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The Catcher in the Rye: Themes and Symbols essay
An essay about the catcher in the rye
The Catcher in the Rye: Themes and Symbols essay
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the content of the non-fiction novel, which detail the brutal murder of a prosperous Kansas farmer and his family are apparently too macabre for some…” (latimes.com). In Savannah, Georgia parents also were the cause for the book to be banned in an English Advanced Placement class, “... a parent complained that it contained sex, violence, and profanity” (weebly.com). This book was mainly challenged by parents because they believed their children were not yet mature enough to handle the book’s
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.
The idea to ban the book came about when students were asked to read it in school. Parents of the students reported, as said before, the book contained explicit language, references to child molestation, adolescent sexual exploits, and violence relating to the abusive father (“Banned Book Awareness”). High school parents began to challenge the book in 2010 at, William S. Hart Union High School District in Saugus (in California), and Sade-Central City High School. Successes in getting it banned took place in both Texas and Michigan. A parent at Traverse Public Schools said “It’s just really inappropriate for 13- and 14-year-olds” (“Banned Book
Holden Caulfield is a sixteen-year old boy that hates a lot of things. He attends a school named Pencey where he got kicked out because he had very poor grades. The only class he actually likes is English class. He doesn’t care that he got kicked out because he thinks that a bunch of “phonies” go to that school anyways. In J.D Salinger’s novel the Catcher in the Rye, Holden is affected by his two brothers Allie, and D.B.
Catcher in the Rye is the recounting of the weekend after the main character gets expelled for the umpteenth time from another uppity private school. The name of the main character, "Holden Caulfield," can be broken down in such a way that it reveals the character in question's tendency to hold onto and protect happier memories and childhood innocence from this big, unfair, scary game we call life, without realizing that he would be stunting the growth of those whom he is protecting. The character's first name, "Holden", can be interpreted as a pun for how he wants to "hold on" to better times. Throughout the story, Holden speaks fondly about his childhood summer memories, talking about when he used to play checkers with Jane Gallagher (p.17), or when he, his younger siblings, Phoebe and Allie, went to the park every Sunday (p. 37) to play, and often brushes the more serious moments he has experienced off, instead of going on a tangent like he usually does (p.21).
Why Catcher in the Rye Should be Banned Catcher in the Rye should not be included in the English department curriculum at North Quincy High. In Catcher in The Rye the main protagonist Holden Caulfield is portrayed as an emotionally unstable high school student who has been kicked out multiple schools for his behavior and poor grades. This book has already been banned in multiple schools for its use of inappropriate language, sexual implications, and Holden being an unfit model for adolescent readers, and for these reasons it should also be banned from our curriculum. Throughout Catcher in the Rye there were multiple instances in which inappropriate languages was used from various characters and Holden himself.
The book sheds a tear as it is banned by administration for students to read. The Catcher in the Rye should not be banned for summer reading for incoming sophomores because of its “explicit” content. After high school, out in the real world, life experiences are not censored or banned to protect you. You must experience life and all that comes with it.
The novel “The Catcher in the Rye” was about the journey of a adolescent boy finding his way to adulthood. In the book Holden Caulfield was unsuccessful in finding his way to adulthood. Holden’s attitude in the novel throughout his journey was very immature. He also can't accept the fact that innocence can’t be forever protected. Lastly, Holden calls everyone a phony when in reality he is the real phony.
Fahrenheit 451 was challenged by schools due to the excessive amount of hells and damns used in the text. Finally, To Kill a Mockingbird was banned in some schools due to the book “Promoting white supremacy” (Banned). Many people will debate over these book bans;
Some argue that the book is racist, offensive and that it should be removed from school libraries and not read in classrooms. Others argue that the book is an important piece of literature that provides valuable insight into the time period that it takes place in, the issues of race and slavery, and that it should be taught and studied as part of a broader understanding of American history and literature.
but the book has also sparked wild discussions about its content and if it should be taught in schools across the country. Although The Catcher In The Rye presents strong sexual themes and vulgar language, these aspects showcase the characters ' deepest emotions while staying true to the human experience and the power of language. The very same issues that cause the catcher in the rye to climb the banned book list, sexual themes and vulgar language, are exactly the things that make this piece worth teaching in high school curriculums, as they show readers the truest
Ever since the day The Catcher in the Rye hit the shelves all the way back in 1951, it seems that it is constantly being attacked for having too much explicit content for adolescents. “In 1973 the American School Board Journal called The Catcher in the Rye the most widely censored book in the United States” (Whitfield). Yet a few years later, “By 1981, it was the second most taught book in the United States. Teenagers especially loved the book for what is taken as Holden Caulfield’s sponsorship of rebellion, combined with his promotion of drinking, smoking and sex” (McCrum). Most parents don’t think that it is a good idea for their children to read the book because they think the profanity in it will influence their children as it did for Mark David Chapman, John Hinckley, and Lee Harvey Oswald.
The novel does incorporate many uses of the offensive language it was banned for, and most unsightly were three instances of racial slurs, which may be inappropriate for high school readers. The use of the N-word occurs early on page eleven of the novel, and while not said to a Black character directly, it nonetheless carries the negative connotation that anyone tied with the meaning is less than other people. The use of the word as a casual way to refer to Black individuals could create a harmful idea in an easily-influenced reader that doing so is okay, which would create a reason to prevent young readers from obtaining the book and lead to a perhaps valid ban of the novel by the Strongsville Ohio school board in 1972. In a similar fashion, Catch-22, as said by Emily Getty in the Carnegie Mellon University Banned Books Project, was banned in
Option 3: Argument Life can either be taken way too seriously, or not at all. Some people choose to take life seriously by following all the rules that are enforced on us from birth until we get older, and others choose to take their own path and see where it takes them. The second behavior can be seen as treating life like a game. In Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, Dr. Thurmer says that “life is a game that one plays according to the rules,” and Mr. Spencer mentions that idea to Holden while they talk. Although Holden does not think life is a game, his behavior and experiences show otherwise throughout the book.
6. IMPLICATIONS This chapter discusses the pedagogical and the research implications that evolved from this early sequential bilingual project conducted during the early years. The implications are based on the performance of the bilingual educators, the early childhood teachers and the children involved, as well as the materials employed to carried out this implementation. 6.1.
