Why Catcher In The Rye Should Not Be Banned

The Catcher In The Rye is a story about a 16-year-old boy named Holden born in New York City. In the story, Holden Caulfield is a teenager navigating his way through the world. The Book has been banned by schools and libraries for years for having specific content that is not appropriate for adolescents and younger students. However, despite these conveniences, the Catcher in the Rye should not be banned from school because Holden is relatable to younger generations and because it teaches concepts teens need to learn. One reason the Catcher in the Rye should not be banned is that Holden Caulfield is the best representation of the younger generation because he deals with depression. In the Catcher in the Rye, Salinger shows his depression

The article Teenagers, 1946- present talks about the evolution of teenagers from 1946 to present-day shows that, “...and hairstyles became a major symbol of teens' rejection of the middle class.” (2) In the 1950s students showed their rebellion through their appearance to try and impersonate their favorite singer or whoever and this led to a major change in dress code in schools in the 1950s. Just like teens today and Holden, they both share similarities of being rebellious. Holden shows his rebellious side by drinking and smoking and acting like an adult just as teens today do as well. In the Catcher, Psychs it states how the Catcher of Rye talks about how Holden has an identity crisis and it shows that “In our society, this means that adolescents can engage in behaviors that are not allowed for adults.” (152-154) This is an important factor in a teenager’s identity crisis because most teens today and even Holden smoke or drink to flush the pain that they store out. They think that drinking or smoking or whatever can help them effectively forget about the pain for even a split second. We see this in the Catcher of the Rye with Holden a lot too; he often drinks or smokes when speaking about his problems or goes to bars whenever he's