Should The Catcher In The Rye Be Banned In Schools

Improved Essays
As Marcus Tullius Cicero, a Roman philosopher, once said, "A room without books is like a body without a soul.” Books have the capability to be any person's escape from reality and no book should ever be subjected to the term "banned". Every book has at least one good thing to offer, no matter how great or small. All the reader has to do is give the book a chance and find that one thing. The novel The Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger, is one such book that should be taught in high school. Because it has been banned in certain areas and schools, due to profanity mainly, Holden Caulfield, the depressed and lost teenage protagonist, rarely has a chance to share the good lessons he has to offer. Any reader who dares to open this book and allows …show more content…
Later on, Holden goes to Phoebe's school to deliver a message to her. While at the school, Holden encounters the words "f____ you [written] on the wall[s twice]" (260). He is very upset after seeing these words twice and continues to wait at the museum for Phoebe. At one point, a couple of children ask Holden where the mummies are, so Holden decides to show them. Sadly, Holden encounters those same two words again, leading him to become distraught. Additionally, the multiple accounts of sexual references can be just as upsetting to read. For example, Holden tells the reader that Ackley would repeatedly tell him about "some [girl Ackley supposedly] had sexual intercourse with" (49). Holden even says that "most [students] at Pencey just [talk] about having sexual intercourse" (63). A little while after Holden arrives at New York, he meets an elevator man who asks him if he would like to have some fun that night. After agreeing, he waits and when he hears a knock at his door, he "open[s] the door, [and a] prostitute [is] standing [outside of his door]" (122). Also, after Holden visits Phoebe

Related Documents

  • Superior Essays

    Holden talks about his love for riding the train at night. He say he usually buys a sandwich and four magazines that have dumb stories about phony people. ”One of those stories with a lot of phony, lean-jawed guys named David in it, and a lot of phony girls named Linda or Marcia that are always lighting all the goddam David's' pipes for them”(60). While at the edmont hotel holden looks out his window and sees a couple messing around. This gets him talking about how he doesn't understand sex.…

    • 1721 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    It is odd to think that there are so many concerning modern issues that have yet to be resolved, yet educators and parents prevent their children from forming awareness of these issues--by banning books from the school curricula. Many authors attempt at exploiting these societal problems to readers, whether from the past or future, yet skepticism is unfortunately tied with them. Controversy offends many people, though students need to be aware of reality and societal situations. Keeping middle and high school students ignorant, by banning novels, is supposed to prevent prejudice and offense...but does it really help students? John Knowles' A Separate Peace is a highly debated book, whether or not to be included in school curriculums due to…

    • 2708 Words
    • 11 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The book will help the students to teach them if they are depressed and if people around them are depressed they will know what to do and try to help them out. The Catcher in the Rye should not be banned just because of the profanity, sex, suicide, and drugs that is presented within the…

    • 811 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    In the books, The Catcher In the Rye by J.D. Salinger and The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald these authors write about two characters who have deep phoniness tendencies throughout their lives in the real world. The character in The Catcher In the Rye While Gatsby unquestionably is a big phony, Holden is the biggest phony because he lies just to isolate himself from other people, for no reason at all, and so adults would take him seriously. Although Holden is a big phony, Gatsby fabricates a story a bout his life piecing together facets of information that sound intriguing and somewhat believable. When Gatsby is lying, he lies to cover up his upbringing to make him seem like a different and interesting person.…

    • 685 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Great Essays

    While he is in New York City he comes across various perverted people which add to his misery as well as curiosity. One example of this is when Holden is at the Edmont hotel in his room. He looks at the room across from him and sees a man and woman squirting water from their mouths on each others face. Seeing this, Holden knows that the stuff they are doing is crumby and phony, although he also mentions that he would not mind doing it himself. He says, “In my mind, I’m probably the biggest sex maniac you ever saw”(62).…

    • 1814 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    While talking with his teacher Mr. Spencer, Holden thinks that his tone has become “sarcastic but sort of nasty too,” and Holden makes up a lie to leave (Salinger 13). While Holden is receiving important advice that he could utilize, he is greatly upset by Mr. Spencer’s judgment. It can be inferred that Holden fibs as a direct result of his concern for embarrassment. Later, on a train ride, Holden lies to a classmate’s mother and says that he still attends Pencey (Salinger 54). Holden is afraid of being vilified for dropping out of Pencey by a complete stranger.…

    • 725 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Holden says “I nearly dropped dead when [Stradlatter] said that… Boy, was I excited, I really was” (31). Holden has been caught up on Jane forever for many reasons, but a majority is his lack of growing up. It’s every child’s dream, to marry their childhood crush, and because of this subconscious desire, Holden is incapable of moving on to others. Holden is so lonely and desperate to find company and companionship that he tries to befriend every person he meets, including the cab driver, ugly girls from a bar, Luce, random children at the park, but his attempt at a relationship with a prostitute is the most revealing. When the prostitute arrives at Holden’s hotel room, he starts feeling “so damn peculiar” and asked the prostitute “don’t you feel like talking for a while” and he even recognized that “it was a childish thing to say” (95).…

    • 983 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Love is defined as, “an intense feeling of deep affection.” By this definition, love is characterized as a feeling, however, others believe love is more of a choice. In society, people are obsessed with the idea of love or possibly for some the idea of no love. In the novel Catcher in the Rye love is deemed impossible, but forever desired. Throughout the novel, Holden desires the affection of a multitude of things including Jane Gallagher, Allie, and his sister, but is never able to obtain them due to his trapped mental state, highlighting in society people’s yearn for love that is not feasible because people always desire something when they are in a mindset that makes it unattainable.…

    • 1044 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    America, the land known for its freedom and its classical novels. As years have come and gone, bestsellers and classics are being taken away from students in the school systems, the students have no say in the matter. Parents or the school board bring up the matter to the schools, then there are many meetings deciding whether the book should be banned or should stay. Challenging and banning books is a very popular matter now, with many eager to support, and some trying to get rid of the cause. Many parents and students question as to why books can be banned in the first place and what causes them to be taken out of so many schools.…

    • 1974 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In a few areas a great book, To Kill a Mockingbird, and many books like it are being banned. To Kill a Mockingbird is a very informative book on what life was like in the 1930’s, but it is still being banned for strong language, “strong content”, and strong cases of racism. Many schools have had kids read that book, but because of recent events a few have started to ban it. Some people believe that they can teach messages like the ones taught from this book, but in a better way, so they make it more suitable for kids to read. Some citizens feel that kids should be introduced to strong topics like this when they are in around 8th grade, which is a very common time for schools to have children/teens to read this novel in school, because kids need to be prepared for the real world early on.…

    • 1467 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    One of the banned books is the book, 1984 by George Orwell. Reading 1984 in high school would be nothing new to high school students. So 1984 should be kept in the high school curriculum because it involves a good plot and interesting storyline, and the book is so similar to high school life that students would be able to connect to it better than adults. The content involved in the book, such as sexual content, and disturbing imagery is much more viewed in today’s society with video games and movies, that in 1984, it seems as though it were censored. So in conclusion, the book should be kept in the high school curriculum and not be…

    • 1181 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    With its use of blatant racial terms and constant presence of racism, the classic novel To Kill A Mockingbird, by Nelle Harper Lee, has recently sparked controversy. The reason behind this controversy is that people tend to feel uncomfortable when reading it. People who disapprove of the book also believe in banning the book from school curriculum. I believe, because of the books ability to teach lessons on racism and open minds to deeper discussions in the classroom, To Kill A Mockingbird should remain on school curriculum.…

    • 736 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Fortunately, for every group pushing for bans on literature, there are organizations that fight for this freedom. One such organization is the American Civil Liberties Union. In the year 2000, when discussing the topic of book banning, the organization stated that, “Permitting restraints on literature sets the stage for attacks on all expression that is artistically or politically controversial or that portrays unpleasant realities of life” (American Civil Liberties Union). Although some books may contain graphic violence or sexual content, and therefore of course should be kept out of the hands of children, I’d like to think that these widespread en masse bans of such literature are a poor way to go about it. It’s not as if middle or high school students are incapable of understanding and comprehending dark or more adult subject matter.…

    • 1307 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Salinger demonstrates Holden’s inner conflicts about adult social expectations in a variety of ways: Jane Gallagher demonstrates Holden’s inner conflict with sexuality and sexual maturity, experiencing many overwhelming adult physical responses. Jane Gallagher is a young women whom Holden has had a personal connection with in his past. When Holden discovers Jane has gone on a date with his roommate, Holden becomes distraught by continuously worrying whether or not Jane has had sexual intercourse. This act would result in a loss of innocence for Jane, which Holden cannot, or refuses to, understand. Holden remembers, with great pleasure, the relationship that he shared with Jane when they were young; he does not see Jane as the mature woman…

    • 1104 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Great Essays

    For Holden, his sister Phoebe 's innocence and the innocence of children like her is the last true valuable asset that the world full of phonies contains. One event in the story that shows Holden’s value for the innocence of children can be found when Holden is walking in Phoebe’s school to give her a note and finds “Fuck you” written on the wall. “While I was walking up the stairs, though, I thought I was going to puke again. Only, I didn’t. I sat down for a second, and then I felt better.…

    • 1952 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Great Essays