Why Is The Catcher In The Rye Banned

Diction Essay The Catcher in the Rye
Since the 1600s censors have been trying to ban books that contain harsh or unpopular viewpoints. Some books are banned because of message of book or sometimes they are banned because of profanity, and also books can be banned for their cover if it suggest a offensive matter. For a book to be banned a group of people, or a person has to challenge the book. The American Library Association banned the novel The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger because it was challenged by many people, and school because it was one of the many book that was banned for profanity, sex, and slang. The Catcher in the Rye is a story about a 16 year old boy named Holden Caulfield that has been kicked out of private school
Words like “goddam”. (Salinger 34), “moron”(44), and “crap”(35) are the words that Holden uses constantly throughout the book when he talks to his peers, and friends that he tries to connect with. This type of language that J.D.Salinger uses puts a negative image on the book, and many parents disagree with the idea of kids reading, and learning a book that has profanity in it. Not only did parent not like J.D.Salinger use of the profanity, but parents also did not like that the author used sexual feelings, and thoughts in the book that kids read and learned. In the book the author shows the sexual thoughts of Holden a teenager “You'd think a prostitute and all would say “Like hell you are” or “Cut the crap” instead of “Like fun you are.”(123) Parents all around America complain about The Catcher in the Rye, and how the author uses sexual thoughts, and phrases with profanity in a book that is taught at school. This was just the beginning of the many bad reviews that The Catcher in the Rye got. One of the other major complaint that was submitted was the use of profanity in certain scenes. One scene that seemed very offensive and slanderous was when Holden was cursing in front of his little sister “ like as if Thurmer was a goddam prince or something.” “Don't swear so much”(218) Many parents, and authors found this offensive because it gave the impression that kids,and
According to the dictionary.com Slang means the special vocabulary of thieves, vagabonds, etc.; argot.The slang terms that Holden uses in The Catcher in the Rye can explain its banning from school throughout America. Slang terms in The Catcher in the Rye have become popular, and commonly used in America, like the word “screw up”(191), “dough”(41), and “phony”(19). These words have been viewed as slang, or improper words, and parents, and literary critics have both both hailed and assailed the novel for these terms. The word phony originally meant funny, but as time went on it was changed to the meaning fake “One of the biggest reasons I left Elkton Hills was because I was surrounded by phonies.”(19). The change in definition made the word sound bad, and later on school banned kids from saying phony because they thought it was a slang term. J.D. Salinger influenced people to use a word that was commonly used, in a different definition, which lead the word to be considered slang like phony. Another word that J.D. Salinger used in The Catcher in the Rye that became famous as a slang term was dough “I used to caddy once in a while, just to make some dough.”(41) The term dough meant a mix mixture of flour and liquid, used for baking bread or pastry, but as J.D. Salinger, and and other authors used dough in another definition it became a slang word.