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Examples Of Identity In Catcher In The Rye

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A common obstacle faced by many adolescents is the search for identity. While trying to find oneself, it is common for an individual to reach out to society to seek acceptance and a sense of belonging. This outcry for recognition is sometimes endorsed and other times denied. In The Catcher in the Rye, the main character, Holden Caulfield journeys through New York seeking approval from those who surround him. J. D. Salinger displays Holden’s desire for acceptance in the novel when he visits Mr. Spencer to seek closure and a proper goodbye, when he decides to have a conversation with the prostitute instead of get in bed with her, and when he offers his help and donations to the nuns. The first person that Holden reaches out to in the novel is his history teacher, Mr. Spencer. Upon invitation, Holden visits Mr. Spencer one last time before leaving Pencey Prep. He does this because he is searching for a proper goodbye and a sense of closure. He reveals this when he says, “What I was really hanging around for, I was trying to feel some kind of …show more content…

Spencer and the prostitute, he finally receives acceptance from two nuns that he encounters at a diner. While sitting and eating his breakfast, Holden decides to reach out to the two woman by taking their suitcases and offering them a donation. Their purity and kindness toward him are recognized once they strike up a conversation about literature and schooling. Due to the fact that they do not know anything about Holden’s past, they do not expect anything of him and they do not judge him. Holden comments on the fact that they did not ask if he was Catholic or not. Instead, they converse with him and accept him without inquiring knowledge of his beliefs or his past. This is important because it helps Holden feel the sense of belonging and acceptance that he desires. By reaching out to the two nuns and offering them his kindness, he discovers what he has been searching

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