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hollowisabel 's review for:
The Bell Jar
by Sylvia Plath
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
she put it into words and this book is like a mirror. i have never never never felt so seen and like unspeakable things were just put into words. i was sobbing through half of it. it is the most accurate depiction of a silent internal anger, despair, envy, resignation, and grief of the self, building until it breaks. i couldn’t not give it 5☆.
that doesn’t mean it was perfect. a little piece on the racism and controversy:
some bits of prose were imperfect and also there are a few moments that are undeniable reflections of the time, which results in explicitly racist concepts that were uncomfortable; not excusing them, as there is no excuse.
That being said. Both the character and writer are a mentally unwell young middle class white woman in 1950s america, specifically boston. i think these passive comments sprinkled in and then the specific deeply wrong section at the asylum kitchen show how raw and flawed and unfiltered esther - and plath - are feeling. she’s the average young woman, and regrettably racism was so common that these things are pretty transparent for a book of this nature.
i also think it’s a fairly raw depiction of lashing out, having flaws, navigating the self without censorship. Where the problem appears is within her life, this unfortunately made it permissible to have casual thoughts about other races that are disgusting. if she was writing the same book in a different time, or if it hadn’t had been so ingrained in society, i genuinely don’t get the impression that the racist comments would have been the way this lashing out and flawed moments of judgement would have manifested. a huge example of this is with the way she talks about doreen, and other people in her life. this internal cruelty is not limited to other races, and is - crucially and tragically - most pointed at herself. the source is frustration; envy, ambition, and meaninglessness, disappointment, grief, resignation.
she is a woman lost emotionally, having existential issues and feeling suffocated, then becoming lost in her grip or caring on life itself. and even in her cruelty, this is Plath at her most unabridged: this is mental illness, and womanhood, and societal pressure.
that doesn’t mean it was perfect. a little piece on the racism and controversy:
some bits of prose were imperfect and also there are a few moments that are undeniable reflections of the time, which results in explicitly racist concepts that were uncomfortable; not excusing them, as there is no excuse.
That being said. Both the character and writer are a mentally unwell young middle class white woman in 1950s america, specifically boston. i think these passive comments sprinkled in and then the specific deeply wrong section at the asylum kitchen show how raw and flawed and unfiltered esther - and plath - are feeling. she’s the average young woman, and regrettably racism was so common that these things are pretty transparent for a book of this nature.
i also think it’s a fairly raw depiction of lashing out, having flaws, navigating the self without censorship. Where the problem appears is within her life, this unfortunately made it permissible to have casual thoughts about other races that are disgusting. if she was writing the same book in a different time, or if it hadn’t had been so ingrained in society, i genuinely don’t get the impression that the racist comments would have been the way this lashing out and flawed moments of judgement would have manifested. a huge example of this is with the way she talks about doreen, and other people in her life. this internal cruelty is not limited to other races, and is - crucially and tragically - most pointed at herself. the source is frustration; envy, ambition, and meaninglessness, disappointment, grief, resignation.
she is a woman lost emotionally, having existential issues and feeling suffocated, then becoming lost in her grip or caring on life itself. and even in her cruelty, this is Plath at her most unabridged: this is mental illness, and womanhood, and societal pressure.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness, Racial slurs, Racism, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Suicide attempt
Moderate: Misogyny, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Toxic friendship