Pros And Cons Of The Catcher In The Rye

There was one instance of opposition for The Catcher in the Rye in Marin County District schools. There is a Board assigned to deal with the difficult issue. While hearing out the case, the Board of Directors acknowledges that “[the opposition] were concerned about their children” (Steinle). They were reiterating the Board’s effort to “treat their feelings, their concerns, their anger with respect…[that the] concern was religious and moral, I know it was our goal to understand and respect them” (Steinle). The only way to deal with the issues are to talk them out. It was apparent that as “early as 1954” (Steinle) The Catcher in the Rye has appeared on numerous lists of “dangerous books” (Steinle) because of it is more “adult” (Steinle) themes

After the major controversies over Catcher, in some places the book is now restricted so that “student access [became] subject to written approval by a parent” (Steinle). There were several groups of people who widely oppose Catcher across the country. It seems that the complaints come from people such as “parents, citizens, ministers, educators, and--in two cases--students” (Steinle). During the Marin County District controversy, Courtney Dean is the defending board member the novel sharing her beliefs against Kristen Keefe. Dean defends Catcher’s purpose, stating “[she] think[s] a book is written for a purpose and not just to be smutty, that if it is written to give information, to teach or to provide a moral, it is a good book” (Steinle). Mrs. Keefe, however, will not assent and explains that the book has many instances where “foul” (Steinle) language is clearly present. The high school administrator Kyle Russo even explains that he believes the novel is “making [students] susceptible to communism”