Mark David Chapman shoots John Lennon, and then proceeds to flip through his copy of The Catcher in the Ryeuntil the police come.
On December 8, 1980, Mark David Chapman, a former mental patient and ex-security guard, shot and killed John Lennon outside his home in New York City. Then he sat down. When the cops came, he was waiting for them, reading his copy of J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye. That afternoon, Chapman told police: “I’m sure the big part of me is Holden Caulfield, who is the main person in the book. The small part of me must be the Devil.” After his arrest, Chapman sent a statement to The New York Times, handwritten on yellow legal stationery in capital letters, with a ballpoint pen: It is my sincere belief that presenting this written statement will not only stimulate the reading of J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye but will also help many to understand what has happened. If you were able to view the actual copy of The Catcher in the Rye that was taken from me on the night of Dec. 8, you would find in it the handwritten words “This is my statement.” Unfortunately I was unable to continue this stance and have since spoken openly with the police, doctors and others involved in this case. I now fully realize that this should not have been done for it removed the emphasis that I wanted to place on the book. My wish is for all of you to someday read The Catcher in the Rye. All of my efforts will now be devoted toward this goal, for this extraordinary book holds many answers. My true hope is that in wanting to find these answers you will read The Catcher in the Rye. Thank you. Chapman’s defense team urged him to plead not guilty by reason of insanity, but Chapman refused, and pleaded guilty. At his sentencing, Chapman read the passage that gives the novel its name, in which Holden fantasizes about standing at the edge of a cliff and protecting the children playing nearby from falling off. “Simply put, it appears Chapman misread The Catcher in the Rye,” wrote Daniel Stashower in “On First Looking into Chapman’s Holden: Speculations on a Murder.” He took the “catcher” passage to be the novel’s solution, when in fact it is the crisis. … Holden Caulfield could not find a way to preserve innocence forever and was forced to entertain the notion of growing up. If I am correct in my speculation, Chapman found a way. Taking as a model the only character in The Catcher in the Rye who achieved perpetual innocence, Chapman found his course clear. For John Lennon’s innocence—which was essential to Chapman’s own spiritual well-being—to remain intact, Lennon himself would have to die. Only then could his innocence, like [Holden’s dead brother] Allie’s, be preserved forever. Chapman was sentenced to twenty years to life, and remains in prison.
(Lithub.com)
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