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| "It is simple to follow Esther's narration and go along with her choices. " |
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| the first person narration makes it clear and easy to understand the choices that Esther makes |
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| "Esther's writing is lucid - the thoughts she is portraying are not. They are troubling." |
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| the writing shows us what Esther is experiencing, and it is up to the reader to decide what is going on in her mind and what thoughts she is having |
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| When she starts describing her thoughts on the different ways she should commit suicide, we know for certain that she has a problem. |
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| Plath continuously uses the word mirror throughout the novel to reflect her own conflicts in society as a woman. |
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| Esther does not feel depressed or stressed, but she reached a point in her life where she feels that killing herself is the logical thing to do |
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| Esther has always been an overachiever. she is one of the 12 students chosen to do a fashion magazine in New York. Anyone else would love to be her, but she is miserable |
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| Plath has taken her own life and her own experiences and turned it into a novel |
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| The setting of the story is in 1950, but the problems in it are much like the ones faced today in society |
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| Esther says that she feels like she is surrounded by a bell and she feels trapped as if she could not get out of her problems |
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| "The Bell Jar never explains itself. It is the first person narrative of Esther's perceptions. It's a slice of her life. It's a vivid picture of the inside of a mind through insanity as well as the precursor and the healing." |
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| "It's as if we are viewing the world through her own eyes, hearing all of her thoughts and feeling her every single thrill of fear, disgust, delight, and shock." |
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| the novel goes through Esther's phases starting from her as a naive adolescense to an experience young woman |
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| Plath uses a chronological order to keep Esther in the center of all attention |
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| esther has difficulty dealing with reality and she is always uncertain of what she should do and the future |
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| Because of Esther's successful life (talented, attractive, successful) people expect her to be happy and she makes them think that but she really has a depressed soul |
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| esther feels pressure on what job to choose even though she has many choices |
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| As Esther presents the issue, the men hold all the interesting jobs, and the women have no choice but to stay at home and cook, clean and have children. |
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| Esther can not bear the though of having a life where the man accomplishes his ambitions while the woman stays home and cooks |
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| many women have accepted the role tht men have made for them, but esther does not want to |
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| The style of the novel is relatively informal and reads much like Esther is conversing with you personally, however, beneath the informal dialect lies powerful imagery and symbolism. |
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| through the use of simple speech, Plath wass able to skillfully show the aspects of Esther's life and the changes she goes through both mentally and physically |
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| Esther is sharp and keen in her observations, especially about the people around her in tragic but witty way, while at other times comes across as very naïve. |
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| the story is semi-autobiographical to Plath but the descriptions were very detailed and not predictable like most would expect |
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