Why Is Catcher In The Rye Banned

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Siddhi .M. Patel Ms. Johnston AP English Literature 5 January 2015 The Catcher in the Rye (Rough Draft Essay) “The Catcher in the Rye” by J.D Salinger has served as a fire for debate and argument. I believe this book should not be censored; banning a book on the basis of obscenity is simply a superficial reason. However, this novel has been the target of criticism, and it has also been the topic which we can discuss widely. I heard that this book was banned because of the language, sex, and violence. It shouldn't be because that might distort the message the Catcher in the Rye is trying to give the readers. We are living in United States of America where every ten to fifteen minutes you hear a curse word or inappropriate word. Since I…show more content…
It gives teenagers a person in literature with whom they can connect, and if you read this book you can learn a lot, and by placing yourself in the protagonist’s situation. There are life lessons to be learned from this book, even though this novel contains contentious issues that teach us important lessons including moral behavior and tolerance of others. Sometimes you should just throw out the bad things and notice the good things in the book not just ban the whole book because of the profanity. For example we should focus on the literary merit, ignore that language and the situations. Whoever banned this book or wanted the censorship only thought of the language used, but did not examine of positive side of the book. Why is Holden using Profanity? Holden’s use of language reflects the angry, depression and cynical aspects of his personality. His constant use of profanity and obsession with certain words such: no kidding, I swear, and crazy reinforces that he is a person that is not mentally justified with his feelings about the phonies. He hates phony people, and that is why in anger he uses those words. As we read the story we know that Holden is boorish, he talks to people rudely, as well as misbehaves sometimes. But deep inside he was a really nice boy, he is lost because of the death of his brother (Allie). One of the themes is ‘depression’, and he was…show more content…
If this book should be banned, then we are going against first amendment of the constitution. The First Amendment of the Constitution guarantees our right of freedom of speech, which includes the right to read and write the books with no objection. American culture and society. Even the literature is the main representative of freedom of speech, a field of art that should be deprived from being

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