The teenage protagonists Esther Greenwood, from Sylvia Plath's novel The Bell Jar, and Holden Caulfield, from JD Salinger's novel The Catcher in the Rye both have difficulty forming and maintaining normal relationships with others. Although both characters are virgins, they share a preoccupation with sex and the loss of their virginity, and react almost identically to first sexual encounters. The characterization of Esther and Holden gives rise to recurring themes in the novel, namely the inability to meet the expectations of others, the inability to interact with others in educational, personal, social and family environments and the The resulting isolation, despite living in one of the greatest cities in the world: New York. Esther Greenwood, the protagonist of Sylvia Plath's The Bell Jar, identifies as feeling out of place among the other young women with whom she stays in New York. Her closest friend is Doreen, but Esther says that even if she would, "...watch her and listen to what she says...deep down", she, "...would have nothing to do with her." This shows an inability for Esther to interact with girls her age, as she is unable to relate to or trust the person she is closest to outside of the group. Esther is suspicious of people, like her boyfriend Buddy Willard and Doreen, who she believes are living "double lives". These people meet social norms on the surface and seem to conform to the dictates of society, but in reality, she finds that there is a double standard, different for men and women. Esther rejects this double standard, saying she "can't stand the idea that a woman has to have a single pure life and a man can have a double life...... middle of paper... .g Sir Laurence Olivier it would have been good, except that Olivier "knew he was good, and that ruined everything". Holden says he can't concentrate on what the character is saying because he "has to keep wondering if he's going to do something bogus every minute." The timeless quest of adolescents to find their place in the world and the inner turmoil associated with becoming a young adult is the premise of many acclaimed films and novels. Holden Caulfield from JD Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye and Esther Greenwood from Sylvia Plath's The Bell Jar both lack the ability to interact normally with others and fail to meet others' expectations, in particularly of their families. , Sylvie. The bell. New York: Harper Perennial, 1999. Print. Salinger, JD The Catcher in the Rye. Boston: Little, Brown, 2001. Print.