Examples Of Profanity In Catcher In The Rye

Hearing a swear word come out from an adult’s mouth is normal, for as it releases stress. Although, some people think that children do not swear because they do not have anything to stress about as they usually play outside and hang out with friends, which is what Holden expects. In chapter 25 of the novel, Holden drops off a note to Phoebe at her school that says that he wants to meet her. While he walks around the school area, Holden sees a “F**k you” (201) written on school property. Holden hates it so much that it “drove [him] damn near crazy” (201). This displays that he does not want children that are almost teenagers in age to see the swear word because that will mean that if children see it, they would start to question what it means, and then they might start to use swear words as well. Therefore, it irritates Holden because if children start to swear, then they would lose their innocence. Furthermore, there is one swear word that is “scratched on with a knife” (202) on the wall. Holden “[could not] rub out even half of the f**k you” (202), for it would be impossible. This proves that it is unrealistic to stop children from growing up into an adult. Children will always see corruption in the world, no matter how hard people may try to hide it. All in all, while the swear words on the elementary school walls is a great symbol to the novel, the Little

Holden also shows his need preserve innocence when he is at Phoebe’s school and says, “I went down by a different staircase, and I saw another "F**k you" on the wall. I tried to rub it off with my hand again, but this one was scratched on, with a knife or something. It wouldn't come off. It's hopeless, anyway. If you had a million years to do it in, you couldn't rub out even half the "F**k you" signs in the world.

This made Holden mad because if kids saw it, they will lose their innocence. For example, when Holden see that word, the first thing he thought is Phoebe would wonder what it meant and use the word. Then it will cause her to lose her innocence because that is word mainly for adults not children. The quote that supports this when Holden said, “I thought how Phoebe and all the other little kids would see it, and how they’d wonder what the hell it meant.” To summarize, Holden think

In the novel, The Catcher in the Rye, J.D. Salinger writes about Holden’s life and how he is remembering his past when he went to Pencey Prep, the last of four boarding schools that he has attended. Holden is seventeen when he tells the story but the part of the story he is telling, he is sixteen, the novel also follows Holden after he has left Pencey Prep. Throughout the novel Holden slowly reveals how he feels towards his roommates, Stradlater and Ackley, and how he feels towards his siblings, D.B., who is a writer in Hollywood and Allie, who passed away from leukemia. Holden shows his lonely, short tempered, and insecure characteristics through name calling and descriptive diction.

Holden was angered because this proved that the profanities of the corrupt adult world are being absorbed by innocent children. He is distressed as he associates the elementary school with Phoebe, little kids, and innocence. So, he erased the graffiti in effort to defend the children from the profanity of the adult world. Secondly, Holden must be exposed to corruption to help him realize that the world is not perfect since adults also lie, cheat, and take advantage for their own gain. One example is Holden’s dorm room wing named after Ossenburger, “he started these undertaking parlors all over the country that you could get members of your family buried for about five bucks a piece.

Throughout the novel, Salinger uses repetition of the words “phony”, “goddamn”, and “moron” to depict Holden’s childlike language. Specifically on page 34, Salinger uses the repetition of “phonies” to characterize Stradlater as someone who is fake because he is over friendly. At first glance, Stradlater seemed too good to be true, so Holden immediately built a barrier against this character. Furthermore, on page 109 and 110, Holden is indirectly jealous that Ernie is an outstanding piano player and that everyone is praising him. He continuously refers to both the audience and Ernie as “morons” and “phonies” to try and guilt the audience and portray them as seemingly bad people.

Holden does not want adolescents to become adults because he believes that adults are corrupt and he wants to protect them from this corruptness. This is seen when Holden tries to erase the swearing words on the walls of an elementary school that Phoebe attends. Holden angrily tells us, “… I saw something that drove me crazy. Somebody'd written 'Fuck you' on the wall... I thought how Phoebe and all the other little kids would see it, and how they’d wonder what the hell it meant…” (201). Holden was angered because this proves that the innocent world of children has already been corrupted by the profanities of the adult world. In addition, profanity in such places like an elementary school distresses him because he associates it with Phoebe, little kids, and innocence. Thus, their innocence is tainted by these profanity words on the walls. He does not feel comfortable allowing small children to be

1. Although Holden so passionately despise “phonies”, he himself can be categorized as a “phony”. By definition, a phony individual is someone who is fraudulent and hypocritical and while there are a lot of “phonies” in the world, what Holden does not realize is that he himself is an even bigger “phony” than the people he accuse of being “phonies”. In his mind, he imagines a utopia where people aren’t corrupt from greed, lies, alcohol, and lust. But the world he lives in is full of all of the above, and Holden’s hatred towards society is the foundation of his hatred towards “phonies”. He hates the phoniness that exists in the world, and that society is run by adults. He does not trust adults because does not understand them; adults are responsible for every part of their lives and his immature mind cannot grasp the concept of responsibility. Holden is a phony for being disgusted when he encounters a curse word written in a school bathroom, yet he himself curses often. When he visited his little sister Phoebe in the middle of the night and he was describing what Pencey was like, Phoebe interrupted him to tell him to “Don’t swear so much,” (Salinger, 168). But when he was at Phoebe’s school, he says, “...While I was sitting down, I saw something that drove me crazy. Somebody’d written “Fuck you” on the wall. It drove me damn near crazy,” (201). It drove him

This quote shows how Holden believes the curse word, fuck, will taint his sister and other children's innocence. Holden describes their innocence as not knowing what the word means until another kid tells them what the curse word means, which signifies the tainting of their innocence. Holden does not want his sister and the other children to lose their innocence.This motivates Holden to rub out the “Fuck you” on the wall. Therefore, the kids will never see it and still retain their

Obscene language. Sexual content. Immature behavior. The characteristics of one of literature's most infamous books. In the story, The Catcher in the Rye, Jerome “J.D.” Salinger explores the topic of youth and maturity through his protagonist, Holden Caulfield.

This character is going to tell it like it is, and he does. The most powerful emotional standpoint in the story is when Holden goes to his sister’s elementary school to deliver her a note. While he is there, he discovers two words scribbled on the wall. “Fuck you.” Most people would look at that and think nothing of it. Some would bow their heads in shame at the person who thought it was funny. Others might laugh. Not Holden. He did not think about the normal persons response to the note. He thought about the child’s response. About how a little kid is going to see that seemingly meaningless phrase and wonder what it means; about how some dirty kid would explain what it meant; and about the person who wrote it and how they are destroying the childhood of everyone who reads the ‘harmless’ graffiti. This section takes the reader to the door of Holden’s mind. It is at this point that one truly understands his emotions.

The diction used in the book could best be described as colloquial. Through the use of swearing like “bastard”, and “damn” it is obvious to the reader that the language is coming form a young teenager. Holden’s swearing is also a sign of his low education. Holden’s constant use of swearing draws the reader in to the conclusion that Holden is trying to be very honest with his audience, and this is seen in the quote, “I felt so damn happy, if you want to know the truth.” (Salinger 114).

For example, when he says, “I kept picturing myself catching him at it, and how I’d smash his head on the stone steps till he was good and goddam dead and bloody. But I knew, too, I wouldn’t have the guts to do it.’’, (pg. 201). He uses this kind of violent behavior again when he fights Stardlater after asking him if he slept with Jane or not. This shows that Holden has so much hate for phonies that he will become violent with them and even go towards killing them and beating them dead in order to stop making them act like

Furthermore, Holden's speech can be rather vulgar and obscene. However, whenever he says words like "ass," it is simply teenage dialect for a part of the human anatomy. He does not say it to be distasteful. "Ass" is simply another word that Holden

On page 203 it says “I went down down by a different staircase, and I saw another “fuck you”on the wall. I tried to rub it off with my hand again, but this one was scratched on, with a knife or something It wouldn’t come off.” This shows how Holden is desperate to remove the “fuck you” that's written on the wall because it’s something he doesn’t want Phoebe to see and this is because Holden just wants Phoebe to have a normal childhood until she is actually exposed to the horrible life of being an