Esther's loneliness
Esther's Loneliness
The entire metaphor of the Bell Jar is of her depression. Similarly to a character like Holden Caulfield, they both feel a resentment towards the social norms, but they present in different ways, while Holden Caulfield is far more "outspoken" about his dissatisfaction with the world and feels no shame from the fact that the rest of the world is different from him. Esther on the other hand chooses to bottle her feelings, there are constant scenes throughout the book where there are things that she want's to say in her mind but she never has the guts to say it. The bell jar to me is her defense on protecting herself from the rest of the world where she lies there lonely while the rest of the world is functioning perfectly and she watches from outside pondering to herself on why she couldn't just be like those people out there, why she couldn't just fit into society. Given the fact that she would always constantly bottle her emotions, this would cause others especially his mother confusion when seeing her in the hospital after her suicide attempts and she refuses to tell her anything which causes her to question what she did wrong as a mother. That scene to me further reveals Esther's hatred for the social norms as her mother questions whether or not she fit the societal norm needed to take care of her children rather than caring about her daughter's wellbeing. Buddy Willard to me almost plays the trope of the "prince charming" in a Disney Movie where he tries to save Esther who almost plays the trope of Rapunzel from being lonely in her castle, which is similar to that of the bell jar. To me that "fairy tale" idea connects with the societal norms of the 1950s where women were portrayed as being constantly dependent on men to save them from their situations and eventually marrying them. Also in real life, when royal princesses end up getting married to powerful men, they are expected to follow their husbands every demand as well as just being the source so that they can be able to have children. Now in the ending of the book for me, I'm not entirely sure if the bell jar is destroyed or completely opened. To me, it feels like the bell jar is in the process of being lifted with there being significant progress being done. In the end, Esther ends up feeling less hated towards the world and even opens up to Buddy Willard when he comes to the hospital to see on how she is doing, as well as even joking with him which is something she had never done at all before (or at least in a long time).
Hi Elliot,
ReplyDeleteI really like your point about how Esther is more impacted by shame than Holden is. I also think it's interesting how Esther and Holden have their different struggles with talking about their mental illnesses, as you brought up. Holden ends up letting all his resentments of society boil out of him to those around him he thinks he can trust, but Esther doesn't boil over so much, instead actively choosing to close herself off when she meets Dr Gordon, even though she is meant to talk to him honestly so that she can get the help she needs. However, Esther does feel able to talk about things with Dr Nolan, even if she can't do so with Dr Gordon, or her mother as you mentioned.
You say Esther is stuck as Cinderella, and that (by societal standards) Buddy is Prince Charming. I think this is especially intersting, because society doesn't expect Esther to be Rapunzel, they expect her to be Cinderella (ie, a woman whose livelihood is dependent on her connection to a prosperous man).
Hi Elliot,
ReplyDeleteVery interesting blog you have there. I really find your comparison of Buddy and Esther as main characters in a fairy tale quite intriguing. Saying that the bell jar is a sort of defense mechanism for Esther is another interesting point. What do you think was the main reason that Esther didn't like telling others about her resentment towards social norms and instead bottles them up?
Hi Elliot, I like what you said about the bell jar, and how you said it's a way for Esther to protect herself from the outside world and its standards, and how she sits there aline, perhaps not feeling identified or aligned with anything the outside world has to offer. I also like the brief comparison you made to Holden, and how he directly explains her discomfort with the world, unlike Esther, who remains quiet about it. Great Blog!
ReplyDeleteHi Elliot!
ReplyDeleteI really liked your analogy of this society of being like a Disney world, and I think that you did a great job of relating the two. Though, I like the idea that this could be a sort of anti-fairy tale, as Esther ends up freeing herself, without the help of a Prince Charming like Buddy. Perhaps Buddy is even the villain in this story, along with the society of the 1950s. Either way, great job!
Hey Elliot, I found the analogy you used really interesting. This idea that Esther is stuck up in her castle and needs to get saved by Buddy is really thought provoking. I don't necessarily think that Buddy fits this idea of a "prince charming" who saves the day, since he himself feels like he might have caused Esther and Joan to get stuck in their own towers. I think this idea of shame is also very interesting. It's true that with Holden we saw a lot of outwards resentment to the world, but he also calls himself a "madman," so he does recognize his differences from the rest of the world. Like you pointed out Esther also recognizes her differences from the rest of the world.
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ReplyDeleteHey Elliot,
ReplyDeleteI really liked how you connected the bell jar metaphor to Esther’s tendency to bottle up her emotions. Your comparison between Esther and Holden was especially interesting because it clearly shows how two characters can reject social norms in very different ways. I also thought your discussion of the “fairy tale” Disney expectations for women in the 1950s added an important historical perspective to Esther’s struggles. Overall, very informative post!
I agree that Holden is a lot more confident voicing his opinions than Esther is: they both come on strong, as narrators, but Esther is much more introspective, uncertain, self-scrutinizing, while Holden (at least initially) gets so much mileage out of cataloging all that is wrong with the world. Gender likely plays a role here: for a range of reasons, Holden feels entitled to his opinion, confident voicing unpopular opinions, even thrillingly rebellious as he voices these opinions. Esther is aware that, for a young woman, being "opinionated" in this way might have social consequences, or her reputation might suffer. She DOES feel confident voicing some very unconventional opinions ("I'm never getting married"), but it's not like she follows these up with a rant on everything that's wrong with marriage. The sense that she may be alone in these feelings inhibits her in a way that Holden is not inhibited.
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