The Bell Jar, by Sylvia Plath, was a very intriguing and unique novel, detailing the story of a girl who goes insane. Esther Greenwood, the main character and protagonist of the novel, was easily the subject of many girls’ envy; she had everything a girl could want. She was living in New York; was selected, among only a few, to intern for a renowned magazine; and was dating the “perfect” boy, a medical student and family friend. Plath thoroughly describes her characters through a constantly developing and complex plot, embodying the thematic concept of rebirth and revival. Esther is ultimately, being reborn; she is sent to an asylum in an attempt to become well and healthy again, giving her the chance to start anew. Another recurring theme I found throughout the novel was the juxtaposition of real and superficial. Esther is given the chance to have everything, to be on top, but she realizes, not soon enough, the consequences this life can have. Not everything is as it seems, and although, someone or something may appear “perfect,” that does not mean they are.
I truly enjoyed this novel, with not only its great insight into the mind of a restricted woman in the nineteen- fifties, but also its unique style and storyline. The plot is somewhat curious, due to the fact that although it is fiction, it seems almost like an autobiography. Sylvia Plath, a poet and novelist of the late nineteen- hundreds, committed suicide when she passed away in nineteen sixty- three. She had been depressed for years prior to her death and exposed a personality close to that of Esther Greenwood.
Monday, March 7, 2011
Blog Topic #4: Text Connections
In the novel The Bell Jar, the author, Sylvia Plath, makes several text-to-world connections throughout the storyline. The first connection that is made takes place towards the beginning of the book, when Esther is describing her family’s money problems. Esther’s father passed away when she was young and left no life insurance, leaving the family virtually penniless. As a result, she must work hard to maintain high grades throughout school to earn a scholarship for college. The reader can relate this to students today, in which, many college students have to apply for financial aid and loans to pay for their schooling. Tuition is gradually increasing to account for the number of students applying, and unfortunately, most students are unable to pay the costs without receiving some sort of help.
Another connection one can make refers to the growing number of suicides and attempted suicides in the United States. The climax of the novel comes when Esther attempts and almost succeeds at killing herself, as a result of her becoming mentally unstable. She was working and interning in New York for a few weeks, when she realized how fake and superficial the lifestyle seemed. Similarly, in modern day, many celebrities and public figures have attempted or succeeded in killing themselves, such as actor Heath Ledger. The pressure of the constant attention becomes too much to bear and they often turn to suicide or painkillers as an escape.
Another connection one can make refers to the growing number of suicides and attempted suicides in the United States. The climax of the novel comes when Esther attempts and almost succeeds at killing herself, as a result of her becoming mentally unstable. She was working and interning in New York for a few weeks, when she realized how fake and superficial the lifestyle seemed. Similarly, in modern day, many celebrities and public figures have attempted or succeeded in killing themselves, such as actor Heath Ledger. The pressure of the constant attention becomes too much to bear and they often turn to suicide or painkillers as an escape.
Blog Topic #3: Syntax
• “I reached for the receiver” (118).
• “Then I opened Buddy Willard’s letter” (119).
Many times throughout Esther Greenwood’s narrative, the author employs short, declarative statements. This sentence structure allows Plath to bluntly state what the characters are doing without creating confusion or allowing the reader to question what is happening. The terse sentences convey the scene well and help the reader to better understand the purpose, while only revealing the most important facts. The sentences give significant amounts of information; however, in a direct manner, careful not to give too much away to the reader.
• “Doesn’t your work interest you, Esther?” (146).
Occasionally throughout the novel, Esther allows the reader to see the inner-thoughts of her mind. At the beginning of each chapter, the author begins with an italicized line, generally of dialogue, which is significant to the chapter. However, sometimes, Esther will break down her thoughts for the reader; questioning, scolding, or applauding herself. The author’s employment of a rhetorical question in Esther’s thoughts, exemplifies her distraught behavior and her uncertainty about what to do and what decisions to make next. Esther knows that any other girl would love to be in her position, and would take advantage of the situation, but Esther, on the other hand, is questioning her desire to continue living this superficial lifestyle and suffers from internal conflict.
• “Then I opened Buddy Willard’s letter” (119).
Many times throughout Esther Greenwood’s narrative, the author employs short, declarative statements. This sentence structure allows Plath to bluntly state what the characters are doing without creating confusion or allowing the reader to question what is happening. The terse sentences convey the scene well and help the reader to better understand the purpose, while only revealing the most important facts. The sentences give significant amounts of information; however, in a direct manner, careful not to give too much away to the reader.
• “Doesn’t your work interest you, Esther?” (146).
Occasionally throughout the novel, Esther allows the reader to see the inner-thoughts of her mind. At the beginning of each chapter, the author begins with an italicized line, generally of dialogue, which is significant to the chapter. However, sometimes, Esther will break down her thoughts for the reader; questioning, scolding, or applauding herself. The author’s employment of a rhetorical question in Esther’s thoughts, exemplifies her distraught behavior and her uncertainty about what to do and what decisions to make next. Esther knows that any other girl would love to be in her position, and would take advantage of the situation, but Esther, on the other hand, is questioning her desire to continue living this superficial lifestyle and suffers from internal conflict.
Blog Topic #2: Diction
• Plath uses strong, connotative diction to convey a fairly consistent tone, throughout the novel, while allowing it to alter sometimes, to compensate for the events the main character is enduring at the time. Near the middle of the novel, Esther decides to visit her father’s gravesite for the first time; she had not known him very well before he passed away and the idea of his death had always seemed slightly foreign to her. While looking in the graveyard, Esther notices the “low, shaggy clouds scudded over… the horizon where the sea lay, behind the marshes and the beach shanty settlements” (166). By using such descriptive imagery, the author sets a dark and gloomy mood to compliment the already ominous setting. Esther exemplifies a disappointed, yet cynical tone in this passage through her pessimistic descriptions and acute sense of attention to detail. The graveyard, in her opinion, was not very well maintained and the headstones and monuments were cheap and deteriorating. The dreary conditions of the day, ironically parallel those of Esther’s state of mind and emotions.
• While at the movie premiere of Ladies’ Day, towards the beginning of the novel, Esther attempts to explain the premise of the movie. She describes how “It was a football romance and [how] it was in Technicolor” (42). In addition, she continues by revealing that she hates Technicolor and how “Everybody in Technicolor [movies seem] to feel obligated to wear a lurid costume in each new scene and to stand around like a clotheshorse with a lot of very green trees or very yellow wheat or very blue ocean rolling away for miles and miles in every direction” (43). By utilizing the phrases “obligated to wear a lurid costume” and “stand around like a clotheshorse,” the author blatantly criticizes Technicolor movies and the actors in them. As a result, an impatient and sarcastic tone is established through Plath’s negative wording and exaggerated statements. Esther’s sarcastic and sometimes penetrating comments, although at times hurtful and rude, help in creating her overall character traits and personality and are necessary in contributing to her eventual downfall.
• While at the movie premiere of Ladies’ Day, towards the beginning of the novel, Esther attempts to explain the premise of the movie. She describes how “It was a football romance and [how] it was in Technicolor” (42). In addition, she continues by revealing that she hates Technicolor and how “Everybody in Technicolor [movies seem] to feel obligated to wear a lurid costume in each new scene and to stand around like a clotheshorse with a lot of very green trees or very yellow wheat or very blue ocean rolling away for miles and miles in every direction” (43). By utilizing the phrases “obligated to wear a lurid costume” and “stand around like a clotheshorse,” the author blatantly criticizes Technicolor movies and the actors in them. As a result, an impatient and sarcastic tone is established through Plath’s negative wording and exaggerated statements. Esther’s sarcastic and sometimes penetrating comments, although at times hurtful and rude, help in creating her overall character traits and personality and are necessary in contributing to her eventual downfall.
Blog Topic #1: Rhetorical Strategies
• Symbolism: “The bell jar hung, suspended, a few feet above my head” (215).
o Most likely one of the most significant rhetorical devices Plath employs is symbolism. The bell jar, which the main character, Esther Greenwood, often refers back to, almost takes on its own negative persona in the book. Although while referencing the bell jar, the author is often referring to a glass jar most commonly used to showcase something or contain it, the bell jar, to Esther, symbolizes much more. The bell jar embodies the concepts of madness and insanity, while intertwining the underlying idea of confinement; no one wants to be limited or restricted in their ability to be free. Esther believes that she is being held captive in a bell jar, which is suffocating her, and ultimately, warping her perspective on society and affecting her ability to communicate with others.
• Allusion: “It was a queer, sultry summer, the summer they electrocuted the Rosenbergs, and I didn’t know what I was doing in New York” (1).
o Throughout the novel, Esther Greenwood makes references to the Rosenbergs, two Russian spies, convicted in the United States during the Cold War. These allusions are helpful for the reader; it allows them to put into perspective the time period in which Plath’s storyline would have taken place. In addition, Esther’s obsession with the topic of their execution portrays a morbid, yet intriguing characteristic in her personality, which helps in further developing the reasons for her decline.
• Simile: “I crawled between the mattress and the padded bedstead and let the mattress fall across me like a tombstone” (123).
o Similes allow the reader to better understand what it is going on in the storyline through a pointed comparison, and therefore, help them to picture the scene from the book, in their mind. This simile also reveals Esther’s thought process and her growing negative attitude towards life, comparing a mattress to a tombstone.
• Onomatopoeia: “It sounded like a heavy wooden object falling downstairs, boomp boomp boomp, step after step” (124).
o The employment of onomatopoeia in Plath’s writing is effective in that it not only heightens the reader’s sense of hearing, but improves the other senses, as well. This rhetorical device helps the reader to better relate to and understand what is happening, and allows for the impression of as if they were witnessing the scene firsthand.
• Personification: “The letters grew barbs and rams’ horns. I watched them separate, each from the other, and jiggle up and down in a silly way” (124).
o In this excerpt from chapter 10, Plath personifies the letters and writing of Esther Greenwood, to be changing and growing animalistic features. Although in reality letters on paper cannot literally grow “barbs and rams’ horns,” to Esther, who is gradually going insane, the letters appear to be coming alive and sadly, it no longer looks like her handwriting.
o Most likely one of the most significant rhetorical devices Plath employs is symbolism. The bell jar, which the main character, Esther Greenwood, often refers back to, almost takes on its own negative persona in the book. Although while referencing the bell jar, the author is often referring to a glass jar most commonly used to showcase something or contain it, the bell jar, to Esther, symbolizes much more. The bell jar embodies the concepts of madness and insanity, while intertwining the underlying idea of confinement; no one wants to be limited or restricted in their ability to be free. Esther believes that she is being held captive in a bell jar, which is suffocating her, and ultimately, warping her perspective on society and affecting her ability to communicate with others.
• Allusion: “It was a queer, sultry summer, the summer they electrocuted the Rosenbergs, and I didn’t know what I was doing in New York” (1).
o Throughout the novel, Esther Greenwood makes references to the Rosenbergs, two Russian spies, convicted in the United States during the Cold War. These allusions are helpful for the reader; it allows them to put into perspective the time period in which Plath’s storyline would have taken place. In addition, Esther’s obsession with the topic of their execution portrays a morbid, yet intriguing characteristic in her personality, which helps in further developing the reasons for her decline.
• Simile: “I crawled between the mattress and the padded bedstead and let the mattress fall across me like a tombstone” (123).
o Similes allow the reader to better understand what it is going on in the storyline through a pointed comparison, and therefore, help them to picture the scene from the book, in their mind. This simile also reveals Esther’s thought process and her growing negative attitude towards life, comparing a mattress to a tombstone.
• Onomatopoeia: “It sounded like a heavy wooden object falling downstairs, boomp boomp boomp, step after step” (124).
o The employment of onomatopoeia in Plath’s writing is effective in that it not only heightens the reader’s sense of hearing, but improves the other senses, as well. This rhetorical device helps the reader to better relate to and understand what is happening, and allows for the impression of as if they were witnessing the scene firsthand.
• Personification: “The letters grew barbs and rams’ horns. I watched them separate, each from the other, and jiggle up and down in a silly way” (124).
o In this excerpt from chapter 10, Plath personifies the letters and writing of Esther Greenwood, to be changing and growing animalistic features. Although in reality letters on paper cannot literally grow “barbs and rams’ horns,” to Esther, who is gradually going insane, the letters appear to be coming alive and sadly, it no longer looks like her handwriting.
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