In the novel The Bell Jar, the girl Esther is struggling through her psychological disorders against the conventional persons in society and trying to break through the chains of depression. The imagery and metaphor used in the novel to convey Esther’s psychological instability and her recovery are the bell jar, the fig tree and suicide. Her psychological issues were wrapped around feminism, the problems faced within her versus society and fighting for freedom within her body and spiritual mind.
The bell Jar signifies the societal issues that have led to the development of Esther’s mental disorders, and how it affects her existence in society. The bell jar is a glass jar normally used in labs for scientific use that contain a certain kind of gas. For Esther, the bell jar represents all her problems closed inside her trying to escape. When absorbed by recklessness, she feels as if she is inside a stuffy jar that differ her view of the world, which stops her from relating with the people in society. She tried to recover from all this but like an image of a bell jar the problems are still moving around her waiting for everything to fall.
As seen in the novel on page one hundred and thirteen, ‘All the heat and fear purged itself. I felt surprisingly at peace. ‘The bell jar’ hung, suspended, a few feet above my head. I was open to the circulating air.’
The fig tree symbolises her relationship with Buddy Willard and her life choices. As in the novel she read a book about a