There are many books that are banned in schools across the country. One of the most controversial books that have been banned is The Catcher in the Rye. The novel contains extreme profanity and the main character, Holden, partakes in many unadmirable activities. Some of these activities include smoking cigarettes habitually, hiring prostitutes, and heavily drinking alcohol. Holden is doing all of this as a teenager living alone in New York. It is these actions and the constant use of profanity such as the F-word, that caused many schools to feel the need to ban this novel. However, the powerful message and the notoriety that the book has built up over the years has led to most schools unbanning this novel. The novel had instant success when JD Salinger published it in 1951. This success was followed by both hate and praise. The popularity that the book generated led Salinger to live a private life. He remained secluded from most of society. This was to avoid all of the unwanted attention that The Catcher in the Rye created. Many people felt that the novel portrayed a poor image to America’s youth and that it should not be allowed in schools. Holden was clearly mentally ill. As the story progressed, his mental state deteriorated. Throughout the novel, Holden claims to hate fake people, or “Phonies”. Mark David Chapman also hated Phonies. When asked why he assassinated John Lennon he claimed that he was being a “Phony”. This assassination only fueled the inferno of the controversy surrounding this novel. Many people feared that Holden’s immature views would be adopted by the public and people would begin acting strange and committing more murders as Chapman did. I strongly disliked this book. As I read it I began to become more and more angered towards Holden. He had his life laid out in front of him on a silver platter, and he destroyed it. Holden’s immense immaturity led him to get expelled from school and admitted into a sanatorium. He had wealth, he had friends, but this was not enough for him. The only way that Holden would have been happy was if Father time stopped time itself. Holden had a fear of growing up. He hated adults and everything about their life. This was evident in the novel as he attacked his roommate because he made sexual advances towards Holden’s crush. Whenever he talked about Jane, he would talk about how they used to hangout and how innocent it was. He could not think of anything happening to her or between them. When he ran away to New York he quickly realized how much he hated life. Whenever anyone called out Holden for being so negative he denied it and began to hate that person as well. This constant negativity streaming out of Holden really deterred me from the novel. As I was reading it all I could think about was how he ruined a great opportunity to succeed in life. Holden was incapable of compromising, it was his way or the highway. I would never recommend this book to anyone.
I strongly disliked this book. As I read it I began to become more and more angered towards Holden. He had his life laid out in front of him on a silver platter, and he destroyed it. Holden’s immense immaturity led him to get expelled from school and admitted into a sanatorium. He had wealth, he had friends, but this was not enough for him. The only way that Holden would have been happy was if Father time stopped time itself. Holden had a fear of growing up. He hated adults and everything about their life. This was evident in the novel as he attacked his roommate because he made sexual advances towards Holden’s crush. Whenever he talked about Jane, he would talk about how they used to hangout and how innocent it was. He could not think of anything happening to her or between them. When he ran away to New York he quickly realized how much he hated life. Whenever anyone called out Holden for being so negative he denied it and began to hate that person as well. This constant negativity streaming out of Holden really deterred me from the novel. As I was reading it all I could think about was how he ruined a great opportunity to succeed in life. Holden was incapable of compromising, it was his way or the highway. I would never recommend this book to anyone.