Bell Jar

The protagonist of this novel, Esther Greenwood, was undoubtedly pressured by a myriad of aspects of life in the 1950s. Between battling society's pressures and norms and working out problems with her sexuality and relationships, the problems that she faced are almost understandable. Maybe it was written within Esther's fate to ungracefully tumble into a pit of depression that set in motion her multiple suicide attempts.

1. Success, progression and prosperity were important concepts that I imagine were all introduced and preached to Esther early on in life. That is most likely the reason that she "fell" so far when these objectives were not being addressed and taken care of the way that she probably planned. Being faced with adversity, Esther made no plans for action and her problems seemed to become greater and more difficult to work through sensibly. Her mind bounced from one subject to another and it became evident that she had trouble finishing what she started.

The fact that Esther was not able to settle for or chose a single career path was frowned upon and looked at as a sign of laziness and a lack of commitment. It was not that she was in fact any of these things, but that she simply could not make up her mind to do just one thing, she fluttered from one idea to the next.

In a sense she was misunderstood by others and she misunderstood herself. For a good portion of her story, she wasn't too sure of what she was made of, who she wanted to be, or who she was. Once her life's pressures became overwhelming, she searched for an escape by attempting suicide. She longed for freedom but she searched for it in the wrong place.