Censorship In The Catcher In The Rye

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The Catcher in the Rye the Controversy What is considered censorship? Censorship is considered “the practice of officially examining books, movies, etc., and suppressing unacceptable parts. (Dictionary)” “The Catcher in the Rye,” was often censored and banned from libraries and schools. Each time it was banned it was for a different reason, language, sexual situation, belief in it contributing to the Communist party, and even the use of alcohol. It is one of the most censored books and also one of the most taught books in schools. Even though it is a high school book and high schoolers are believed to be mature enough to handle a book like this, people still try to ban the book.
In 1960, a teacher in Tulsa, Oklahoma was fired for assigning …show more content…
In the time period that this book was written, sex was a taboo subject. Premarital sex was a sin and not an acceptable practice. At one point Holden even tried to get a prostitute, but lost interest after she showed up. Holden is constantly thinking about sex, but the act itself doesn’t seem to interest him. “Holden lusts over women every chance he gets, he witnesses provocative behavior through his hotel window, he believes that his friend Jane was raped as a child, and he believes that Mr. Antolini, one of his old professors, made a sexual pass at him, but in the end he actually confesses to being a virgin” (“Banned Book: The Catcher in the Rye”). So even though sex is often discussed the act is never committed in the book. Parents were afraid that if teenagers read this book and they felt that sexual conduct was acceptable that they would start practicing premarital sex. Today the sexual content of this book in today’s context is nothing compared to what most teenagers read or have engaged in. In the United States, 46 percent of all high school age students, and 62 percent of high school seniors, have had sexual intercourse; almost nine million teens have already had sex and this has nothing to even do with reading this book. Teens are going to do what they want and a book isn’t going to be the influencer.
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