This book makes me realize that people who smile and live a “normal life” aren’t necessarily happy. People go through peculiar things and a smile is a disguise to hide those things. We never know what’s going through someone’s head. This book made me realize that depression is a serious disorder that can lead to madness, loss of sleep, lack of energy and disconnect with the world or social contact. This book made me wish that Esther found herself in the beginning before things got too much to bear. Made me wish that she wasn't so concerned about being good enough for other people, colleges, the men she plan to lose her virginity to or even fitting in. I wish that she wasn't so depressed and lost because she truly has potential and is smart. This book made me wish that Esther and I weren't so alike. We have similarities because we don't know what we want to do in life and it drives us crazy. Our uncertainty is what leads us to these frantic thoughts. We are so indecisive and sad. This book made me wonder about what if I don't find happiness or come to a decision with my life? Would I end up like this character? Would I think like this? Would have no energy to get out of bed because I'm too depressed to do so? Would I be so stuck with the past? That I don't pay attention to what I can create for my future? Would I be so stressed because of the colleges and their requirements? Would I live my life by the margins? And by that I mean living with no purpose, just passing each day by like I do now? Would I be lost, puzzled and sad for no particular reason? Would I be constantly searching for the truth and love just like Esther? Would I give up like Esther tried to do so many times (suicide) towards the end of the book?
This book made me feel sad to be honest. It made me feel like it was a wakeup call for me. I had the feeling that could be me in a couple years if I keep it up. This book is so depressing that it put me in a melancholic mood. I was reflecting a lot of thoughts while reading this book. The Bell Jar opened my eyes to a lot of things. It made me see why Sylvia path called it “The Bell Jar”. Sometimes you feel so down it's like you've shrunken like Alice (Alice and wonderland) and
emotional and physical obstacles encountered in daily life. A unique identity is perhaps one of the only true characteristics that defines an individual and is definitely a key principle for understanding and responding to one's atmosphere. In "The Bell Jar," Esther battles not only a deteriorating mental stability, but also lacks a sense of individuality. Esther is a young, sensitive and intelligent woman who feels oppressed by the obvious social restrictions placed upon women, and the pressure she…
the protagonist of Sylvia Plath’s autobiographical fiction, The Bell Jar , is a college student who loves to write and who finds success through scholarships, competitions, and the like. While luck appears to exist as a fairly recurrent staple in Esther’s life at the beginning of the novel, in actuality, her debilitating mental disease infects Esther’s success with traces of torment. Esther refers to her condition as a “bell jar” that entraps her and causes her to see a distorted view of the world…
April 2014 THE MYSTERIOUS DARKNESS: THE REASON WHY ESTHER GREENWOOD CAN’T “BE NORMAL” Normalcy is defined in the dictionary as the condition of being normal; the state of being usual, typical, or expected. The character of Esther Greenwood in The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath penetrates the boundaries of being normal. Esther’s story is more than the pursuit for sexual freedom that many claim it to be. Her story is a silent call for help. But why does Esther need help? There is evidence to support the theory…
‘One flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest’ and ‘The Bell Jar’ can be linked considerably. Both the novels in question are products of the author’s own experiences and the specific culture in which they were written. They both draw upon similar events throughout, yet the philosophy and reason behind them is often significantly contrasting. However, it cannot be argued that their presentation of psychological disorder and the pressure that it forces on the mind are intrinsically linked due to the circumstances…
The Bell Jar A theme and a symbol of a story are the primary messages that an author tries to express through his or her work. They flow through a story and can be interpreted by the protagonists’ actions, interactions, and motivations. In many literary works, a theme can express an idea, clarify meaning or enlarge literal meaning. A theme adds depth and meaning to a literary work and a symbol creates a range of associations beyond itself. With the help of a theme and a symbol, writers can convey…
that made her do what she did. “The critical reactions to both The Bell Jar and Ariel were inevitably influenced by the manner of Plath’s death at thirty” (Materer). In The Bell Jar, Plath writes about a woman who is oppressed in society, forced to become what she does not want to be. This woman attempts to commit suicide but in the end, she figures out a way to live in this society while writing about her life. The Bell Jar told a story opposite that of Plath’s because after her first attempt…
one of the most powerful American poets of the postwar period with her famous literature that is expressed with pure honesty as in frustration, quiet despair. She exhibits the connection of anxiety with the psychological meltdown of Esther in The Bell Jar. In several poems, Sylvia uses examples from the holocaust; Nazis and Jews alike with historical and mythic allusions to give depth and immediacy to her psychic distress. Sylvia contributed not only literature instead she gave chunks of herself…
Emma Renner The Bell Jar January 27, 2015 Mr. Poindexter Bell jar a cylindrical glass vessel with a rounded top and an open base, used to protect and display fragile objects or to establish a vacuum or a controlled atmosphere in scientific experiments. After reading the novel I looked up the title of the book because I was unsure of what a bell jar actually was and the definition made a lot of sense to me. Sylvia Plath had dealt with depression for most of her life and I think for her, writing this book helped her to reflect on…
and withdraw. Flare of sunshine down side-streets. Eddies of light in the windows of chemists’ shops, with their blue, gold, purple jars, darting colors far into the crowd. Loud bangs and tremors, murmurings out of high windows, whirling of machine belts, blurring of horses and motors. A quick spin and shudder of brakes on an electric car, and the jar of a church bell knocking against the metal blue of the sky. I am a piece of the town, a bit of blown dust, thrust along with the crowd. Proud to feel…
Poppies in July - Sylvia Plath “Poppies in July” is a short poem written in free verse. Its fifteen lines are divided into eight stanzas. The first seven stanzas are couplets, and the eighth consists of a single line. The title presents an image of natural life at its most intense—at the height of summer. It evokes a pastoral landscape and suggests happiness, if not joy or passion. The title is ironic, however, because the poem is not a hymn to nature but a hallucinatory projection of the landscape…
