Catcher In The Rye Research Paper

The Catcher in the Rye is renowned for being one of the great American novels, however that does not mean it is without opposition. Pamela Steinle exclaims that Catcher has this “dubious distinction of being at [one of] the most frequently censored book across the nation and the second-most frequently taught novel in public high schools” (Whitfield). Some critics and parents who refuse to have it in classrooms claim that it Catcher is filled to the brim with “amateur swearing and coarse language” (Whitfield), although that is not all the book is. Some go as far to call it “blasphemy” (Whitfield) and despite the fact it is not a crime, people hold it in accord with being as horrendous. One parent is appalled by the “237 instances of where ‘goddamn’” (Whitfield) is used by Holden. Stephen Whitfield realizes that not all of these statistics are correct or consistent. Whitfield clarifies the myth of the term “fuck you” and how it is used in the novel. Holden never once utters the …show more content…
In vain he “trie[s] to rub it off with [his] hand again, but this one was scratched on” (Salinger 222). This point in the novel, is referenced as the article discusses reasons many parents and critics alike want Catcher banned. Holden uses the “amateur swearing” (Whitfield) even when he discovers a phrase he does not use. He describes his encounter with the curse, explaining that “it drove [him] damn near crazy. [He] thought how Phoebe and all the other little kids would see it, and how they’d wonder what the hell it meant, and then finally some dirty kid would tell them” (Salinger 221). Even though Holden uses the words “damn” and “hell” he remains adamant that what he was seeing scrawled out was far worse. He even goes as far to feel as though he wants to kill whoever had written the words, something that could possibly resonate with parents of readers had the understood the

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