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The Bell Jar by Mind Map: The Bell Jar

1. Characters

1.1. Esther Greenwood

1.1.1. Esther is a college student trying to get somewhere in her life but is put on hold because she is not mentally healthy. She loses all meaning to doing anything and tries to kill herself various times. She is smart, talented, and attractive but this, she does not see past the bell jar of her mental illness that she's trapped in.

1.2. Mrs. Greenwood

1.2.1. Mrs. Greenwood has had a very tough life. Her husband died, leaving no money or anything. She raised Esther and her brother alone. She struggles with the idea that her daughter has anything wrong with her. She wants Esther to be normal and not want to die, obviously.

1.3. Buddy Willard

1.3.1. Esther's college boyfriend that graduated from Yale and went into medical school to become a doctor. There he caught TB and was sent away. Esther hated him for practically lying to her about having sex. He later asked her to marry him and she refused. Their relationship was doomed from the beginning (The Fig Tree is a perfect symbol for them) even though Buddy's parents wanted them to get married. He was a good looking, smart guy, but he was a little arrogant.

1.4. Dr. Nolan

1.4.1. Esther's psychiatrist in a private mental hospital. She's a very kind, nurturing figure that makes Esther feel more comfortable.

1.5. Joan Gilling

1.5.1. Esther's friend at the mental hospital who also has dated Buddy Willard. She's a big, horsey woman who Esther didn't exactly like but she viewed her as her double when it came to their mental problems. Can't handle her emotions and eventually kill herself.

2. Themes

2.1. The Role of Women

2.1.1. Constantly throughout the novel Esther talks about how she hates that women are just supposed to stay home, cook, clean, and watch the children while the men are out doing things. She doesn't like the thought of getting married or having children. She literally states, "I'm never going to get married." to Buddy Willard when he asks her to marry him.

2.2. Growth/Rebirth

2.2.1. This novel is about how Esther overcomes her mental roadblock and finds a sole way to just live. She overcame her thinking that everything was pointless and finally found a point to live.

2.3. Mental Help is Good :)

2.3.1. This novel definitely touches on how getting help from professionals actually does help. It also informs people of the things that are out there and that even if you are in this state of mind, there is help out there and it will get better. This also gives people an inside look on what's it's like to have a mental disorder and what goes through the mind of a suicidal person.

3. Motifs

3.1. Shock

3.1.1. "The idea of being electrocuted makes me sick, and that's all there was to read about in the papers..." (Pg. 1)

3.1.2. "Then something bent down and took hold of me and shook me like the end of the world. Whee-ee-ee-ee-ee, it shrilled, through an air crackling with blue light, and with each flash a great jolt drubbed me till I thought my bones would break and the sap fly out of me like a split plant. I wondered what terrible thing it was that I had done. (Pg.143)

3.2. Cadaver/Death

3.2.1. "...The first time I saw a cadaver (corpse). For weeks afterward, the cadaver's head- or what there was left of it- floated up behind my eggs and bacon at breakfast and behind the face of Buddy Willard, who was responsible for my seeing it in the first place, and pretty soon I felt as though I were carrying the cadaver's head around with me on a string, like some black, noseless balloon stinking of vinegar." (Pg. 2)

3.2.2. "I locked myself in the bathroom and ran a tub full of warm water, and taken out a Gillette blade." (Pg. 147)

3.2.3. "I'm going to jump out of the window, I'm going to jump out of the window, I'm going to jump out of the window." (Pg. 142)

3.2.4. "They disemboweled themselves when anything went wrong. I tried to imagine how they would go about it. They must have an extremely sharp knife. No, probably two extremely sharp knives..." (Pg. 138

3.3. Nonrecognition of Self

3.3.1. "Then my ears went funny, and I noticed a big, smudgy eyed Chinese woman staring idiotically into my face. It was only me of course. I was appalled to see how wrinkled and used up I looked." (Pg. 18)

3.3.2. "The face in the mirror looked like a sick Indian. (Pg. 112) (Can also be used under Mirrors category)

3.3.3. "She took out a large mirror in a wooden frame that matched the wood of the bureau and handed it to me. At first I didn't see what the trouble was. It wasn't a mirror at all, but a picture...." (Pg. 174)

3.4. Mirrors

3.4.1. "I fished in my pocketbook and handed Doreen the mirror with her name and the daisies on it" (Pg. 49)

3.4.2. "The mouth in the mirror cracked into a grin. a minute after the crash another nurse ran in. She took one look at the broken mirror, and at me, standing over the blind, white pieces..." (Pg. 174)

3.5. Sex

3.5.1. "Have you ever had an affair with anyone, Buddy? .... You know, have you ever gone to bed with anyone?" (Pg. 69-70)

3.5.2. "The more I thought about it the better I liked the idea of being seduced by a simultaneous interpreter. (Pg. 80)

3.5.3. She has sex for the first time with a man name Irwin and she bleeds way too much and has to go to the hospital.

4. Symbolism

4.1. Bell Jar

4.1.1. "The bell jar hung, suspended, a few feet above my head." (Pg. 215)

4.1.1.1. A literal bell jar is an inverted glass jar that usually holds something for scientific marvel. The bell jar symbolizes what Esther is feeling. She's feeling like she's trapped in this bell jar that is her mental illness and she can't get out of it. I believe that the quote to the left does not mean that there's an actual bell jar. I believe it means that, at that point in her recovery the bell jar was hanging above her head. Not suffocating her, but waiting.

4.2. The Fig Tree

4.2.1. Esther reads a story about a Jew and a nun who meet under a fig tree. Their relationship is doomed from the start just and hers and Buddy's is.

4.3. Sex

4.3.1. Throughout the novel, Esther talks about being pure (a virgin). She remains pure until she starts seeing results from the help she's receiving. This could represent her coming out of her bell jar.