Abby’s Comments (group member since Apr 24, 2011)

Abby’s comments from the Summer Reading '11 group.

I hated the ending too, for the exact same reason. But I think Plath wanted it to be like that so that the reader could somehow understand what her character (or she) was feeling, which was uncertainty. She never knew if or when the bell jar would come again.

The Bell Jar
So, not really sure how to start a discussion by I thought I'd give it a try. I liked the overall story, but I most enjoyed the reading about some of the feminist issues especially in the first half of the book. Although Esther is a career-bound college student, she still feels the weight of society to "find someone to marry."

She also finds fault with the hypocrisy of male/female purity standards, which is a recurring theme. I liked the fact that it is from a perspective of someone who is in a way detached from society, so all her thoughts are raw and uninhibited.

Esther also finds part of her freedom when she gets on birth control. I liked this partly because of my own theory of the co-evolution of women's liberation and birth control. She states, '"What I hate is the thought of being under a man's thumb." I told Dr. Nolan, "A man doesn't have a worry in the world, while I've got a baby hanging over my head like a big stick, to keep me in line."' Pg 221.

I know, not really the point of the book, but I thought, maybe worth discussion. Any thoughts?

I'm Abby, Registered Nurse and (I think) the only non-english major of this book club. I picked Outlander because no other book is even a close second when it comes to my favorite books. This is the first summer off from school that I've had since I was 16...so I'm glad to be reading something other than textbooks! This fall I'm going back to school for pre-med and hopefully I'll be a doctor before I'm 30.

I can't wait for the discussions to begin!