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Catcher In The Rye Censorship Essay

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“If all printers were determined not to print anything till they were sure it would offend nobody, there would be very little printed” (Benjamin Franklin). When text contains violence, sexual matter, profanity, and other offensive material, it is bound to be challenged or banned (banned books). In the novel, The Catcher in the Rye, J.D. Salinger explains many sexual explicitness and repulsive language. As a result, the book was banned in many schools.
Censorship is the elimination of offensive words, images, and ideas. Censorship occurs when others infringe their opinions or values on society. The United States Supreme Court can also suppress sexual speech. (What is Censorship). Most books are banned because they are not appropriate for young readers. If a book does not meet the “moral standards,” it could be censored (banned books). Butler v. State of Michigan case ruled that Minors can read the same material as adults. However, the Jacobellis v. Ohio case held “national” and “community” standards, which the Catcher in the Rye did not meet (Wilson). …show more content…

The postwar time was filled with growth and luxury compared to the life during the war that lasted from 1929-1945. Along with the war was the era of The Great Depression. The Catcher in the Rye occurs in 1946, one year after the war ended. This year consisted of positivity and celebration, unlike the lifestyle in The Catcher in the Rye. The book is written in the perspective of Holden, which is much different than the views of people in this time. He sees the adult world as phony, which he states many times throughout the story. He speaks about the realities of life, whereas others are caught up in the new beginnings after a tragic time. Because of this, people are not happy with the way the book is written. Parents were extremely unhappy with the idea of their children reading this book because it went against their moral values

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Lastly he points out how banning this book will not protect children from everywhere else they can learn about the “cons” of the book in a different environment. Blei’s view on the topic of banning opens one's eyes to the reality of how information about profanities and other obscenities can be transferred to teenagers in ways that may pose a bigger danger than a book. He ties it to Catcher by stating that the book has been thoroughly inspected over the years, so all the themes and messages of the book have been revealed, so there is nothing to hide from parents and teachers. The point of the book has been made clear, and it is a just one, so hiding this book from children is having the opposite effect from what the people banning it want. Catcher in the Rye is a book about a teenager discovering himself, and shouldn’t be censored as it can be very useful and insightful for teenagers or people of the right mental capacity, as to appreciate the book.

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Banned Books Censorship is the suppression or prohibition of any parts of books, films, news, or other that is considered obscene. Censorship was used back in the 1800s with fascist states. Like censorship, book banning is the prohibition from a book being published and circulated by a government authority. The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls is a novel that has been challenged and banned. The Glass Castle is about a girl named Jeannette growing up with a mentally ill mother and a drunk father.

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Censorship can be defined as the prohibition of any part of books, films, news, etc. that are considered obscene, politically unacceptable, or a threat to security. The uses of censorship, the overuse of technology, and conformity are evident in the novel Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury. However, in the text, censorship impacts society the greatest as it affects people’s critical thinking as well as distorts information. Censorship is used throughout the novel Fahrenheit 451, and the government uses it to control the citizens.

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Censorship is found in books, media, or any other form of expression. Censorship is powerful. Everyone should be aware of censorship. Censorship is a theme conveyed in the works of many, such as, I am Very Real by Kurt Vonnegut, Harrison

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Censorship prohibits knowledge and information. Censorship is congress attempting to ban specific parts of songs, books, movies, etc. that may contain damaging, or explicit context. A book trying to be banned because of censorship is Night by Elie Wiesel. This book talks about the Holocaust from a victim’s point of view.

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Just because a book that was written many decades ago may have bad words in it, doesn’t mean that it should be withheld from the students. Additionally, the educational value of, The Catcher in the Rye would be totally lost if a book is banned just for containing “explicit” language. Sophomore students are at the age where they are old enough to know what is appropriate and what isn’t and they can read a book that has bad words in it. If a book is banned because of its explicit content, that overshadows the educational content and the moral lessons that the reader would take away from reading this book.

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“When you tear out a man’s tongue, you are not proving him a liar, you’re only telling the world that you fear what he might say” -George R.R. Martin. According to the Oxford dictionary, censorship is the suppression of any parts books, films, news, etc. that are considered obscene. In other words, censorship means to ban anything that is thought to be a threat to society. Fahrenheit 451 was published in 1953 and written by Ray Bradbury.

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In society, censorship is seen through the internet and media. Censorship is a complex issue that affects access to information and freedom of expression. Censorship raises questions concerning the boundaries of free speech and the control of information. Censorship is used by authors in a multitude of different types of literature to warn the readers of censorship in the world today. Especially seen when Bradbury uses the burning of books to warn the characters of censorship.

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First we should define censorship in order to discuss its effects and purposes. The Oxford English Dictionary defines censorship as, “The suppression or prohibition of any parts of books, films, news, etc. that are considered obscene, politically unacceptable, or a threat to security.” In this case we are mostly concerned with the censorship of “politically unacceptable” literature. However, Anaya states that reasons such as vulgarity can be used as excuses to ban politically challenging literature.

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Way before all of this, the real problem occurred in1960. An English teacher was fired, later reestablished, for assigning this book to a class. Thiswas just the beginning from 1961- 1982, The Catcher in the Rye developed into the furthermostchallenged/banned book in high schools and libraries. The irony in all of this is how The Catcherin the Rye, then, in 1981, was the most censored book and the second most shown book in publicschools. (R.W. Baldassarro)The question here is evident: why did so many teachers took the effort to risk their jobsjust to teach the students about a book?

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Mankato, Minnesota, is a small city noted for its robust economic performance and balanced industry year after year, for which it has won several awards. The most recent and notable award was in 2015, in which Mankato was ranked 39th on the Forbes list of the “Best small places for businesses and careers” in the United States. Additionally, Area Development magazine ranked Mankato as 7th on its list of the “Top 20 small cities for economic strength.” The city of Mankato is nestled in the larger Mankato area, which spans a cluster of counties and adjoining cities. Some of the cities in this area are Fairmont, New Ulm, Saint James, Madelia and Springfield.

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“Censorship is the suppression of speech, public communication, or other information.” Censorship should not be too heavy today because of people's freedom of speech and identity. Ironically, today schools censor many books that are seen as “unjust.” Censorship is widely seen today through books and real-life events.

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Most all Challenges (an attempt to remove material from the curriculum or library) to The Catcher in the Rye typically start with inappropriate language, content and sexually explicit material. When the reader is first introduced to the character of Holden Caulfield, it is clear that he is an alcoholic, smoker and overall not a very pleasant teen. With this knowledge of Holden it is easy to understand why a school board would ban the book. In 2002 a school board in Summerville, South Carolina banned The Catcher in the Rye, calling it “ a filthy filthy book”, and removed the book from being taught in their schools.

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By true definition, censorship is the suppression and illegalization of speech, public communication, and other information which may be considered objectionable, harmful, or politically incorrect as determined by the government in authority. The purpose of censorship is perhaps to protect the people, however, negative outcomes typically follow when this route is taken to control a governed people. Censorship directly attack the main characters of Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 and George Orwell’s 1984. Although government censorship was perpetuated to create a whole and perfect society, Fahrenheit 451 and 1984 both demonstrate that censorship brought on by the government negatively controls a community’s thoughts, actions, and their people as a whole.

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Even though this may be a valid point of view, the life lessons taught to the reader greatly outweigh the old nature of the book. The book discusses Holden’s dead brother, and the suffering that Holden goes through after this event. Holden like many teens today is going through hard times. Everyone goes through frustrations in life, and the book reinforces this idea and makes it clear that people are not alone in what they are feeling. Article 2 further discusses this idea by saying, “[the book] can help readers understand that they aren't the only ones coping with problems” (source 2).

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