Censorship for J.D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye

Teachers and parents are very protective of children. That is okay for the most part, but at some point the children are going to have to grow up. It is fine for some censorship in books for schools, but maybe just for the actual children. In high school, every student is referred to as a “young adult.” Let these kids be young adults by reading some adult language. J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye should be banned for elementary and middle school but allowed in high schools.

The main themes of Catcher in the Rye did have parts to do with sexual interaction and alcohol. Yes, these things are often frowned upon in our society for teenagers or “young adults.” Teachers and parents seem to believe for the most part that students who read this book are more likely to join in on sexual activity or drinking alcohol at an illegal age. The students should be given more credit than that. Although this society is a lot of “follow the leader,” that does not mean these kids would feel the need to do this activities.

Most people who read this work do not really relate to the main character, Holden Caufield. Holden comes across as being a little mentally disturbed. He believes almost everyone is phony. Fitting in is not something he does well. He gets kicked out and expelled from schools. Most normal students would not want to be like Holden.

Some different experts and even just parents argue that the language is too strong with curse words for someone who is not actually an adult yet to read. For example: “Goddam money. Always ends up making you blue as hell.” (p. 113.) Usually if GD is said, it offends people. I, myself, am offended by this word, but just because the book a person is reading says GD that does not mean the person ha...

... middle of paper ...

...d middle schools is understandable. The students at those schools are not yet ready mentally to read about anything vulgar or unjust for children. But today I argue that the young adults at high schools should be able to read this classic novel. It is no more in depth than the things they hear daily from other students or are possible doing themselves, so I do not think it is right to ban a classic book to keep them from reading about things that he or she already hears every single day as the walk down the long hallways of his or her schools. A great read should not be taken away from these students because the parents of these children or the teachers of these students think they have not heard anything like this before. Trust the young adults. It is only a book.

Works Cited

Salinger, J. D. (1951). The catcher in the rye. Boston: Little, Brown and Company.