By: Bryce Saulnier, Ryan Irwin and Josh Gruyters

The Catcher in the Rye is a great piece of literary excellence, but its effect on society is more negative then positive. Teenagers should not be allowed to read this book because of its dark timeline of the events of Holden Caulfield's adolescent life.

Ex- Beatles member John Lennon was campaigning for peace throughout his whole life. His life ended in a very violent way when Mark David Chapman decided to shoot him. Mark David Chapman isolated himself from society, and instead spoke to the “little people in the walls.” When police arrested him after the shooting, they found a book on him: The Catcher in the Rye by J.D Salinger. Police would go on to search his parent’s house where they found many dark recordings of him singing and dark letters that showed he struggled with mental illness. He would go on to say that his “bad side’ took over when he killed John. He said he worshipped the Catcher in the Rye and it truly inspired him to do what he did. Many people began wondering how a book could have so much influence when another assassination a year later shocked the world.

Ronald Reagan was a very popular actor before he ran for office and then later became President. John Hinckley Jr was a nobody who had an obsession with Jodi Foster and The Catcher in the Rye. He became extremely upset after John Lennon's death, and would listen for hours to his music while reading the Catcher in the Rye and contemplating suicide. Just like Holden, he decided to take a trip for a while. He quit school just like Holden, broke up with his girlfriend and thought of where to go. He decided he would travel to the University Jodi Foster was at and kill her and himself. When he arrived, he bought the fateful gun and left the Catcher in the Rye in his hotel room. He read the paper before leaving and saw Ronald Reagan was in town. He decided to be spontaneous like Holden and instead go and shoot the President. He shot the President and 3 others, but luckily they all survived. Once again the Catcher in the Rye spoke to someone with a mental illness and pushed him over the edge into violent acts.

For most of his life, J.D. Salinger was a recluse. When he was thrust into the spotlight when his book came out, he avoided the press and stardom and tried to continue acting like nothing happened. He was always furious when people tried to tape him or try to meet him. He sued a wide variety of friends for including letters he wrote them in their biographies. He was very controlling and believed in the frontrunner religion to Scientology. His daughter nearly died because he didn’t want to take her to the hospital because he didn’t believe in medicine. His wife actually escaped with the daughter and would later divorce him. Many people believe he based Holden on himself. Jerry Lewis once asked if he could play Holden if a movie ever came up, and Salinger replied furiously and said the only actor to play Holden would be himself and no one else. The top picture on the left is actually a picture of Salinger when he realized the girl talking to him was actually taking pictures of him too.

The Catcher in the Rye has been banned in 100’s of schools, and in recent years some schools have been lifting a ban because they have realized it’s a classic piece of literature. Its been banned for four main reasons which the next four slides will each explain. Substance Abuse Sexual Content Profane Language Violent Content

Holden constantly smokes throughout the book, and goes to bars and drinks illegally with a wide variety of people. All of this is done while he is underage, which is why groups feel teenagers should not read the books because it gives them the wrong ideas. Holden nearly smokes throughout the entire book. One example of Holden smoking is when he goes to visit Phoebe. He says that he is out of cigarettes and says that he smoked 3 packs that day. He ends up taking even more from his parents stash before he leaves. An example of Holden drinking can be found almost in every chapter after the 10 th. He meets Carl Luce for drinks then ends up calling Sally Hayes and she asks him if he is drunk, which he answers that he is. He has two addictions which he doesn’t even try to break, sending a bad message to readers reading the book.

There is no actual sexually explicit actions in the book, but there is a lot of talk about underage sex. Holden says near the start of the book that he can never get too far with the ladies because when they say stop, he stops unlike Stradlater. Holden is furious at the thought of Jane and Stradlater in the back seat of Ed Bankey’s car. Holden ends up hiring a prostitute from Maurice about halfway through the book, but no sexual acts are done, just talked about. Holden ends up meeting Carl Luce at a bar, and all Holden wants to talk about with Carl is his sex life. Some people feel that this book has way too much underage sexual references for a book that is supposed to be read by teenagers. Some people interpret Holden as a sex crazed teenager that only wants to feel the human touch.

The language in the book is far from school appropriate. Here are the numbers: Goddam: 245 Damn: 39 Chirssake: 18 Hell: 281 Fuck: 6 Phoney: 35 The numbers are extremely high for a novel that is read to teenagers. It is nearly impossible to censor a book with so much profanity.

This book is not overly violent, but there is a lot of mention of violent acts. There are only two actual violent acts that take place: when Holden and Stradlater fight, and when Holden tells us about James Castle and how he jumped out the window and died to avoid his attackers. Holden says multiple times that if he wasn’t so yellow, he would punch Maurice. He also had a fantasy of Maurice shooting him in the gut, then Holden going down the elevator and shooting Maurice with a machine gun and having Jane come over and bandage him up. Opponents of the book say this idea he comes up with make people think that if they kill, they will end up getting the girl they want. You can bring this back to John Hinckley Jr, who shot Ronald Reagan and 3 other to impress the love of his life.

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