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Identity In John Green's An Abundance Of Katherines

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It’s a fact that the identity of a person can be influenced by the people that surround us, and by situations that are beyond our control. Gail Carr Feldman, who’s been practicing clinical psychology for thirty-five years, states that our earliest and most lasting influences come from our families, caretakers and friends. This can be seen in the John Green novel, An Abundance of Katherines. The main character, Colin Singleton is an adolescent who has dated a total of 19 girls named Katherine and been dumped by 18 of them. Colin aims to find a mathematical theory to predict how long a relationship will last for. His decisions, emotions and ideas are all greatly influenced by the people in his life and by the situations that are beyond his control. We all have felt, or will eventually feel, the need to impress somebody at some point in our lives. For Colin Singleton, there is no exception. Colin is a child prodigy, and his father, doesn 't let him forget it. In the novel, his dad expected so much of Colin regarding his scholarly endeavours, and when he didn 't meet those expectations, his relationship with his father was further and further diminished and Colin as a person, was greatly affected. “If you wish to continue to grow intellectually, you need to work harder right now than you have ever before. Otherwise, you risk wasting your potential”(pg.10) this is a quote said by Colin’s father. Talk about uptight. Colin has always been pushed. ’Markers’ (his dad’s word for ‘goals’) were constantly on his mind. This lead Colin to believe that …show more content…

John Green has effectively displayed this in his book, An Abundance of Katherines, as the main character, Colin, displays constant influence from people like his father, and Lindsey, and influence from certain events that are beyond his control, such as falling for Lindsey. Thank

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