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Becca D

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The Bell Jar

by Sylvia Plath

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Reading for the 2nd time

read in November 2012

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Becca D said: " The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath uses the theme of insanity to tell a story of a young college student from Massachusetts who gradually becomes insane throughout a chaotic period in her life. The story begins with Esther Greenwood, the main character, i The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath uses the theme of insanity to tell a story of a young college student from Massachusetts who gradually becomes insane throughout a chaotic period in her life. The story begins with Esther Greenwood, the main character, in New York being a guest editor for a magazine. The sponsors of the trip shower her and the 13 other girls with gifts, parties, shopping sprees, anything that a college student could want, for free. Despite all of these fantastic things, Esther is still not pleased with her life. She is not content with her wild, rebellious friend Doreen, but also is not content with her perky friend Betsy. It seems as if Esther is not satisfied with anything and shows the early stages of depression. She, angered by society’s expectations and having a clear view on what she wants to do with her life, rebels against society and goes on several dates with strange men. One date, the last one, ends in the man trying to sexually assault her which leads Esther to return home to her mother’s house in the suburbs.
As the summer goes on, Esther remembers her college ex-boyfriend Buddy Willard. Through this we learn that she idolized Buddy, but when he revealed he cheated on her, her feelings eventually faded away. She visits Buddy at a sanitarium where he is confined for having tuberculosis. Esther was always supposed to marry Buddy and be a housewife to him, but of course she did not like this idea. So when Buddy proposed to her, she declined. Esther, revealing some insanity, followed Buddy to the ski slopes after her proposal decline, and ended up breaking her leg, sending her home to her mother once again.
Once back in the suburbs, she finds out that she did not get into a creative writing program that she applied to. This is the event that sends her downward spiraling into a suicidal depression. She seeks help through Dr. Gordon who prescribes electroshock therapy, reflecting back to the story of the Rosenbergs that was stuck in Esther’s mind in the beginning of the book. This only worsens her depression. She decides she wants to end her life and attempts to drown herself, slit her wrists, and hang herself but fails at all attempts. She goes to the last option she has, crawls into a crawlspace under her mother’s home, and swallows a bottle of sleeping pills, but the pills do not kill her like she thought they would. This tragedy leads Esther to be sent off to a mental institution. After spending some time there, her scholarship sponsor pays to send her to a private institution.
Esther’s insanity throughout the book grows and grows. Through Esther’s thoughts and actions we can see that depression has been haunting in the back of her brain for quite some time. What I do not understand, though, is why? Esther was given such great opportunities and even won a trip to New York to write, which is what she loved! Esther failed to appreciate what she was given because she was always dwelling on the expectations of society. Because Esther spent so much time looking at the bad things in her life, she led herself into a state of depression that eventually lead into attempted suicide.
I enjoyed this book! I thought I could really relate to it being that I would love to go to college in New York and work for a big company, until I found out what Esther was like. After finding that out, I found that I really couldn’t relate to Esther well which kind of made the book less enjoyable. I did enjoy the plot of the book because of the fact that it could possibly happen to anyone no matter what day and age it is. I gave this book a 3 out of 5 stars because could relate to people, but it did not relate to me. Who knows when Esther’s bell jar of insanity will open yet again. ...more "

Nov 30, 2012 01:55PM · see review