I had never read anything by Sylvia Plath before, and to tell you the truth I was a bit nervous. I heard rumors that The Bell Jar was loosely based on her life, so I was a bit hesitant to just dive into the book. The book is set in the late 50's. At the beginning of the novel, we meet Esther Greenwood. Esther has won a scholarship to New York to meet and work with all the best and brightest socialites of the city. She makes a friend, Doreen, and they go out on the town nearly every night. But Esther doesn't get the same enjoyment out of NYC as Doreen seems to.
One of Plath's interesting writing techniques in this story is that she jumps back and forth between the past and present. Plath then jumps into Esther's past relationship with Buddy Willard, a smart but hypocritical college bum. Esther desperately wishes she could like Buddy, but she'd much prefer to be independent. After Esther's internship ends, she goes back home to visit her mother. This is about the time when I started realizing Esther was losing her mind. Esther didn't plan on spending the entire summer with her mother, because she had applied for a summer writing course at a university. Unfortunately, Esther didn't make the course, so now she's stuck back in her hometown with her mother.
Esther then decides she's going to spend her summer writing a novel, but realizes she doesn't have any experience. She has been wearing the same outfit since she's been home, and hasn't washed her hair in three weeks. Esther starts realizing she can't get any sleep, so she starts taking sleeping pills. Eventually she starts asking for even more sleeping pills, so Esther gets referred to a psychiatrist. Doctor Gordon, the psychiatrist, decides to start giving Esther shock treatments. Esther starts pondering different ways to commit suicide as well. She goes and hides in her basement and takes her entire bottle of sleeping pills. Esther then wakes up in a hospital, and eventually she gets put in an asylum. This is where all the fun starts.
I think this book is too enjoyable to give away the entire story, so I will stop here. I definitely recommend this book to anyone who is looking for something a little unnerving. I praise Plath for her style of writing. Throughout the entire novel, I found myself thinking "Esther's point of view seems completely rational! I've had these same thoughts myself!" I believe that's the beauty of the book. Maybe we all have a little Esther Greenwood running through our veins.
-Molly Palzkill
