Thematic Essay On The Bell Jar

Thematic essay “The Bell Jar”

In Sylvia Plath’s award-winning book “The Bell Jar, " the main character Esther struggles with suicide, sex, and expectations. Sylvia uses Esther's conflicts with herself and others, and figurative language such as imagery, metaphors, and personification to illustrate Esther's feelings as she battles with her image and worth.

Esther struggles with her oppressive surrounding and the constricting ideals of her cohort. She battles with the feeling of alienation originating from her mother and their complicated relationship. Esther lacks support from her mother in her decision to become a writer. She constantly tears down the lack of stability that comes with the job, making it

Sylvia uses the “negative” as in photography negative in which the lightest areas of the photographed subject appear darkest and the darkest areas appear lightest. Esther is becoming negative, the darker version of the person she’s changing herself to be. A person she can not recognize because she doesn't even know herself. She is already attempting to change into a not even developed persona to fit the ideas of others. Syliva uses the negative in photography to describe Esther’s emotions since at that point in time photos were often taken by others, leaving the subject (Esther) without control over how she’s being presented. Esther begins losing herself in the constant commotion and never-ending expectations of those she's closest to. This, mixed with her growing mental illness, caused excessive suicidal tendencies and thoughts. She felt as if “the only thing to do was to drown [herself]” (Palth 85). Eventually, every event in the book is rooted back to death and suicide. Her discord with others exacerbates her mental struggle leading her to attempt to take her own

The Bell Jar uses a fig tree metaphor, to describe how Esther views her life's potential. "I saw my life branching out before me like the green fig tree. From the tip of every branch, like a fat purple fig, a wonderful future beckoned and winked” (Palth 40). Esther has some hope for her future calling the potential “wonderful” using words like “beckoned” seemingly full of eagerness and optimism. At the same time, she doesn’t understand why people do all these “silly” things because “they only died in the end.”(Palth 38). Sylvia describes it as “queer” and filled with uncertainty, suggesting Esther may be losing herself and her morals (Palth 41). She uses metaphors to show the reader how Esther's mind works and the toll it's slowly taking on