The Bell Jar #3

For this last blog, I used sparknotes because I wasn't sure exactly what I wanted to discuss, so I decided to bounce off some of the ideas on there. There are a few noticeable reoccurring themes throughout the novel. The first the news and fashion media. Esther models at the beginning of the novel, and she doesn't agree with the false happiness and the glamour that is associated with the fashion magazines and New York City. Maybe it has to deal with her darker personality, but she can hardly recognize herself through the falsities when she sees a picture of herself in a magazine at the mental institution. "The magazine photograph showed a girl in a strapless evening dress of fuzzy white stuff, grinning fit to split, with a whole lot of boys bending around her."(page 169). Esther is also fascinated with death, especially at the beginning of the novel when in the first sentence it talks about the execution of the Rosenbergs. It's foreshadowing. As Mr. Currin always says, these authors aren't getting paid by the word, so it was obviously put in there for a reason. Esther also talks to a woman and says, " 'Isn't it awful about the Rosenbergs?'" and the woman, Hilda replies with, " 'It's awful such people should be alive.' " (page 82). It's strange for a young girl like Esther to be so consumed by death, even before she loses her mind. I think this attraction is foreshadowing to the difficulties she will soon face in the novel. Another reoccurring theme is Esther always looking at her reflection in mirrors and so often not recognizing the person staring back at herself. "The face in the mirror looked like a sick Indian." (page 92). This image reflected back at her was right after Marco attempted to rape her. She could hardly recognize herself. She looked like an Indian because he had smeared his blood across her face when she punched him in the nose in self defense. The blood is also a reoccurring theme. It can also symbolize the violence and brutality that she faced throughout her time period from when she was losing her mind all the way through the stays at the mental institutions. For example, she practiced cutting her ankles in preparation of suicide. She also bled a lot when she lost her virginity to a random man. I think this is symbolic of her losing herself along the way as she tries to make the transition to adulthood. She gets caught up in the world and in herself which causes her to lose her mind. Although this doesn't happen to most people, there were obviously some brutal experiences that affected her mental capacity immensely.

The Bell Jar #2

Esther Greenwood isn't your typical teenager. Throughout the The Bell Jar, she goes through a teenager's progression of life, but instead of graduating from college like a normal young adult, she is graduating from a mental institution. Esther doesn't agree with the norms of society, and the fact that she wants to rebel is one of the things that causes madness to descend upon her. This book was written in roughly the fifties, so society had a different expectation of girls back then. They expected them to always be bright and cheerful, and to remain virgins until they are married. Esther doesn't agree with either of these things. When she discovers that Buddy is no longer a virgin, it eats away at her and she becomes determined to lose her virginity before marriage whether she loves the man or not. "Ever since I learned about the corruption of Buddy Williard my virginity lay like a millstone around my neck." (page 186). A normal life had all been laid out for her to marry Buddy and he would be the man that she fell in love with and on their wedding night he would take her, just as society expected. But when she discovered that he could not be that man for her, that changed her outlook on life's expectancies greatly. She's also extremely preoccupied by death, especially the execution of the Rosenbergs. It's mentioned numerous times in the beginning of the novel. This is an example of her dark nature. It's darker than what's expected of teenage girls at that time period. "I kept hearing about the Rosenbergs over the radio and at the office till I couldn't get them out of my mind." (page 1). This where her infatuation with death is instigated, right from the beginning of the novel. Esther is portrayed as extremely selfish throughout the novel, yet people still take pity on her for her situation. She becomes mad based on a combination of things: her own nature, the nature of society, and the effect that society has on her. Because of her madness she doesn't realize how truly selfish the attempts to take her own life are. She doesn't once think for a second as to how it affects her mother or her friends. Most importantly, she doesn't think for a second as to why she truly wants to kill herself. Obviously she has gone mad, and she thinks she is a hopeless case, but it takes her so long to realize that she is going to be okay. And even when she is okay, she still fears that she will one day go mad again. " 'You tell me the truth, I said, or I'll never speak to you again.' " (page 111). Esther gets angry with her mother often and does not treat her well, even though her mother is emptying her pockets in any attempt to try and make her daughter better again. Esther selfishly is consumed by herself, the very thing that she was so opposed to at the beginning of the novel.

The Bell Jar #1

In the novel, The Bell Jar, the author Sylvia Plath uses symbols as a major part in revealing how Esther Greenwood is gripped by insanity. It really is quite scary how she completely loses control over her life and mind. The most obvious symbol is the bell jar itself. Esther feels closed in and trapped by this suffocating jar. I looked up what exactly a bell jar was online and it's found to be used in displaying an object that is typically studied for scientific reasons. This is ironic because throughout the novel Esther was constantly being monitored, inspected, observed, and analyzed as if she was an experiment of some sort. She fears the bell jar will come back at any time and steal away her sanity again. "How did I know that someday-- at college in Europe somewhere, anywhere-- the bell jar, with its stifling distortions, wouldn't descend again?" (page 197). I wonder if this is a sign that she isn't completely better, but at the same time can a person ever fully regain their sanity after they lost it? Another example of the symbolism is the fig tree. Esther is extremely indecisive, especially when it comes to difficult life decisions. The figs represent all the different paths in life Esther can take, but since she can't decide causing the figs to rot, or in reality, those opportunities to pass her by. "I saw myself sitting in the crotch of this fig tree, starving to death, just because I couldn't make up my mind which of the figs I would choose. I wanted each and every one of them, but choosing one meant losing all the rest, and, as I sat there, unable to decide, the figs began to wrinkle and go black, and, one by one, they plopped to the ground at my feet." (page 63). I think this is symbolic of the decline in her sanity and the feeling that her life is slipping away is what causes her to try and commit suicide numerous times. Which leads to the next symbol being the beating heart. Each time something significant happens the words, "I am, I am, I am." are repeated. This is her heart speaking to her, saying that it wants to live. For example, when she tries to drown herself in the ocean, she keeps popping back up every time. Her body is fighting to live; it has no desire to die. "I dived, and dived again, and each time popped up like a cork. The gray rock mocked me, bobbing on the water as easy a lifebuoy. I knew I was beaten. I turned back." (page 131). In this section life triumphs over death. I think it's also symbolic that she fails to kill herself numerous times, meaning that she has the power to overcome the insanity and she will get better.