The Bell Jar 2

I just finished the book and i definitely did not enjoy it as much as Catcher and the Rye. I do think however, that the depiction of the asylum was sad because it was obviously realistic, but the treatments were so dehumanizing for the patients. the lobotomy, that although she did not have to go through. but that i have researched was terrible, and so were the injections given to Esther and the shock treatments. like Holden in Catcher, Esther was suspicious of everyone as she questioned everything that everyone did including the doctors. in this case however, i think that her suspicions were more justified because of the treatments that these doctors were given. also like catcher, i think that the part of the protagonists' mental downfall had to do with the death of her loved one (in this case it was of her father and in Catcher it was Holden's brother). because both of them avoided mourning, they were never able to be alleviated of their feelings. in addition, i felt like so many powerful, women were put in the asylums. Esther had been a smart woman (she got a scholarship) and Philomena Guinea was a powerful and intelligent writer who also spent time in an asylum. the women were outcasts and had little hope of finding husbands after they left the asylum. in addition, women were put in asylums for the most insignificant differences (they didn't want to be ruled by men, they were lesbians), and were not treated correctly. in the second half of the book, the significance of the title was also revealed. Esther said that she "is sitting in a glass bell jar no matter where she goes" and later on says that "to the person in the bell jar, blank and stopped as a dead baby, the world itself is the bad dream." the bell jar causes the situation of women both insane and not at that time, (she says that the college girls are also under the bell jar). the girls are creating a euphemism of their situation because they don't recognize the seriousness of their suicide attempts (both Joan and Esther). the idea of babies is also prominent as she is in the maternity wing twice (with buddy and when she is volunteering). also, she does not like the prospect of having a baby and because the women's brain cells are being killed by some of the hospital treatments, their minds become more and more childlike. the ego and id was also mentioned by Joan's psychologist, and the women in the asylums had a sister-like connection (Esther and Miss Norris)that was similar to the tacit understanding shared between the soldiers in All Quiet on the Western Front (both groups were the only ones that understood and comprehended what they were going through).