She has to experience challenges on her own and learn how to grow from them. Holden wants to protect, his younger sister, Phoebe’s innocence but at the end of the book he starts to realize that he can’t always shield her from the adult world. The hat is symbolic because it signifies protection and this represents Holden hiding away from his problems within the hat. Throughout the novel, Holden is constantly wearing a red hunting hat. (Sallinger, ) This shows that Holden doesn’t know what to do with challenges and how to physically get up and grow from them. A pivotal example of this is, “Then I️ stayed on the floor a fairly long time, sort of the way I️ did with Stradlater, only this time I thought I️ was dying, I️ really did”. Holden didn’t do anything and just laid on the floor for hours. For instance, in chapter fourteen, Maurice punched Holden in the stomach. Anytime he would get himself into a conflict, he wouldn’t necessarily do anything to grow and move on from the experience. Only at the end does he begin to realize this concept of coping. However, Holden doesn’t really portray this lesson throughout the novel. When people experience challenges, they need to acknowledge and accept them and change for themselves. People can’t just stay in place and never grow. One important lesson that “The Catcher in the Rye” teaches is that people have to learn to cope with and grow from challenges they experience. It is clear these books should be allowed into schools to educate students about mental health and let them form their own opinion about the novels. Holden’s mistakes teach the reader what not to do and it also makes the reader not feel alone so they know other people go through the same things as they do.
These books should not be banned because of its “vulgar” language and different beliefs. The irony of this is, society knows we have to talk about mental health to understand and deal with it and that’s what “The Catcher in the Rye” is about. Moreover, “The Catcher in the Rye” is a classic bildungsroman in which the main character, Holden, goes through a psychological journey, and struggles with mental health problems. “Fahrenheit 451” is a book about banning books. Both books were banned because of their foul language and their opposite views on religion. “The Catcher in the Rye” by J.D Salinger and “Fahrenheit 451” by Ray Bradbury are both books written in the 1950’s and were banned in schools.