Is it true that many assassins from history have been fanatics of "The Catcher in the Rye"?

Question

If this is so, then what is the connection? Has it been yet established? What is the reason for assassins, or would be assassins, to carry around a copy of this book with them?

I am currently reading this book. It's the sort of book that people may feel highly ambivalent about. Either you love it, or you hate it. I do consider it art. Ergo, I love it! I think it is real, and the humorous parts are astonishingly funny.

I think I might know one possible connection...and you may, as well, provided that you have read the novel. Remember the hat? Remember what Holden called that hat? Interesting.

Answer 1

I have heard this as well. While it may be hard to ascertain the relevance of "Catcher in the Rye" to assassins and murderers, one book that we know with no doubt has led directly to murder, rape, genocide, and slavery is the Bible. No other book has inspired so many people to commit so many extreme and heinous acts against other human beings.

Answer 2

The Catcher in the Rye has been shrouded in controversy since its publication. Reasons for banning have been the use of offensive language, premarital sex, alcohol abuse, and prostitution.

Mark David Chapman, murderer of musician John Lennon, was carrying the book when he was arrested immediately after the murder and referred to it in his statement to police shortly thereafter.[2] John Hinckley, Jr., who attempted to assassinate President Ronald Reagan in 1981, was also reported to have been obsessed with the book.

Critics see Holden as a disturbing influence on youths they consider to be "social outcasts." Holden is portrayed as a juvenile who rejects and is rejected by many peers and individuals. People like Chapman and Hinckley come to relate themselves to Holden, the person that nobody understands and that can't understand anybody else.

Thirty years after its first publication in 1951, The Catcher in the Rye was both the most banned book in America as well as the second most taught book in public schools.

Answer 3

I think it has to do with Holden's feeling that society, mainly adults, are phonies. Mark David Chapman thought John Lennon was a phony, because he wrote "Imagine" yet he lived the life of a rich, acclaimed musician. I'm not sure about about the Reagan incident, but I can assume that the themes of preserving innocence by pointing out the superficiality of the adult world probably clicked with these 2 men. They saw these two men, both prominent in different ways, as affecting society in perhaps an unhealthy manner. PS: Didn't that guy shot Reagan 'cause he was in love with Jodi Foster or something as well? lol

PS: Also watch the movie "Conspiracy Theory" for another reference to "The Catcher in the Rye".

Answer 4

No idea if *many* assassins have, but Mark Chapman did (link below). John Camp's "Rules of Prey" was apparently read by a recent serial killer. Asimov's "Foundation" series inspired the Japanese suicide sect Aum Shinrikyo and according to the article in the second link below, may have inspired members of the Al-Quaida, too. The Bible has been read and used by murderers as a "manual". Columbine killers Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold used PC games and music to spur themselves towards disaster. Poems, songs, films have been used in the same way.

IMHO, these guys hunt for anything that will legitimate their plans and the way they look upon the world. Since most of them are clearly insane or bordering on insanity, I guess at some point in their lives, they've suffered from severe mental pain, loneliness and anguish and, like any of us, tried to find ways of easing that pain. One very effective way is finding alleged soulmates, especially people able to express themselves in a better way than you're able to do yourself. Putting things together for you, making sense. Run it through a warped brain, and you'd come up with anything.

I read The Catcher in the Rye at 15 and it made a huge impact on me. I recognized a lot of myself in Holden, his relational difficulties, his search for the meaning of life, his emotional pain, his struggle to control and understand himself etc. I guess about 60-70% of all teenage guys (maybe girls, too) would feel the same way. The book's brilliantly written and you're really *inside* Holden Caulfield's head from page one to the end. I've read it more times since, but never at times when life's been great. It's a very sad and depressive book in many ways and I wouldn't recommend it to a suicidal guy, but it's contributed to help me understand myself and others better.

Don't remember what Holden called the hat (tho I do remember the hat :) ), but bet you'll tell in the end :)

Answer 5

I don't know about "many" but there have been a few, notably Mark David Chapman (killed John Lennon). One theory is that these people are drawn to the aimlessness and sense of "nothingness" or nihilism that abounds in "Catcher." It's a novel that really is all about searching for meaning in life, something that many people deal with, and the more disturbed people latch onto something horrible as their reason for being here...in some cases, their purpose is to kill someone...it's a compulsion that they feel will give them meaning and purpose in life...just like Holden eventually found his...

Answer 6

Perhaps because so many people read this in high school English class it was probable they would have a copy in their home I don't think it means much. I've read it 2 or 3 times and have yet to hurt somebody. Then again its just an old paperback and probably would fall apart if I hit someone with it. I'll use the cast-iron frying pan when I want to make my move.

Answer 7

I love the book and I haven't killed anyone recently.

But, I remembered this from Wiki
"Mark David Chapman, murderer of musician John Lennon, was carrying the book when he was arrested immediately after the murder and referred to it in his statement to police shortly thereafter.[2] John Hinckley, Jr., who attempted to assassinate President Ronald Reagan in 1981, was also reported to have been obsessed with the book."

Answer 8

I have heard that too, but after reading the book I was confused as to why it would be so. I thoroughly enjoyed the book though. Very creative and artsy.

Answer 9

i beleive there was a connection once or something but its become something of an urban myth

like reading slyvia plath (the bell jar) somehow means your depressed and or suicidal

having read catcher and being a fan of plaths i niether want to kill myself or anyone else for that matter

Answer 10

Holden is narrating the story from a mental hospital. Sick people identify with his outsider, loser mentality.