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.