Mark David Chapman Essay

Two shootings, one survivor and one dead man, both linked to a book that would change the world forever. The Catcher in the Rye, J.D. Salinger’s notorious story, helped fuel two mentally unstable men to commit homicide. December 8, 1980, Mark David Chapman becomes the most hated man in the world, at that time, but little did people know that three months later the world would hear about John Hinckley. Both of these men, and the assassination they attempted, have one thing in common: The Catcher in the Rye.
Mark David Chapman is, in a way, the living Holden Caulfield, with the additional killing part. The early life of Mark Chapman is eerily similar, but at the same time very different to the one of J.D Salinger’s protagonist in The Catcher …show more content…
He never told me he loved me. And he never said he was sorry – one of those guys." While growing up Mark Chapman didn’t have any friends and was often teased by other kids, who called him many obscenities. He fell back onto imaginary friends. Mark was a well behaved boy, but once he hit fourteen and started high school, Mark abruptly started his rebellion period; but just as soon it started it had quickly ended. Later on, throughout the years, Chapman suffered depression, many mental lapses, and long appeased demons had finally returned. Finally, two other events influenced his mental unstableness. One was when John Lennon was quoted saying, "We're more popular than Jesus Christ now,” remark that greatly riled Chapman’s mind, who was a vehemently Christian believer. The second and last trigger was being introduced to the book: The Catcher in the Rye. He had finally met a different world, one where he could fit in. Subsequently, his reading the book urged his demons to act like Holden Caulfield and to kill Lennon, who lived in New York City, and was in fact, Salinger’s story setting. He soon caved in. Once he arrived in New York, he wasn’t Mark Chapman, he was Holden