Some words about the Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath

The last book I read was Post Office by Charles Bukowski. Going off in the same direction, and reading similar books I just finished The Bell Jar.

The story is about the crack up of Esther Greenwood. It’s kind of crazy because her crackup and how the people in the story treat it stems from this 19 year old girl not knowing what she wants to do with her life, hardly a reason for electroshock therapy. I mean that wasn’t the only reason but it seemed to me her overarching issue was trying to figure out her future while some of the possibilities were drying up and dying in front of her.

Her crackup was the thing I was most interested in before reading the book. At some point Esther thinks to herself “I wondered at what point in space the silly sham blue of the sky turned black” and I started to think about how fast the sun comes up or goes down compared to how long the sun is up or how long nights last and I likened it to her descent. I felt like she spiraled so quickly I can bisect the story and say the book before the near rape was day (despite being poisoned) and the book after was night. I think the near rape, and news she didn’t get into the writing program was her twilight, the sun going down. I struggled to understand how she so quickly got into such terrible shape and the best I could do was attribute it to the near rape because I know that had to have been traumatizing. I was rooting for Esther Greenwood, until she kicked the black server guy for serving 2 different types of beans.

Besides that the writing in the book immediately caught me. The metaphors, from the gray crayons in the city, to the fig tree, to the bell jar, were easy to understand and compelling.

Reading wise, I’m going to continue in this direction. The next book I’m reading is Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy.

What did you all think about The Bell Jar?

by Tskahmeenwutever