The Bell Jar 1

At first i was really skeptical about reading this novel because I was not thrilled about the fact that it was a feminist novel. Although I liked Catcher and the Rye better, I did underestimate this book. One of the things that I do like about it is that there are a lot of metaphors and descriptive figurative language incorporated into the writing. Because it is first person narrative, it is a little bit harder to detect the gender discrimination of the time because she is a woman, but there were details such as the fact that the windows in the all women hotel were barred shut, that indicated that women were always trapped. I was also shocked by the obvious attempt of murder that occurred at the luncheon. It was obviously wrong and targeted at a group of pretty intelligent women, and yet there was hardly any consequence. I think that Doreen reminds me of Tinsley, a character in the "It Girl" series. You can also tell the gender discrimination because of certain metaphors such as when Buddy's mom says that a man "is an arrow into the future and [what a] woman is is the place the arrow shoots off from." I also think that because she hates the idea of serving men and always finds faults in men and doesn't like marriage, many people will think that Esther is insane for this reason. I am curious though as to who the Rosenberg's are and why Esther is so affected by their execution. Although not mentioned often, this situation is brought up at the beginning of the novel as the summer when the Rosenberg's are executed and she is very nervous the day that they are to be executed. Babies and children also seem to be mentioned pretty often in this book and I think that they may symbolize Esther's deviation from society. Because while all the women she knows are having babies and getting married she hates the concept of both and would rather be independent. Also the Zeit Geist is so important in this story because it shapes the mentality of society in terms of gender discrimination, which is much of the underlying cause of Esther's mental decline. Lastly, I think that in both Catcher and the Rye and The Bell Jar the protagonist parallels the author and represents their life. This is because in real life, Sylvia Plath went insane, and both novels focus on the mental decline of the protagonists, told in first person. Also though, in The Bell Jar, Esther begins to write a novel in which she wants to make the heroine herself in disguise. I think that this parallels what Sylvia Plath did with Esther in the Bell Jar.