We can see
the notion the character has of growing up, and this is why in the book Holden usually
uses this term with adults. He thinks that when people grow their innocence is gone, they
become phony and their values are immaterial.
Nowadays the topic of sex is very common because it is shown constantly on
television and billboards; however, it was not as common back in 1951. This is why we can
infer that J.D Salinger had a different vision of what sex meant. Holden struggles with
sexuality, yet encounters sex constantly in the novel. In chapter thirteen he encounters a
prostitute, Sunny, and invites her to his hotel room. Despite the fact that he had the
chance to have sexual intercourse with the prostitute, he didnt. There is also lots of
mention of girls throughout all chapters, especially that of Jane Gallagher. He often
fantasizes about how their sex life would be if they were together:
So what I did was, I went over and made her move over on the glider so that I could sit
down next to her I practically sat down in her lap, as a matter of fact. Then she really
started to cry, and the next thing I knew, I was kissing her all over anywhere her eyes,
her nose, her forehead, her eyebrows and all, her ears her whole face except her mouth
and all. She sort of wouldn't let me get to her mouth. (Salinger, 1951, Ch. 13)

Even if he considers himself a sex manic he confesses he has no experience with it. In my
mind, Im probably the biggest sex manic you ever saw. (Salinger, 1951, Ch.9) Although
he desperately wants a relationship with a girl he is afraid.
Sex is something I really don't understand too hot. You never know where the hell you
are. I keep making up these sex rules for myself, and then I break them right away. Last
year I made a rule that I was going to quit horsing around with girls that, deep down, gave
me a pain in the ass. I broke it, though; the same week I made it - the same night, as a
matter of fact. (Salinger, 1951, Ch.9)

Parents were totally shocked by the way in which Holden lived and thought. It is because
of this that kids werent supposed to read this book; consequently, teenagers shouldnt
identify with this rebellious character nor do or think as he does.
One last characteristic Holden has which makes him such an influential character
and poor role model is his use of language when expressing himself. He talks in the first
person and therefore the story is narrated the same way he talks. Its use of colloquialism
was, at the time the book was first published, very uncommon. The Catcher in the Rye
with Adventures of Huckleberry Finn where the only two books that used this writing style.
People considered Holden to be too sincere, since he talks freely about controversial
issues such as religion. He uses "...if you want to know the truth," or "...it really does." to
let us know the reality of his thoughts. His use of slang was not, however the only aspect
people didnt like; his vulgar language also gave much to talk about. He used words such
as moron, idiot, stupid and I dont give a dam in regular conversations. Here are
some examples:
I dont give a damn, except that I get bored sometimes when people tell me to act
my age. (Salinger, 1951, Ch. 1)
I was surrounded by phonies...They were coming in the goddam
window. (Salinger, 1951, Ch. 9)
And I have one of those very loud, stupid laughs. I mean if I ever sat behind
myself in a movie or something, I'd probably lean over and tell myself to please
shut up. (Salinger, 1951, Ch. 1)
That guy Morrow was about as sensitive as a goddam toilet seat (Salinger, 1951,
Ch. 8)
For a seventeen year old boy this was far from acceptable. Such bad-mannered words
were only permitted to come out from an adults mouth, never from a teenager. Adults
thought it was intolerable for children to hear these words and therefore did everything
possible to keep it far from their kids.
So why was it so controversial? With the arguments and the examples provided
above it is easy to understand why in the 1950s this amazing book had such a dramatic
impact on people of older generations during that time period. All the characteristics
Holden present are the ones parents never wished their kid to have. They thought of
Holden as the worst role model, and to prevent their kid turning into something similar,
they tried banning the book from every library and institution. Years have passed and The
Cather in the Rye is as acceptable as any other novel. Copies of it are found in the whole
world over and it is now considered a classic.


Bibliography
Salinger, J.D. (1951) The Catcher in the Rye. Boston, MA: Little Brown.
"Mybuffalo Bills." Mybuffalo Bills. N.p., 12 Dec. 2012. Retrived Web. 18 June 2013. Link
expired 05 June 2014 <http://mybuffalobills.net/in-1960-a-teacher-was-fired-for-
assigning-the-novel-in-class/>.





http://voices.yahoo.com/the-controversy-over-catcher-rye-jd-11568494.html?cat=38
http://www.123helpme.com/view.asp?id=54036
http://www.studymode.com/essays/Controversy-Of-Catcher-In-The-Rye-788188.html
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080329105833AAvuWZR
http://mybuffalobills.net/in-1960-a-teacher-was-fired-for-assigning-the-novel-in-class/
http://www.litcharts.com/lit/the-catcher-in-the-rye/themes
http://www.gradesaver.com/the-catcher-in-the-rye/study-guide/major-themes/
http://www.academia.edu/2051688/J._D._Salinger_-_Catcher_in_the_Rye_-
_Rebellion_and_Contoversy
http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/catcher/themes.html








Peer edit Arianna Moeller
1. She needs to complete more of the paragraph but the ideas and the content are getting
better.
2. She doesnt have as much but she is include some in the things she already have.
3. No vocab yet
4. Her grammar is really good. Her sentences are very well structured
5. Yes it is okay