In 1951, J.D. Salinger wrote The Catcher in the Rye, a novel about teenager Holden Caulfield who goes to New York City to get away from school and all his problems. The Catcher in the Rye has a long, controversial history. It has been banned from many schools because of its controversial topics and concerned parents who don’t want their children reading it. Although The Catcher in the Rye is controversial due to its explicit language and inappropriate topics, its connection to teenagers and depiction of Holden’s struggles and beliefs make the novel an important book for teenagers to read. Even though the novel has many controversial elements that have led it to be banned in many schools, The Catcher in the Rye is a book that many teenagers connect to. 

The Catcher in the Rye contains a lot of explicit language, which is typically used by Holden, which is one of the reasons the book is thought to be too inappropriate to be read in schools. While Holden was talking about one of his classmates, he said, “Boy, I can't stand that sonuvabitch. He's one sonuvabitch I really can't stand.” (Salinger 13). This quote reveals the type of language Holden uses throughout the book, which is one of the reasons the book is so controversial. Many schools have banned the book because of the profanity and sexual references throuought the book (Stern). The fact that school boards have banned it because of the topics in it shows that the controversial elements of the book are enough for school boards to not allow it to be read at their schools. In an article about the censorship of The Catcher in the Rye, Mercedes Aguirre said, “The use of Salinger’s novel as a set text in schools has been challenged by people who object to its use of swearwords and its sexual content.” (Aguirre). This quote reiterates the fact that the controversies in this book have outweighed the value of the book in the eyes of many schools. 

The Catcher in the Rye contains many inappropriate topics that some people may consider not school appropriate, including sexual references and underage drinking. In part of the story, Holden pays a pimp to have a prostitute sent to his room (Salinger). Even though Holden and the prostitute don’t end up having sex, the mere mention of prosititution is innaporpiriate enough for some schools to ban the book. The Catcher in the Rye has so many controversial topics, including foul language and sexual references, that it is one of the most banned books in schools ever (Aguirre). In the book, Holden said, “I ordered a Scotch and soda…if you hem and haw, they think you're under twenty-one and won't sell you any intoxicating liquor” (Salinger 38). Holden’s partaking in underage drinking is one of the controversies that lead tThe Catcher in the Rye to be banned by many schools. Holden is only 16, which is an age many highschoolers who would potentially be reading this book at school are. Holden drinking at 16 could influence other 16 year olds to do the same, which is one of the reasons the book has been banned by many schools. 

The Catcher in the Rye is an important book for teenagers to read because it is from the point of view of a teenager who is going through something many teenagers go through. The Catcher in the Rye is thought of by teachers as one of the few classic novels that connects to students (Aguirre). The fact that teachers are recognizing the importance of this book to teenagers and how they are able to connect to it proves that the book truly does have an impact on teenagers because even teachers are able to see the positive effects of the book on their students. In an article about The Catcher in the Rye, Lomazoff wrote that Holden seems “to be very self-critical, as he often refers to himself as a terrible liar, a madman, and a moron,” (Lomazoff). This quote reveals that Holden struggles with low self-esteem, which many teenagers also struggle with. A teenager with self-esteem issues could learn a lot from The Catcher in the Rye. Because Holden has the same struggles as many teenagers, The Catcher in the Rye could relate to many students and help them see that they are not the only one who has struggles, and that it is not uncommon for people like them to have that problem. In an article about The Catcher in the Rye, Aguirre wrote that The Catcher in the Rye is “One of the earliest works of fiction exploring male teenage consciousness,” (Aguirre). This demonstrates how The Catcher in the Rye connects to teenagers because it is one of the first chances teenage boys had to read something that could clearly relate to them. Because the novel has been banned by many schools, it robbed male students of reading a book that they could truly relate to. 

The depiction of Holden’s struggles and beliefs on innocence relates to many teenagers and can teach them many lessons as they develop into young adults. In The Catcher in the Rye, Holden thinks about a place where children can run and play in a field of rye. He pictures himself as protecting the children by catching them if they fall off of a cliff in the rye field (Salinger). This represents Holden’s need to protect the innocence of children, because Holden would be protecting the children from the cliff, which represents losing innocence. Holden has a need to protect the innocence of everyone, because he does not like the world after he lost his innocence. This relates to many teens and can teach them life lessons on growing up. Teens can learn from the novel that as they grow up, they will also lose their innocence. Teens can understand that they can’t hold onto their innocence forever, and have to let go of it to move on with their lives, like how Holden did at the end of the novel. The Catcher in the Rye is truly a story about loss of innocence (Lomazoff). The novel can have a huge impact on teenagerswho are struggling with growing up. 

The Catcher in the Rye is one of the most important contributions to literature in America in the last century. A book exploring the teenage consciousness, it is a shame that this book has been censored in schools for decades. Although it has many controversial elements that some people think are too inappropriate to be read in school, the lessons that can be learned from this book completely outweigh any arguments against it. No school should ban this book from being read, which would deprive teenagers of a book that they can truly connect to. 

Works Cited

Aguirre, Mercedes. “Banned from the classroom: Censorship and The Catcher in the Rye.”. British Library, 29 September 2016, blogs.bl.uk/english-and-drama/2016/09/banned-from-the-classroom-censorship-and-the-catcher-in-the-rye.html Accessed 6 March 2022. 

Lomazoff, Eric. “The Praises and Criticisms of J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye”. The English Pages. TEP-Online, tep-online.info/konkret/novel/jds/salinger1.htm Accessed 7 March 2022. 

Rohrer, Finlo. “Why does Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye still Resonate?” BBC  News. British Broadcast Corporation, 5 June 2009, news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/8084931.stm Accessed 3 March 2022.

Salinger, J.D. The Catcher in the Rye. New York: Little, Brown and Company, 1951 

Stern, Simon. “The Catcher in the Rye” The First Amendment Encyclopedia. Middle Tennessee State University, 2009, mtsu.edu/first-amendment/article/794/the-catcher-in-the-rye Accessed 7 March 2022.