Smash! Crack! Boom! Are the sounds heard form a hotel room. A young boy is lying on the ground. Another man and a woman dressed in a black silk dress are standing above the bloody and bruised boy. “That’s what happens when you underpay for one of my girls”, the man says in a scruffy voice. The young lady takes a wallet off the dresser and pulls out a twenty dollar bill. They both exit the scene kicking the boy in the stomach as they pass. All this could have been avoided if only the boy was allowed to read The Catcher in the Rye.
The Book The Catcher in the Rye has been around for many years, since 1951 to be exact. Through those many people have objected to this amazing, unique tale. Due to the harsh language and realism in this book many people have chosen to ban it from schools and public libraries. I believe this book has a moral of some sort, you just have to be open minded enough to look for one under the rough pages of Holden Caulfield’s life. This book can teach us many things
One thing we can learn is redemption, deliverance from sin; salvation. For example, in the book, Holden Caulfield picks up a prostitute for $10. He didn’t do anything with her, but the next day at the train station Holden meets two nuns and gives them $10 for their convent. This is a sign that he felt bad about the night before and wanted to make his peace. Redemption is good for kids to learn about because it shows us that even though we do something terrible we can make up for it and be forgiven.
Another great reason not to ban it, is that it gives us a new perspective. You could thing about something one way and read this book and be introduced to a new way of thinking. For example, during his stay at the Pencey boarding school he tells us about his thoughts on Jesus and the Disciples. Holden says, “I like Jesus alright but his disciples were always letting him down”. That is a new idea to me and is unique because we always hear how great Jesus and his disciples were you usually never hear about anyone bringing one down without the other. I feel it necessary to learn and know about new ideas, thoughts, feelings, and beliefs because if we don’t how will know how to interact with people that use the same understanding.
Lastly The Catcher in The Rye should not be banned from schools or libraries because it’s a major wake-up call to what real life is really like. For example, Holden talks about suicide, transvestites, and things that are in other words “uncomfortable” subjects that people don’t really like to talk about. But if we kids don’t how can we prepare ourselves for when we come across them? Life shown through the eyes of Holden Caulfield gives us a new perspective on how life really is. Its not all the sunshine and butterflies that Hollywood likes to portray and if we don’t open our minds up to real life we won’t recognize it if it hit us between the eyes.
A young boy is walking down the street. He sees an old homeless man sitting on the front steps of a broken down shack. He goes up to him and gives him a twenty dollar bill and says, “Have a nice day sir.” The young boy did this to redeem himself for earlier that day. He learned the idea of redemption from the book The Catcher in The Rye.
