Banned Books
The Catcher in the Rye
By: Hunter Suelzer
Introduction
• The Catcher in the Rye was
written in 1951 by J.D
Salinger.
• Books main character is
troubled teenager Holden
Caulfield.
• The American Library
Association said that the book
is “A favorite of censorship
since its publication (Banned
Books: The Catcher in the
Rye) due to its slang terms and
sexual content
My Opinion (Thesis Statement)
• I do not think that this book should be
banned because the sexual content is not
extreme, the slang is not offensive at all,
and the book is mainly banned because of
protective parents and the school system.
The book was heavily criticized for exploring sexual content
that was rarely discussed in the time period
• The New York Harold Tribune Book Review written by
Virgilia Peterson, described the book as being
contaminated by vulgarity, lust, lies, temptions,
recklessness, and cynicism (Kallen32).
• The books main character Holden, also talked about
many sexual things that were not talked about much in
the 60s like molestation and home-sexuality (Kallen32)
• I believe that even though these things were taboo in
that time period, the book doesn‟t seem to go into a huge
amount of detail on these topics
The book used many slang terms,
some considered vulgar
• Attacks on Catcher in the Rye were often started
by calling out the language which was described
as “unfit” and “smug” (Seed449)
• One library banned it for its “excessive vulgar
language as well as other things (Banned
Books: The Catcher in the Rye)
• I believe that the slang terms in the book are a
little too stupid to be tagged as offensive, as
some of the words include puke, vomit, and
screw up (Kallen32)
Most of the criticism came from
protective parents
• In Massachusetts, parents asked that the book
wasn‟t taught in school because “it is totally
filthy, totally depraved, and totally profane
(Kallen34)
• Another parent said “ I don‟t believe a young
mind can absorb this book without being totally
scarred” (Kallen34)
• I think that the parents are over reacting about
this. They believe that there kids cannot tell right
from wrong and I disagree with that.
School systems were protective about
their students reading this book
• In Kentucky, a teacher who wanted to use the
book for a 10th grade class was fired (Kallen34)
• The school board in New York said that the book
was dirty and no school should use it (Kallen34)
• I think that the book could easily be used as
teaching material in a highschool, as it teaches
many social habits and creative writing patterns
Conclusion
• The Catcher in the Rye was highly discriminated
against due to its sexual content, vulgar
language, and negative activity. However I think
that without all the attention from parents, the
book would be less banned, and would be
allowed more in school. However with parents
working in school systems, this feat would have
been very difficult in that time period. Today of
course, Catcher is less criticized and is available
for all readers
Works Cited
• “Banned Books: “The Catcher in the Rye”. Time.com.CNN. Sep.29 2008. Web. 5 Nov
2010
• Kallen, Stuart. “Understanding „The Catcher in the Rye‟. San Diego: Lucent Books Iic.
2001. 32-35. Print
• Seed,David. “In Cold Fear: The Catcher in the Rye Censorship, Controversies and
Postwar American Character”. The Modern Language Review 98.2 (2003): 449-450.
Literature Resource Center. Web, 5 Nov 2010