Symbolism In The Catcher In The Rye And The Bell Jar

1289 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Gender roles shaped in literature

In both J.D Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye and The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath, symbolism is used through the employment of imagery and metaphors. These are utilized to convey universal themes, such as alienation, pressures of conventional expectations, and sexuality. Symbolism is also utilized to portray significant and meaningful messages to the audience. In Plath’s The Bell Jar, imagery is used to show the contrast between Esther’s internal self and the external society. The bell jar, that slowly descending over her, is a symbol for the growing isolation Esther feels as her depression worsens throughout the novel and also the alienation she receives as a result of a societal stigma associated with mental illnesses such as depression. Within the first half of the novel, there are many dark images, such as the dead babies in …show more content…

Esther experiences an immense amount of pressure and confusion about where to focus her life’s purpose and how to be successful in multiple fields and aspects of her life. Her confusion is confessed symbolically through the fig-tree metaphor “I saw myself sitting in the crotch of this fig tree, starving to death because I couldn’t make up my mind which of the figs I would choose” (Plath 77). Esther is torn between choosing a direction in life she wants for herself and what society and the people closest to her are pressuring her to pursue. Much like Holden, Esther cannot tolerate the exceeding expectations she feels society is placing on her. By chapter 10, Esther is void of caring for her own aesthetics, as she had maintained early in the novel. The immense pressure leads to Esther’s mental and physical exhaustion, beginning of her lack of self care which is where the rapid decline of her mental health begins. This pivotal moment is signified when she admits that she had not felt like washing the lines of dried blood that marks her cheeks (Plath

Show More
Related

  • Similarities Between Catcher In The Rye And The Bell Jar

    1992 Words  | 4 Pages

    Esther losing her virginity leads to her being “half black with blood” (p.219), a symbol of blood to indicate a new her: “I felt a part of a great tradition” (p.219). Furthermore, blood symbolism is used when Marco, “a woman-hater” (p.102), attempts to rape Esther and when she resists, leaves her “with two strokes stained on my cheeks” (p.105). Plath uses the symbol to represent major defining milestones in Esther’s life, similarly to other situations, such as the suicide attempts. The blood symbolism also represents the violence that can attach itself to sex in a society where women are seen as lower, especially for younger women. In these situations, Esther believes she is reaching “a new condition in peace” (p.219), but often she is putting herself in dangerous situations. This is too similar to Holden, who hires a prostitute to lose his virginity as he has “never got around it yet” (p.83). Her young and nervous demeanour begins to make him feel “more depressed than sexy” (p.86), and this leads to a violent standoff between him and Sunny’s pimp. Both authors use characterisation and Plath uses symbolism to make a point about the confused mindset adolescents have; both males and females believe that it should change their identity drastically, however, the transition for each has a different purpose. The authors are attempting to convince the reader that adolescents are often misinformed about sex and this leads to the idolisation of losing their virginity; a negative belief that often leads to mistakes and hurt. Idolising this concept leads them to adopting it as a part of their

    Read More

  • Symbolism In Catcher In The Rye

    535 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the book The Catcher in the Rye by J.D Salinger involves many symbols and motifs that help understand more about Holden, the main character in the book, and who he is. The motif that stands out the most in the book are the ducks in central park. The ducks help us understand that Holden doesn't want to grow up, he wants to stay a little innocent child. There are more than one example of symbols that show the innocent side of Holden.

    Read More

  • Esther's Suicide In The Bell Jar

    409 Words  | 1 Pages

    Throughout Sylvia Plath’s The Bell Jar, Esther Greenwood’s unsuccessful suicide attempts stem from her evolving relationship with Buddy Willard. Esther’s way of expressing herself is through passing away, in which her constant desire to die roots itself in her multiple suicide attempts. However, she does not follow through with committing suicide which demonstrates her reluctance to end her life. Since Buddy holds much significance over the way she thinks and makes her decisions, his hypocritical comments cause her to re-evaluate her attitude towards him. Esther’s changing notion of Buddy provokes her to further explore her feelings for him, where if she killed herself, she would have no longer been able to look into her true feelings for him.

    Read More

  • The Bell Jar

    611 Words  | 2 Pages

    The mood of the story, The Bell Jar is very gloomy and depressing. Throughout the book, the main character Esther struggles with her mental stability. She can't quite get a grip on what her role is as a woman in society during the late 40’s and early 50’s. She struggles with the fact that she is most likely going to end up as a stay at home mom or house wife. She doesn’t like this idea. During the beginning of the book Esther is doing an internship over the summer for a magazine in New York. She stays at a hotel while she is there. The book takes the reader through the slow process of spiralling depression as Esther gets more and more unstable. The book shadows Plath’s own descent into depression but gives an inside look into her thought process. A month after the book was published, Plath committed suicide. She said the book was semi-autobiographical and that the people and events in the story happened but she changed the names. Its obvious while reading the book that Esther is already very unstable to begin with.

    Read More

  • Esther And The Bell Jar Analysis

    97 Words  | 1 Pages

    In this chapter, Esther talks about the bell jar. She says that the sour air from her life is trapped in a bell jar. The sour air is all of the bad things that have happened, all of the things that have ever hurt her. She says that she breathes the sour air that is trapped in the jar, which causes problems in her life. I believe that she means she cannot get away from the sour things because she is constantly near them. You cannot escape air, and Esther cannot escape the sour parts of

    Read More

  • The Bell Jar

    662 Words  | 2 Pages

    As Esther descends further into madness, a very vivid picture is painted. The once healthy young woman can no longer sleep, eat, or read. Stunning imagery is used when describing Esther’s inability to sleep. “…even my eyelids didn’t shut out the light. They hung the raw, red screen of their tiny vessels in front of me like a wound.” This description emphasizes the pain that Esther’s mental illness is inflicting upon her, through use of such words as “raw”, “red”, and “wound”.

    Read More

  • What Is The Catcher In The Rye Symbolism

    639 Words  | 2 Pages

    All the uses of symbolism in this book helps show why it is important for kids to lose their innocence naturally. This is vital to the book because if there was no symbolism this book would not have a deeper meaning at all. All of these uses by J.D Salinger makes people think about what they are doing daily that can be affecting childhood

    Read More

  • Similarities Between The Bell Jar And Catcher In The Rye

    675 Words  | 2 Pages

    This year summer assignment required students to read and analyze The Bell Jar written by Sylvia Plath, and The Catcher in the Rye written by J. D. Salinger. From there we are introduced to two characters, Esther and Holden. Both share multiple traits but are respectively still differ from each other. Because of their similarities, Holden and Esther go through similar struggles in life, therefore giving the books common themes. The three major themes that are covered throughout the novels are the search for identity, the American Dream, and the melting pot.

    Read More

  • Blood In Sylvia Plath's The Bell Jar

    489 Words  | 1 Pages

    Blood is can be connection, pain, and death to most people. Esther however, thinks of blood the complete opposite. The symbolism of blood in Sylvia Plath's The Bell Jar reinforces the fact that Esther gains accomplishment when blood is shed.

    Read More

  • Mental Illness In Sylvia Plath's The Bell Jar

    461 Words  | 1 Pages

    “How could I write about life when I’d never had a love affair or a baby or even seen anybody die? A girl I knew had just won a prize for a short story about her adventures among the pygmies in Africa. How could I compete with that sort of thing?” (page 121). Her dissatisfaction with her own life as well as the comparison to one of her peers adds a level of unhappiness that many people experience, but is rarely written about. Usually, the protagonist leads an action packed life that somehow ends with happiness, and don’t have time to envy others or feel unhappy with their own accomplishments. That is why Esther’s journey is different, and why it’s important. Her story is not extraordinary, but that doesn’t make it unimportant.

    Read More

  • Catcher in the Rye Symbolism

    1195 Words  | 3 Pages

    Like many novels written The Catcher in the Rye by J.D Salinger is laced with powerful symbols. Symbolism is important in a novel because it is used to provide deeper meaning to the writing. The plot and action in a story can be thought of on one level, but the symbolism is used to bring the overall novel to a new level and to enhance the story. Salinger uses certain symbols such as the red hunting hat, the museum, the carousel, and the catcher in the rye to support his story. Each symbol supports a main theme in the novel. The main themes in The Catcher in the Rye are isolation, innocence and mortality. Each symbol is used to support more than one theme in the novel. Each symbol brings deeper meaning to the novel. If not for the symbols The Catcher in the Rye would just be the ramblings of a teenager in New York City.

    Read More

  • Depression In The Bell Jar

    981 Words  | 2 Pages

    Upon Esther’s arrival back to Massachusetts to visit her mother, she finds out she was not accepted into the writing course she planned on taking. This incident sends her spiraling into a period of boredom. Esther becomes unsure of what to do with her life so decides to write a novel, but as she begins to type she becomes frustrated by her lack of life experiences. Sleep deprivation gets in the way of your decision-making process and stifles creativity (Pietrangelo). Hence why Esther had such a difficult time writing her novel. Esther, who shares a room with her mother, lies in bed unable to sleep trying plan out her life. “I crawled back into bed”, Esther says, “and pulled the sheet over my head. But even that didn’t shut out the light” (123). During her thought process her mother begins to snore, and Esther thinks of strangling her. She asks the family doctor for sleeping pills because of this, which only arises suspicion. Her loss of sleep ultimately forces her mother to register her in a psychiatrist course. The psychiatrist leaves Esther scarred and she becomes increasingly more depressed and finds it even harder to sleep. As the novel proceeds, Esther’s disorder becomes progressively worse. Her insomnia became so intense that she admits, “[She] hadn’t slept for twenty-one nights” (128). Esther’s lack of sleep came with serious repercussions, other than feeling tired. The more Esther resisted

    Read More

  • Minor Characters In The Bell Jar

    207 Words  | 1 Pages

    Throughout the entirety of The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath, a central idea is raised that proves to be an essential part of who Esther Greenwood’s character really is. She constantly speaks of how, in her day and age, they live in such a patriarchal society where women are seen as having little to no importance. This idea of being completely submissive to a man is something that severely bothers Esther, but there is no doubt that she does want someone to love her. That is especially prevalent in the subject of marriage and starting a family. During this time, you didn’t get married because you were in love with someone, you got married because it was what you were expected to do; you didn’t have a choice. A minor character who personifies the

    Read More

  • Sylvia Plath's The Bell Jar

    539 Words  | 2 Pages

    However, it is her blunt, defiant attitude that is just as audacious as it is self-destructive, which leaves her in lost in suicidal despair. Not to mention, once the observer identifies Esther’s cognitive patterns, the reader has a chance to further construct a notion of Esther’s personality. For instance, this novel begins with a hollow, morbid, and wry voice, which belongs to Esther and echoes in the reader’s mind, foreshadowing her obsession with the “worst” things in the

    Read More

  • Esther Greenwood In Sylvia Plath's The Bell Jar

    216 Words  | 1 Pages

    “To the person in the bell jar, blank and stopped as a dead baby, the world itself is the bad dream” (Plath 237). In The Bell Jar, a roman á clef written by Sylvia Plath, Esther Greenwood is trapped in the bell jar of ideals and customs in the 1950s. Even though Esther has a traumatizing experience, she recovers from it and can move on like anyone would after a bad dream. For most people, a nightmare will not restrict their desires, even though it is possible for the bad dream to return. Esther’s recovery from depression and insanity liberated her from her nightmare of trying to comply with the rules of society. However, Esther kept asking questions if “the bell jar, with its stifling distortions, wouldn’t descend again” (Plath 241). Like a

    Read More

More about Symbolism In The Catcher In The Rye And The Bell Jar

Open Document