Censorship in Catcher in the Rye
...t would object to this book. Vulgarity. Holden Caufield, the protagonist, swears steadily throughout the book. His curses are of the tamest kind, though, "damn", "hell", "crap", "ass", and he curses so self-consciously and so consistently that the words lose most of their vulgarity. Most of the cursing in the book would not even be rated PG-13 if it were in a movie. The word "fuck" appears three or four times at the end of the book (201-204). Holden is as shocked by the word as the reader and he spends the last few pages of the book rubbing the word out when he finds it scrawled on walls in various places. The f-word is upsetting to many people, but it is used perfectly in context in the book. Occultism. It is difficult to see where this charge comes from. The only scene that even leans toward occultism is the scene where Holden speculates on whether Judas went to hell after betraying Jesus (100). This seems to be more of a doctrinal dispute than a venture into occultism. Holden also calls himself an atheist (99) and then goes on to prove that he is a christian in the next breath. This is the hardest charge against the book to believe. Violence. Holden has a rough time in this book. He gets into a fight with his roommate and gets a bloody nose (43), he gets roughed up by Maurice and punched in the stomach (102), and he has several violent fantasies. The violence in this book is barely at the level of a Saturday morning cartoon, though. Again this is a hollow charge. Sexual Content. This charge, along with the vulgarity, is the strongest. There is sexual content in the book. Holden fears that his friend Jane may have been raped, he lusts after women at every opportunity, he meets with a prostitute in his hotel room, he witnesses "perversions" through his hotel window, and he fears that Mr. Antolini is making a homosexual pass at him -- although the last is more Holden's fear than reality. Through all of these "sexual" adventures Holden remains innocent. He is a model of virtue. By High School, readers should be able to read these non-graphic passages without harm. If they are so fragile as to be harmed by the sex in this book, how will they survive the world after High School? The charges made against The Catcher In The Rye are used as a smoke-screen for the real reason...