The Bell Jar Written by Sylvia PlathEssay Preview: The Bell Jar Written by Sylvia PlathReport this essayThe Bell JarThe novel The Bell Jar, written by Sylvia Plath, was published by Harper & Row, Publishers, Inc. in 1971 and consists of 244 pages. It tells the story of a brilliant, beautiful, and talented young woman named Esther Greenwood. After past experiences, Esther gradually breaks down and becomes suicidal. This report will elaborate on Esthers illness and what drove her to insanity, as well as opinions of this classic novel.
In the beginning of the novel, Esther Greenwood, a college student with a personality of wanting to stand out from everyone else, is telling of her past experience of the summer when she went to New York. In that summer, a family was electrocuted and Esther explains how the idea of being electrocuted makes her sick. She sees the execution in the tabloids wherever she goes and cant help but wonder what it would feel like “being burned alive along your nerves”. Esther is able to go to New York because she wins a fashion magazine contest, along with 12 other girls, by writing essays and poems. For winning the contest, the girls received jobs writing for magazines, tickets to ballets and shows, admission to parties, and dinners to high class restraints. As she spends a month in New York working for a lady named Jay Cee, she meets a girl named Doreen. Doreen is Esthers roommate at the hotel and throughout the month, they become good friends.
As she tells of her experiences in New York, she also reminisces about her memories of college. One of the main people she remembers is Buddy Willard, a boy that Esther has a crush on in college. They become friends, but Buddy becomes sick with TB and while Esther is in New York she visits him. He asks her to marry him but with Esthers negative views on marriage, she declines. Esther had many little adventures in New York such as getting food poisoning from a banquet and being harassed by men at parties but when she left New York,
she was different. She had a wonderful time in New York and when her last night at the hotel came, she realized that she did not care about the free gifts she received and discards of most of them. When she had to leave, she was very depressed not only because she had fun during the trip but also because of everything that had happened to her. But she remembered that she had written a paper to try to get in a class at the college she attends.
When she arrives at her mothers house, Esther learns from her mother that she did not make it into the college program. Esther then begins to wonder what she will do with her life. Through out the New York trip, she ponders on what job she will do. She always ends up thinking of at least 16 different jobs, but is unable to decide on what she wants the most. The one thing Esther was good at (winning prizes, scholarships, and contest) had just been demolished. She comes up with ideas of what to do with her life but nothing seems to suit. For the next month, Esther cannot do anything she used to. She cannot write, read, or sleep and she will not wash her hair because she sees it as meaningless.
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In a desperate attempt to help her daughter, Esther starts attending her mother’s home in the Bronx, but all she gets is a letter from the Department of Youth and New Families, indicating that the school she attends is no longer a good fit.[2] By the time Esther leaves, her mother is still not sure what to do with her life. She decides not to try any more, but only when her father returns home. She begins to worry, believing her mother may not want to take care of her once again after her absence, making the decision to send her to a high school that she hopes she will not meet before her sophomore year.[2] She hopes that when her sister returns home, the school will be filled with people who don’t make it to the top. Esther is upset about the lack of money, but her parents insist that it is okay to help her. A man in a suit is sent into town, along with two men, to investigate if a black man is responsible for the disappearance and to find a place for her to live for the rest of her life.[2] A gang leader is charged in the same trial for the murder. A white man is sentenced to life in prison. The young Esther learns from her father that her brother, Daniel, has committed the murders and that he is also responsible for Esther’s own death.[2] A few weeks before Esther’s father’s trial, Daniel is sentenced on two charges of conspiring to aid a police dog named The Foll of Babylon.[2] He is also charged with “fraud” in connection with The Foll. A few months before his trial begins, Esther learns from her mother that he has been convicted of child endangerment and is likely to be executed. Esther then returns home and returns to the Bronx. She soon learns that Daniel has also committed the murders and that the prison she lives in was originally intended to be a place where children could get high and they did not get low. As a result, there appears to be no one around and when Esther returns at night, she falls sick.[2] Esther quickly realizes something is wrong and calls in help from the police. She tells Daniel that he is not guilty of any of his crimes, which he says is a lie that is not true for other kids around the State of New York. This leads Esther to find another young woman who is also guilty of the crimes. She is in prison when Daniel comes to help. Daniel promises to look after her and takes all his life savings if nothing bad can ever happen. Esther’s father is able to get his daughter to safety, allowing her to travel to Florida with no problems with her