In this blog post, I’ll summarize the criticisms and defenses of ‘The Catcher in the Rye’.
Criticism and Social Controversy
‘The Catcher in the Rye’ was a bestseller and a sort of bible for the younger generation, but it was not welcomed by everyone. Conservatives launched a campaign to remove the book from high school libraries and argued that it should be banned from college classrooms as well. An opposing pamphlet included the statement: “This trash is being recommended for our children to read. Is this really the kind of book teachers should be recommending in public schools?”
In fact, Beatrice Levin, a high school teacher in Tulsa, Oklahoma, was embroiled in controversy after recommending ‘The Catcher in the Rye’ in her English class, and a Houston attorney even transferred his daughter out of the University of Texas because the book was being discussed in her classroom. Donald Finney, a high school teacher in Louisville, Kentucky, was fired for reading the book with his students. Newspapers and broadcast media engaged in daily debates and criticism, and the novel was indeed banned from many high school libraries.
For example, ‘The Catcher in the Rye’ ranked 13th on the “50 Greatest Banned Books” list published by the American Library Association in 1999. The list also includes Mark Twain’s ‘The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn’, Lewis Carroll’s ‘Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland’, and Arthur Conan Doyle’s ‘The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes’; these works were designated as banned books due to concerns that they presented poor role models for young people. In particular, the core argument for banning these books was that characters like Huck and Holden—who dislike school and church, use vulgar language, and enjoy alcohol and cigarettes—exert a harmful influence.
Critics denounce the novel’s language as “crude, profane, and obscene.” One British literary magazine even commented that the work was filled with endless blasphemy and obscene expressions. However, the more fundamental reason for the outrage over this novel lies in the fact that it boldly exposes the shortcomings of the older generation. The novel’s popularity stemmed from its accurate portrayal of the frustration and anger felt by the postwar younger generation, and young readers found in it the hope that they could escape reality and preserve their innocence. However, some critics argue that the novel’s ultimate message is closer to “We cannot escape.” Consequently, one critic even called it a “conservative novel with no way out.”
What readers who take issue with the novel’s obscene language overlook is the significance of the scene where Holden erases the obscene graffiti written on Phoebe’s school wall. The point is not that Holden himself enjoys obscenity, but rather that the reality he is trying to escape is obscene in and of itself. In other words, Holden is a character who detests obscene language and can be interpreted as someone with a sense of mission and vision to protect young children from obscenity. Nevertheless, many people make the mistake of dismissing Holden as an obscene character simply because of his resistance to the older generation and the establishment.
Another important point is that Holden lacks the power to overthrow the existing system. A close reading reveals that this novel is neither a simple radical attack nor a conservative declaration defending the status quo. The work recognizes that the world is fundamentally “fake” and shows that children inevitably lose their innocence, become adults, and become part of that “fakeness.” At the same time, it conveys the message that humans must strive to save themselves even in such circumstances. The novel criticizes schools and teachers who impose existing values without helping children to reflect and grow. Within such a system, sensitive boys like Holden wander aimlessly, feeling a lack of love and a loss of direction.
Literary critics sometimes label Holden a conservative. This is because he accepts the prejudices of his own middle-class background without much reflection and lacks both the power and the will to reform reality. Holden not only fails to overthrow the system but also fails to carry out his suicide. Even when he contemplates suicide, he ultimately gives up, worried that his body won’t be covered immediately and that street thugs will gather to stare at him. In that sense, Holden is not a violent resister but rather a likable and kind-hearted rebel. Unlike critics who label Holden as immoral, some commentators argue that he is, in fact, a moral figure in a world of immoral adults.
In ‘The Catcher in the Rye’, Holden is portrayed as a frail teenager with physical growth issues, growing only 6.5 inches a year. However, it is not Holden himself who is truly sick, but the society from which he is trying to escape. Holden does not want to become an adult because he feels he cannot find a role for himself in a society built on pretense. His rapid physical growth reveals an irony in that he refuses to become an adult. It is a paradox: no matter how much one resists growing up, one ultimately has no choice but to grow.
In this regard, Holden shares similarities with Oscar, the protagonist of Günter Grass’s ‘The Tin Drum’, while also contrasting with him. Although Oscar’s physical growth stopped because he refused to grow up, he resembles Holden in his exposure and condemnation of the problems of postwar society. Both characters share the common trait of refusing to become adults. Holden’s reason for giving up on graduating from high school is that he knows he would inevitably become part of the snobbish older generation if he went on to an Ivy League school after graduation.
Holden declares that he will become a “catcher” standing on the edge of a cliff to protect the children who might fall while playing in the rye. This appears to be a metaphorical expression of his desire to stand at the boundary between the children’s pure world and the adults’ world of pretense, striving to preserve their innocence. However, his wish to keep the children from ever growing up is realistically impossible, and he is well aware of this fact. The obscene graffiti he sees at school are ultimately the factors driving the children toward the cliff, and while he tries to erase some of it, he realizes that certain graffiti is carved with a knife and cannot be removed.
Holden Caulfield: The Protagonist of an Absurd Society
Rather than simply being a character who refuses to grow up, it is more accurate to describe Holden Caulfield as a young man tormented by the pain that accompanies growing up. Possessing keen senses and perceptiveness, he is the quintessential modern individual who feels disillusionment and frustration upon seeing an adult world where genuine connection and mutual understanding are impossible, and which is filled with hypocrisy and falsehood. It is important to note that Holden is not just a reckless rebel, but a young man striving to live ethically in an inhuman and nihilistic world. He also entertains readers by cynically depicting these absurd situations with dark humor.
In the novel, Holden particularly offers scathing criticism of Hollywood and the church. He accuses his brother D.B. of “prostituting” himself in Hollywood, and through his description of the Radio City Christmas Show, he takes issue with the modern church, which has lost its spiritual power by colluding with commercialism. As he sees it, modern society and religion—blended with commercialism—have lost their authenticity and are filled with falsehood, much like an artificial stage show. Holden wanders through the nightscape, peering out hotel windows and drifting from one nightclub to another, searching for the truth and purity that will sustain him.
Ultimately, the novel suggests that the only worthwhile task in a corrupt adult world is to hold onto innocent children and prevent them from entering this destructive world. At the same time, the novel acknowledges—and mourns—the fact that this is actually impossible; children’s growth cannot be stopped, and purity is inevitably lost. In that sense, Holden resembles Ike McCaslin, the protagonist of Faulkner’s ‘The Bear’, who mourns the disappearance of the forest yet has no choice but to accept it. This is precisely why the mission in ‘The Catcher in the Rye’ is impossible.
Consequently, Holden’s limitation lies in his inability to offer any clear solution other than escaping reality. In this context, author Salinger does explore Eastern mysticism, such as Zen Buddhist thought, but there is a risk that this might appear to Westerners as an escape from reality. Ultimately, Salinger seeks the possibility of salvation through Christian love rather than Zen Buddhism. The scene at the end of the novel where Holden once again longs for his friends in the “fake” world can be interpreted as an attitude of acknowledging the limits of reality and embracing the power of acceptance, understanding, and love.
Holden constantly longs to leave New York and flee to the West. For Americans, the West is an ideal place that enables an escape from civilization and society, a break from machines and institutions, and a flight from falsehood and vulgarity. The West symbolizes self-reliance, independence, and freedom; it is a mythical archetype that makes individualism possible.
Sally, an ex-girlfriend Holden meets, is more of a symbol of the East. Sally embodies Eastern culture—represented by Manhattan, Broadway, and Rockefeller Center. Holden is bewildered by her beauty and even proposes marriage, suggesting they run away to the West together; however, since Sally embodies many of the qualities Holden detests, she rejects his proposal.
In contrast, his younger sister Phoebe is the exact opposite of Sally and symbolizes an innocent child. Phoebe is so pure and honest that she willingly offers to go west with Holden. In the novel’s most iconic carousel scene, Holden realizes what he must protect and experiences a brief moment of happiness. At the same time, he knows that Phoebe cannot remain a child forever, and he realizes that the time will come when she must get off the carousel. He understands that she cannot keep holding onto the brass ring and riding indefinitely; that Phoebe may one day “fall,” and that Holden cannot prevent her from losing that innocence.
Furthermore, the fact that Holden goes West and ends up staying at a sanatorium rather than in paradise is symbolic. It is also significant that the entire novel unfolds as a series of flashbacks from Holden’s perspective while he is at the sanatorium. The novel does not explicitly state whether Holden has regained what he once sought. However, as he reflects on the meaning of the things he once resisted and explored while at the sanatorium, he appears to have gained some degree of insight.
