The Catcher in the Rye by JD Salinger opposes the lavender scare and the sexual psychopath laws of the 1950s. At that time, the United States in they as a whole were horrified by the apparent increase in sex crimes in the country. Holden Caulfield, Salinger's protagonist, was undoubtedly heavily influenced by these events; in fact, such events would have been almost inevitable given the media attention they received at the time. Local anxiety about sexual psychopaths was a major contributing factor to Holden's mental breakdown, which ultimately led to him being placed in a rehabilitation center. Say no to plagiarism. Get a custom essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”?Get the original essay Beginning in the 1930s, American citizens were increasingly concerned about sexual deviants and dangerous perverts who infested the New York City. Several tragic murders of young girls were highly publicized in 1937, horrifying parents across the country. Concerns about public safety continued to grow until more than a decade later, in 1949, when John Edgar Hoover published his article in The American Magazine titled "How Safe Is Your Daughter?" » According to Hoover and the many articles about sex criminals that followed, young American women were not safe at all. In fact, between 1935 and 1965, the New York Times published hundreds of articles on the rise of homosexuality and sexual crime in the United States. Until 1952, criminal offenses were significantly underreported in New York. Beginning in 1949, New York began improving its collection system so that by 1950 more and more sex crimes were being correctly reported; however, to New York residents, it appeared that sex crimes in the state had skyrocketed, fueling fear of the "sexual psychopath" in the country (Lave 553). Newspapers and politicians used this new data to their advantage and the propaganda that followed called for supporting surveillance of a wide range of sexual nonconformists. In 1950, the District of Columbia defined a sexual psychopath as an individual "incapable of controlling sexual urges" (Sutherland 548), or "any person who has committed multiple serious sexual crimes" (Sutherland 549). These sex crimes include, but are not limited to: sexual assault, statutory rape, forcible rape, homosexuality, distribution or possession of pornography, and prostitution. Anyone suspected of being a sexual psychopath would be subject to extensive psychiatric examination, rehabilitation and imprisonment. The nation's concern over sexual psychopaths led the United States to embark on the Lavender Scare in 1950. In April 1950, Guy George Gabrielson made his famous accusation that homosexuals are "maybe be as dangerous as the current communists.” Gabrielson, who served as Republican national chairman from 1949 to 1952, spoke out against these "sexual perverts" who, he said, were "working against their country." it was Holden Caulfield. Holden demonstrates a strange fascination with people he considers perverts and steals in The Catcher in the Rye. He enjoys witnessing various sexual encounters from his hotel room window and, despite his discomfort with "flirts" and "perverts", he repeatedly seeks out people he considers sexually ambivalent, first when he meets Carl Luce, then when he visits Mr. Antolini in his apartment. Holden spends his first night in New York atthe Edmont Hotel, where he sits and looks out the window for a while. He first describes a man in disguise, seen through the window of his hotel room, then, just above him, he briefly describes a couple whom he sees throwing water at each other: "You would be surprised of what was happening on the other side. of the hotel. They didn't even bother to lower their sunglasses. I saw a guy with gray hair, very distinguished looking, only wearing his shorts, do something you wouldn't believe me if I told you. He first placed his suitcase on the bed. Then he took out all these women's clothes and put them on. Real women's clothes – silk stockings, high heels, a bra and one of those corsets with the straps hanging down and everything. Then he put on this very tight black evening dress. I swear to God. Then he started walking up and down the room, taking these very small steps, like a woman does, smoking a cigarette and looking in the mirror. He was all alone too" (62-63). Holden prefaces this series of observations by explaining that the room was "very shabby" and that he had nothing else to look at, but that he was too depressed to care or do anything other than watch the "perverts" from the window Yet, as depressed as he is, Holden is clearly captivated by the cross-dressing man in particular. It took the man some time. to dress as a woman and see him strutting around would have taken a lot more than just a glance out the window Holden is fascinated by the cross-dressing man, and he then admits that he feels there. has something wrong with his sexuality: “I mean, that's my big problem in my life Mind you, I'm probably the biggest sex maniac you've ever seen. Sometimes I can think of. very lousy stuff that I wouldn't mind doing if the opportunity presented itself” (63). lousy thing to do to a woman you care about. Holden actively suppresses his sexual desires because he knows it is unwise for him to admit that he is deviating from society's sexual norms (Beslagic 19). Holden then declares that everyone in the hotel is a pervert and that he must be the most normal person in the building, completely rejecting any connection he may have felt with these people. Later, Holden decides to call his student advisor from when he attended Whooton. Carl Luce agrees to meet Holden at the Wicker Bar. Holden thought he might like to spend time with Luce because he enjoyed her stories about gay people: "He knew a lot about sex, especially about perverts and everything else" (145). Luce used to scare all of Holden's classmates with her stories about men turning into chills during the night. Holden, however, suspected that Luce himself may have been gay. It is interesting that Holden seeks the company of Carl Luce, given that he suspected Luce of being homosexual and that Luce made him feel uncomfortable by looking at him and using the restroom with the door open. When Holden meets Luce at the bar, Holden instantly tries to turn the conversation to gay men, but Luce is not amused. Their conversation does not go well. Luce wasn't interested in talking about perverts or thrills, and Holden continued to force the conversation in that direction. Luce suggests that Holden receive psychoanalysis, which suggests that Luce thinks Holden is homosexual, as psychoanalysis was a common method of treating homosexuality in the 1950s. As Luce leaves the bar, Holden asks him if he has already been..