Skip to main content

The Bell Jar

 The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath published in 1963 follows the story of Esther Greenwood and her journey through dealing with mental health at a time where it wasn't widely accepted. I think the most notable relationship she describes in the book is with Dr Nolan. Right away we can tell that Esther trusts and opens up to her. She is different than Dr Gordan because not only is she more open and understanding, but she is someone Esther can connect with as a woman at the time. As we continue to read, it seems as though Dr Nolan truly wants Esther to get better and actually cares about her. At one point Esther even compares her to her mother. 

One of the most notable things about Dr Nolan is her approach to electric shock therapy. She tells Esther that they didn't do it right and that if she had to do it, it would be done correctly. This immediately puts her at ease. Along with the idea that she would get a warning about it beforehand. However as we see later on, the warning comes a bit too late, even so Dr Nolan is able to calm her down and she still has trust. After the shock therapy according to Esther it does seem to work as Dr Nolan promised and we see the title of the book resurface. She describes it as the Bell Jar being lifted so she could finally breathe again. 

Comments

  1. NateMarch 10, 2023 at 3:23 PM

    I think what made Dr. Nolans treatment successful was that level of trust she was able to build with Esther. Like you said, they were able to connect much better than Dr. Gordon. Even though we didn't know any details how Esthers first shock therapy was preformed vs the second, I think the trust Esther had with Dr. Nolan helped significantly with it being successful.

    ReplyDelete
  2. TaehanMarch 11, 2023 at 12:48 PM

    Dr Nolan's unprecedented level trust that she generate with Esther really sets her apart from not only the other doctors in the book but from other characters. I think the shock therapy example that you chose is a great example of that! I also think of the birth control treatments that she prescribed as another example. I think Dr Nolan's ability to help Esther on a personal level and not think of her as another sick patient is what makes Esther trust her so much.

    ReplyDelete
  3. AnnieMarch 16, 2023 at 9:27 AM

    I agree, I think that Dr. Nolan does a good job with establishing a solid level of trust with Esther. Yous also mentioned some good points of how this was established, such as Dr. Nolan being some to whom Esther can talk about her terrible shock treatment and protect her from it. This was probably especially reassuring to Esther because all the other professionals thought that the terrible shock treatment was an effective treatment, and her mother seemed to not grasp the reality of Esthers illness. Thus, Esther was given someone to whom should confide in and reassure her that she was not crazy for hating that terrible experience. Great post!!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Invisible Man: puppet on a string

Throughout Invisible Man,  Ellison hides many metaphors that relate to the narrators life. From the reoccurring theme of running to the coin bank at Marry's, but one particularly interesting one was the doll that pops up before the climax of the book. He stumbles upon Clifton (who he doesn't notice till later) advertising and selling racist puppet dolls. Like everyone else, the narrator finds himself sucked into the doll fascinated with how it moves, he doesn't even realize Clifton is the one selling the dolls nor does he get upset that they're racist dolls. The police eventually come and everyone runs away and the narrator grabs a doll off the ground later putting it into his brief case (another reoccurring metaphor). Upon picking it up he finally realizes how the doll was able to move, it had tiny black strings which Clifton were using to move it in such a way.  This scene essentially creates a puppet on a string metaphor. In many ways, the Narrator is the puppet on t...
11 comments
Read more

The Stranger: The Sun

  The Stranger takes us through the simple yet confusing life of the main character Meursault. The book begins with the death of his mother in which he reacts quite oddly- barely at all. In fact during the funeral his internal thoughts resemble that of a childs, he’s bored and annoyed at the crying people. He also complains about the heat beating down on him, which is easily overlooked compared to the way he is reacting to the whole situation. However, if we pay close attention, Meursault complaining about the heat comes up at important times. Throughout the whole book, I think we can all agree how frustrated we were with the way Meursault has absolutely no care and doesn’t seem to react or have emotional attachment to anything. He endures the death of his mom, kills a man, goes through a long and confusing trial, and is sentenced to death for it. All of these events are quite significant and are bound to invoke a reaction in the average person. However, Meursault doesn’t seem to...
9 comments
Read more

Ragtime: Ending

The ending of the novel was quite unlike the way the rest of the book flowed. There were multiple complex stories and characters coming together to form one narrative. Along the way we got to see mother and her character development, along with fathers lack of it. We saw Houdini navigate his inner struggles and even finding his worth in some way as he continues to preform. We saw Coalhouse Walker and Sarah and their impact on the family and the world. We followed Mother's Younger Brother who's narrative seems to always be driven by other people, much like his name suggests. The book was relatively slow paced for the most part until the ending. The book took a deep inside look into all the characters and showed us how each reacts differently to the same situation. Such as how each family member reacted in a different way to Walker entering the home and coming into their lives. And even how he impacted them after.  The very end of the book seemed very rushed and vague. Almost li...
10 comments
Read more