Catcher In The Rye Should Be Banned Essay

Armando
Junior English
25 November 2013
Bad Reputation Did you ever think that books that contain sex, obscene language, and immoral subjects could make a good book? The Catcher in the Rye is a prime example. The book has been on the banned reading list since the days following its publishing. The book was said to be “immoral and inappropriate that in 1960, a teacher in Tulsa, Oklahoma, was fired for assigning the book to an eleventh-grade English class.” (“Banned Book: The Catcher”) The Catcher in the Rye should be read in schools because it gives a crystal clear image on how the world contains sex, violence, and motifs of lying and deception.
The world is not perfect; it is filled with unpleasant situations involving sex. Holden
Caulfield is no exception to having to deal with these types of situations. “‘You do? Why? No kidding, they better for sex and all?’ ‘Listen. Let’s get one thing straight. I refuse to answer any typical Caulfield questions tonight. When in the hell are you going to grow up?’ I didn’t say anything for a while. I let it drop for a while.”(Salinger 189). Parents are unable to protect their children better if they will not allow their children to face the truth about situation involving sexual activity. Sex is a common bad habit of the human race. If a parent does not allow their child to learn about these unpleasant ideals, the parent is not doing the child any favors. Instead, the parent is only going to regret their decision if the child had to deal with an unpleasant sexual situation. Eventually the child will find out sooner or later on those topics from a bad source of information. If parents do not allow their children to properly learn about situations involving sexual tensions and all the drama that comes along with it, they could become part of the statistic. “Fifty six percent of females and seventy three percent of males today have had intercourse by the time they turned eighteen” (“Banned Book: The Catcher”) if The Catcher In The Rye, is banned from schools, adolescents would have one less resources to learn from about the negative situation of sex.
Along with sexual problems, the book also contains examples of violent scenes, Many boys and girls get into at least one fight during the duration of their education.
Holden Caulfield is no exception; he gets into a fight with his roommate at the college he attends. “‘Now, shut up, Holden, God damn it- I’m warning ya,’ he said. I really had him going. ‘If you don’t shut up, I’m gonna slam ya one.’ ‘Get your dirty stinking moron knees off my chest.’ ‘If I letcha up, will you keep your mouth shut?’ ‘Yes.’ He got up off me, and I got up, too. My chest hurt like hell from his dirty knees. ‘You’re a dirty stupid sonuva-bitch of a moron,”(Salinger 58). It may not be the goriest fight, but it certainly does give off a bad aura about the book. The fight situation in the book should be portrayed as a life lesson for teens especially who are getting ready to take the next step into college. Along with fighting, The Catcher In The Rye, also uses language that some people consider violent and or inappropriate. The reality of it is that, all high teenagers and adults use foul language as a way to emphasize emotions. “How often do you swear? the results showed that the average amount of swearing among students was 3 words and the average among teachers was 2 words during a single lunch period.” (“Banned Book: The Catcher”) the language use in the book only helps the teenage reader relate to the story and helps them understand the situations that are occurring within the book. Teaching
adolescents how a small matter could turn into a larger brawl is crucial to learning how to deal with stressful situations between peers. If The Catcher In The Rye, were to be banned, many teens who will soon be making the voyage into college will likely end up in the same violent situation Holden Caulfield ends up in.
The world is not only filled with violence, but it also portrays situations of lying, deception, and some sexual problems.
The Catcher In The Rye, has many situations where Holden Caulfield is lying in order to hopefully prevent any drama from occurring. The main lie Holden tries to keep up is about not telling his parents he has been kicked out of yet another school. He says: “well they’ll be pretty irritated about it, they really will. This is about the fourth school I’ve gone to”(Salinger 22). Holden is afraid of his parent’s reaction so he decides it is best to hide the truth from them as long as possible, Or at least until, he can return home on Christmas break. Because of this lie, Holden is forced to stay away from his home for three days. He must live on his own and try to make it in on the streets before he can return home. Lying is never morally justified to do no matter what the purpose is. In the real world, people lie on a day-to-day basis. Parents and people who tried to ban The Catcher In The Rye, for encouraging children to lie, have sadly misinterpreted the true moral of the book. The true moral of the situations of lying are to show that when you lie, you have to keep digging yourself a deeper and deeper whole in order to keep up that one small lie. If you would of just told the truth, you could save yourself all the trouble of having to fuel a
lie. The Catcher in the Rye should be read in schools because it gives a crystal clear image on how the world contains sex, violence, and motifs of lying and deception. If the book were to be banned from all school districts, adolescents would have one less source to try and learn how to deal with difficult situations such as sexual tension, acts of violence, and actions of lying and deception.

Works Cited
"Banned Book: The Catcher in the Rye." Banned Book: The Catcher in the Rye. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Nov. 2013.
Salinger, J. D. The Catcher in the Rye. Boston: Little, Brown, 1951. Print.