Brash, bawdy and yet one of the most compelling and influential pieces of American literature, “The Catcher in the Rye” by J.D. Salinger, is about how a troubled adolescent, protagonist Holden Caulfield, grapples with the pains of growing up. Published in 1951 and originally written for adults, “The Catcher in the Rye” has been read differently over the years. The New York Times described it as “an unusually brilliant novel” where “adolescence speak[s] for itself”. On the other hand, The Washington Post said reading “The Catcher in the Rye” was “literally a painful experience … comparable to mainlining castor oil”. The novel has also bounced on and off censored lists because it was claimed to be “filthy and profane”, “explicitly pornographic” …show more content…
For instance, the novel glamorizes under-age and non-consensual sex. This is clearly seen when Holden admires his friend, Luce, for “losing his virginity when he was only fourteen” and praises his roommate, Stradlater’s, “technique” for “snowing his date” even when she says, “No please don’t”. In addition, while Holden seems to respect the wishes of girls he goes out with, he secretly wishes he hadn’t (pg. 131). Admittedly, the sexual references in the novel are subtle and less explicit than those found in the media and, books, music, and video games that adolescents are currently exposed to. Nevertheless, sex is a conspicuous aspect of “The Catcher in the Rye” and, misleads middle school readers about sexual matters and intimate relationships, as illustrated above. This is dangerous because middle schoolers are not always educated about sexual matters, and find it difficult to talk to adults about these things. Therefore, as research shows, literature is often an important source of answers about sex for middle schoolers (Wood 2010). Thus, it is not only important for middle schoolers to be well-informed about sexual matters, but also be exposed to literature that represents sex in a healthy way and is suited to their level of understanding. Otherwise, we run the risk of, middle schoolers forming unhealthy