Censor in the Rye

Author:

Yom, Joshua David

Area of Honors:

English

Degree:

Bachelor of Arts

Document Type:

Thesis

Thesis Supervisors:

Dr. Robert Lawrence Caserio Jr., Thesis Supervisor
Dr. Marcy Lynne North, Thesis Honors Advisor

Keywords:

Catcher
Rye
Salinger
Holden
Censorship
Yom

Abstract:

J.D. Salinger’s 1951 novel The Catcher in the Rye is a cult-classic in the canon of American literature, most commonly recognized as a “vulgar” book, subject to censorship and banning. This thesis argues that Catcher not only draws censorship, but offers treatment of censorship, particularly in the novel’s conclusion, in conjunction with a selection of Salinger’s preceding, developmental writings on Holden and the Caulfield family. Five of Salinger’s pre-Catcher writings are analyzed, examining the chronological development of Holden Caulfield, citing recurring themes regarding childhood, adulthood, and beauty as related to censorship. I intend to argue that Salinger’s novel presents the final form of the character Holden Caulfield as constituted by these preceding fragments. Identification and analysis of these fragments contributes to analysis of Salinger’s treatment of censorship or “catching” in the novel; Catcher is Salinger’s final development of Holden and his thesis on censorship.