Existentialism is defined by Google as "a philosophical theory or approach that emphasizes the existence of the individual person as a free and responsible agent determining their own development through acts of the will." In simpler terms, it is searching for purpose in life through free will and choice. In the beginning of Inferno by Dante Alighieri, the character Dante is a bit an existentialist. He centers his existence only on himself. He has no real regard for any higher power moral code that he should abide by. A lack of belief in a moral code or punishment in the afterlife is characteristic of secular existentialism, and Dante embodies a lot of what that philosophy represents. However, as he makes his journey through Hell, he begins to shed some of the more existentialist aspects of his personality and accept that he should live his life in the name of something greater than himself: God.
The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger is one of the greatest existentialist novels of all time. Not only is the author a bit of an existentialist who kept to himself cut off from society, the novel's protagonist, Holden Caulfield, is a classic example of an existentialist. Near the beginning of the novel, Holden is getting a lecture from his history teacher when he abruptly decides he doesn't need to be lectured, and leaves Pencey Prep. For the rest of the novel, Holden is mostly alone. He has complete freedom and struggles to find himself while making all of his own decisions, culminating in a mental breakdown. Holden believes he doesn't need to learn anything from anybody but himself, and isolates himself in order to obtain complete free will. He is a complete and total existentialist.
