The Catcher in the Rye #2 essay The Grand Finale
Inside the “Catcher Cult”
I could spend a lot of time explaining how The Catcher in the Rye represents the normal rebellion and fear of accepting responsibilities associated with those particular teenagers coming of age as World War II became reality for everyone in the United States. On the other hand, I could make a case that the novel is an important tool for professionals and law enforcement, as it can be utilized to better understand the minds of young people who are depressed or decide not to participate in what is considered normal society. I’ve decided to utilize this exercise, however, to point out significance in more than one timeline historically and the novel’s association with several notable criminal minds and national tragedies.
There are two fairly recent examples of historical significance in relationship to The Catcher in the Rye, simply based on the fact that copies of the novel were found on-site at two horrific criminal events. When John Hinckley, Jr. shot President Ronald Reagan on March 30, 1981, The Catcher in the Rye was found on his person. Later he would explain to psychologists that in many ways he is Holden Caulfield. Just a few months earlier, December 8, 1980, Mark David Chapman stepped up to John Lennon outside his home in New York City and shot him dead. Among Chapman’s processions confiscated that evening was an underlined copy of The Catcher in the Rye.
You can draw direct references from those two moments and extend the logic further, noting that both Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold – who shot up Columbine High School on April 20, 1999 – had personal copies among the belongings collected from their bedrooms after they committed suicide following events at their school. Hinckley, Chapman, Harris, and Klebold each shared the understanding of, and a relationship to Holden Caulfield. Symbolism utilized by Salinger, such as ducks, museums, and old friends (Jane Gallagher) – well, something in the telling of that story connects with readers who are disaffected by society and who are more likely to note and rebel against all that is “phony.”
Moving backward along the timeline, in the 1970s, teachers who assigned The Catcher in the Rye were routinely fired by administrators. Several states actually banned the book from all school libraries. It became the most banned book in the world, while at the same time being the second most assigned book by teachers in public schools. Second only to John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men.
By Nick Wehunt
I could spend a lot of time explaining how The Catcher in the Rye represents the normal rebellion and fear of accepting responsibilities associated with those particular teenagers coming of age as World War II became reality for everyone in the United States. On the other hand, I could make a case that the novel is an important tool for professionals and law enforcement, as it can be utilized to better understand the minds of young people who are depressed or decide not to participate in what is considered normal society. I’ve decided to utilize this exercise, however, to point out significance in more than one timeline historically and the novel’s association with several notable criminal minds and national tragedies.
There are two fairly recent examples of historical significance in relationship to The Catcher in the Rye, simply based on the fact that copies of the novel were found on-site at two horrific criminal events. When John Hinckley, Jr. shot President Ronald Reagan on March 30, 1981, The Catcher in the Rye was found on his person. Later he would explain to psychologists that in many ways he is Holden Caulfield. Just a few months earlier, December 8, 1980, Mark David Chapman stepped up to John Lennon outside his home in New York City and shot him dead. Among Chapman’s processions confiscated that evening was an underlined copy of The Catcher in the Rye.
You can draw direct references from those two moments and extend the logic further, noting that both Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold – who shot up Columbine High School on April 20, 1999 – had personal copies among the belongings collected from their bedrooms after they committed suicide following events at their school. Hinckley, Chapman, Harris, and Klebold each shared the understanding of, and a relationship to Holden Caulfield. Symbolism utilized by Salinger, such as ducks, museums, and old friends (Jane Gallagher) – well, something in the telling of that story connects with readers who are disaffected by society and who are more likely to note and rebel against all that is “phony.”
Moving backward along the timeline, in the 1970s, teachers who assigned The Catcher in the Rye were routinely fired by administrators. Several states actually banned the book from all school libraries. It became the most banned book in the world, while at the same time being the second most assigned book by teachers in public schools. Second only to John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men.
By Nick Wehunt
posted by nick at
3:30 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home