Freedom to Read Week

For Freedom to Read Week I chose to read The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger. It took me awhile to decide which book I wanted to read because I had already read a lot of the banned classics. I was talking with a friend about this assignment and she was surprised to find that many of the books on the ALA’s Banned/Challenged Classics page (http://www.ala.org/bbooks/frequentlychallengedbooks/classics) were books we were required to read in high school. Anyways, I ended up choosing The Catcher in the Rye because this was one of the books I did not read yet and heard it was a really good novel. 

The Catcher in the Rye was challenged and banned from many different places for its sexual content, offensive language, and being unsuited to the age group. I found this book to be a quick read because I was very involved in the story. I felt like I knew Holden Caulfield personally and I wanted to keep reading to find out what was going to happen to him. I wanted there to be more to the story when I was finished because there were some loose ends that I wanted tied up. He makes it clear that he doesn’t want to talk anymore about what happened to him after he got kicked out of school, but I had so many questions I wanted answered because I was so connected to his story. It is clear in the end that he is in some kind of psychiatric facility, but no other details about that are given. Overall, I really enjoyed reading this novel.

While I was reading The Catcher in the Rye, I was aware of the issues for which the book was banned. However, I didn’t feel completely repulsed about the language or sexual content. Nothing seemed that extreme that it would need to be removed from schools. I can understand why many would want this book removed from schools and/or public libraries for its language. Holden is sixteen years old and uses curse words in just about every sentence. In my opinion, most of the swear words are pretty mild, however towards the end he does drop a few F-bombs. Although as I thought about it, most PG-13 movies contain swear words that were used in this book. I think the part most people are offended about in terms of his swearing is that Holden often takes the Lord’s name in vain. I get why some parents and/or teachers might not want their kids reading a book with profanity, however, I don’t think kids reading this book are going to start talking that way. Kids are exposed to so much in today’s world and parents need to make sure they’re talking about what is acceptable. Music, video games, movies, etc. also contain profanity to some degree, yet parents still allow their children to listen and watch. Why should books be any different? 

In addition to swearing, the main character is constantly smoking cigarettes, drinking alcohol, and occasionally talking about sex. For example, Holden gets himself into one situation with a prostitute that doesn’t end the greatest. Even with the sexual content being a common theme throughout the novel, I didn’t find it to be offensive. Nothing was talked about in any serious detail, and, because the novel was released in the 1950s, some of the sexual words Holden uses are a bit dated. I’m sure students reading it would get the gist of what he’s saying, but it’s not the same language we use today. Again, children are exposed to sex in other forms of media and parents should be talking to their kids about it. In my opinion, kids reading this book aren't all of a sudden going to start talking about sex or experimenting. They are exposed to way more from other forms of media.

I believe this book is a great piece of literature that should be kept on shelves for certain age groups. In my opinion, I think high school juniors and seniors should be able to read The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger. This novel can teach students a lot about being who they are and many of the struggles they can be faced with while growing up. The issues presented for banning this book are not new things children are exposed to. Other forms of media portray profanity and sexual content in which students see. While The Catcher in the Rye contains these things, as well, it is a great piece of literature from which students of appropriate ages can gain a lot from.