One of the foundations of a liberal arts education is examination of literature. It has been part of my life since high school.

The problem with great literature is much of it is dated. It gets to the point where it serves as a history lesson as opposed to anything else. Authors often had to hide their messages for them to be accepted. They were not always successful.

It can lead to problems where people look at history backwards. The idea that Mark Twain's books should not be in the schools because of language is absurd. His brilliant work is a function of the society he lived in and serve as a great window into history.

Political messages are strung throughout literature as well. There are many Christians in town who probably would have walked out of a course I took in college on the Old Testament. The idea that the Bible is literature and not the word of God would be enough to get their dander up.

However, the professor's analysis of pro and anti monarchial messages in the Bible as well as his contention that translation had turned a polytheistic work into a monotheistic work would lead to them becoming apoplectic.

There were times in my freshmen English class where reading John Milton made me wish there was no distributive requirement. However, having to weed through Paradise Lost and comment on it intelligently was one of those experiences that makes one appreciate it later.

A friend of mine in college who majored in Economics once told me analyzing literature was just like science. He claimed that it just takes a certain kind of angle to get it. He was right.

Authors are not always consciously aware of what they are doing. Stories are bound to express views on issues because they tend to come from life experiences. This is true even for fantasy and science fiction writers using what they see around them to formulate another world. The fact literature cannot escape the real world is what makes it great.

In high school there were 2 books that I enjoyed reading more than the others. One was William Golding's Lord of the Flies. The examination of boys at varying degrees of socialization fighting to survive in different ways still fascinates me. Every time I see a group of kids and hear them speak it makes you wonder who is Jack and and who is Ralph.

The other was one of my all time favorite books, J.D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye. The character of Holden Caulfield was the most real of any book I read as a teen. It may have had some issues with time for a 1980s society but the themes were true.

The book has a history of controversy. Teachers have been fired for putting it in a curriculum. Open discussion by Holden about sex and prostitution very quickly put it on the moral radar screen. Religious groups have also attacked the book for its use of profanity.

Holden Caulfield would have fit right in with the rest of the guys in the locker room when I was in high school. People may not want to admit it from religious or politically correct perspectives but boys will be boys. There is an immaturity and an insecurity of trying to figure out where you fit in the world. In that way, The Catcher In The Rye was more relevant to real life than any other book on my high school lists.

Parents always seem to want to protect their children from growing up. One of the best ways to protect them is to give them insight. High school seems as good a time as any to introduce ideas before the kid leaves and will only have a college professor to explain it.

J.D. Salinger died yesterday in Cornish, New Hampshire. His list of works after his signature piece is short. He chose to live in seclusion. That did not lead to him being left alone and he has had to fight legal battles over the years to protect his work and life.

The examination of literature can be a source of insight. It helps when in catching the subtle bias of a news report. It helps to giving perspective on the thought processes people go through. It helps to put perspective on historical events.

Literature is at best though when it can give personal insight. That often means it is at its best when it is controversial. People do not always like looking in the mirror.

Other media can capture what books do but not often. It also seems sensationalism has replaced reality at many times. People could accuse Salinger of being a sensationalist but they would be wrong.

The world is not a better place because Salinger stopped writing young in life. Hopefully, the world will honor his wishes and the legal fights he had later in life will not now be lost.