What Are The Similarities Between The Catcher In The Rye And Mccarthyism

During the 1950’s, the United States experienced many conflicts that dealt with wars, politics, and religion. There was the Cold War which was a condition of political and military tension after World War II between powers in the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. Also, the Korean War started June 25, 1950, through July 27, 1953, which affected the United States financially. There were many difficulties with communism that affected the Red-Scare, and the anti-communist dealing with McCarthyism. “During the McCarthy era, thousands of Americans were accused of being communists or communist sympathizers and became the subject of aggressive investigations and questioning before government or private-industry panels, committees and agencies”(McCarthyism).
Salinger, was published in 1951, and it was a story originally issued for adults. After two weeks it was released, it hit number one on the New York Times best-seller list. In the novel, they follow the life of the protagonist Holden Caulfield, a troubled sixteen-year-old boy from New York City. Holden attended Pencey Prep Academy, a private school, in Agerstown, Pennsylvania. He faces many mental difficulties in life, for example, he is depressed, has terrible health due to smoking, always angry, resentful, and perceptive.”The obvious signs that Holden is a troubled and unreliable narrator are manifold: he fails out of four schools; he manifests complete apathy toward his future; he is hospitalized, and visited by a psychoanalyst, for an unspecified complaint; and he is unable to connect with other people”(Analysis). Ten years after the novel was released, it became the most censored book everywhere in the United States. From there, the novel got challenged all around the world for many years. “According to the American Library Association, The Catcher in the Rye was the 13th most frequently challenged book from 1990-2000”(Baldassarro). The many reasons why The Catcher in the Rye was banned, is because the novel has profanity, sexual content, unsuited to age group, and it has
His brother died of leukemia when he was eleven, and Holden was thirteen. Also, one of Holden’s classmates at Pencey Prep jumped out of a window and killed himself. Salinger used those life events as a tool to create the characteristics of Holden Caulfield. The extensive use of his profanity was one of the primary reasons why the novel was challenged and banned. Holden Caulfield loved to call almost every adult a “phony.” He hated the fact that when you grow older, you become fake and somebody else. In the novel, Holden stated, “One of the biggest reasons I left Elkton Hills was because I was surrounded by phonies”(Salinger, J). Holden also loved to use the word “goddamn,” whether it would be because you are nice, or you are just terrible. Holden stated, “That guy Morrow was about as sensitive as a goddam toilet seat”(Salinger, J). Vulgar language was not one of the main reasons the novel was banned for profanity, it was also Holden’s perspective on religion. He didn’t believe in religion, he stated, “I can't always pray when I feel like it. In the first place, I'm sort of an atheist. I like Jesus and all, but I don't care too much for most of the other stuff in the Bible. Take the Disciples, for instance. They annoy the hell out of me, if you want to know the truth”(Salinger, J). There were many statements about religion Holden said that offended many people. Those main reasons pushed the novel, The