The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath is the story of a young, vivacious college student who struggles with her everyday college life and her successes. It leads her to over-work her mind and have a nervous breakdown. The novel is a journey through the mind of the young college girl, Esther Greenwood, and her slow descent into insanity. It is an intriguing insight at how the mind works, or in Esther’s case, turns against her. Esther is a young college student who has had much success is her life.…
As a rule, what surrounds a character in a book, either a different culture, or geography, tends to change their moral principles. Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer, is a perfect example of how even though someone has everything they need, they can end up doing insane things. Mccandless, the main character, is affected by extreme environmental surroundings, because his thinking shifts from being brave to feeling morally guilty . Cristopher, used to have all he wished, but because of his solipsistic personality, this wasn't enough.…
Marcus told himself he wasn't going to get in trouble anymore. He wanted to stay away from the troubles of society to make himself better. Well that didn't last long when a man named Charlie with a brain disorder came into the picture in the book “Pop by Gordon Korman” Charlie was willing to help him and be friends the better himself but little did he know that Charlie was into trouble and wasn't the best influence for Marcus. The opposing force of trouble over took Marcus once again, and it would test his mental strength.…
While reading The Cellar by Natasha Preston I have evaluated three minor characters. Violet, Rose, and Poppy are the three other flowers to help make Clover’s idea of a perfect family whole with the addition of Lily. Without these certain minor characters in the book it would change dramatically leaving calamity. Rose is a sweet girl who was shy, but comfortable in Clover’s presence.…
The process of discovery insurmountably affects perceptions of human nature and the wider world. Discovery, literally and metaphorically, is the foundation of an individual's physical and emotional evolution, influencing all aspects of their life. The concept that a change of location allows personal growth or decay is considerably relevant to the idea of physical discovery leading to emotional revelation. This is a prevalent thematic concern within Michael Gow’s play Away (1986) in which discovery evidently impacts upon the characters’ perceptions of class structure. This text also explores the changing perceptions of feminism and sexual consent, leading to a shift in societal behaviours.…
Sylvia Plath suffered from depression throughout her life, which led to her poetry and novels to have a dark tone. One can assume that Esther is an extension of Plath herself, which explains how Plath wrote such a poignantly realistic story around this character. The Bell Jar includes the elements of voice which enhance the grippingly real…
Throughout the novel “The Sun Also Rises,” by Ernest Hemingway, the characters are often represented as “lost” both mentally and physically, in negative and positive ways. This is evident when Brett announces, “I won’t be one of those bitches,” exclaiming that she is finally coming to realize who she wants to be and what she wants from a man(247). This is negative because she was “lost” and was abusing her self-worth proving that she was physically misusing her body, but mentally she thought she was smart enough to not be “one of those bitches.” The main character Jake however, was “lost” in a positive way as he thinks to himself, “It felt strange to be in France again. There was a safe, suburban feeling,” explaining that Jake felt comfort…
“Courage is the commitment to begin without any guarantee of success,” a quote from Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, provides a glimpse into an important theme of Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, written by Ransom Riggs. The beginning of the story takes place in present day Florida, where the main character, Jacob Portman, lives. The rest of the story takes place on Cairnholm Island in Wales in both the present and on September 3, 1940. Jacob is a sixteen-year-old boy who shows great courage when faced with many challenges. Jacobs’s first challenge was overcoming the death of his grandfather.…
Sweet Home Alabama is a romantic comedy that involves a southern girl raised in Alabama who became a big shot in New York City. She is forced to revisit her past to obtain a divorce from her husband after being separated for seven years. This film involves three main characters; Melanie, Jake, and Andrew. Melanie and Jake were high school sweethearts who got married but eventually separated due to Melanie furthering her career as a fashion designer in New York. There she met Andrew Hennings who’s mother is the mayor of New York.…
Do you ever feel like you need to do something but you just don’t know what it is? Imagine this, but if you don 't figure out what it is, you get physically and mentally tortured. This is what happens to Winston Smith in 1984 after he has been caught going against his government 's ideas. Since Winston is tortured physically and mentally, he has no choice but to conforms to the Party’s ideals.…
Furthermore, the title is an extended metaphor of her suffocation from relationships and work which prevents her from connecting with the people around her. A bell jar is an inverted glass jar used to protect and display delicate objects or to maintain a vacuum. But for Esther, the bell jar symbolizes madness. “...wherever I sat - on the deck of a ship or at a street café in Paris or Bangkok - I would be sitting under the same glass bell jar, stewing in my own sour air” (178) - She feels as if she is inside an airless jar that changes her perspective on the world because no matter where she goes, she is trapped.…
What’s Eating Gilbert Grape is a movie about a young man named Gilbert, his younger brother; Arnie and their life and family in a small town named Endora. Gilbert seems to be the sole income and guardian of his brother even with his sisters and mother at home. The movie was made in 1983, and is probably one of the best serious films I have ever seen. What’s Eating Gilbert Grape is a sad and moving film that leaves you rooting for Gilbert to get out of town and his life. Ellen Grape is a sixteen-year-old girl.…
How Much Should the Author’s Life be Known Authors Sylvia Plath of “The Bell Jar” and Justin Torres of “We the Animals” both incorporated many of their personal life events and struggles into their debut novels. By incorporating their hardships into their literary work, the two books provide an extensive look into both of the author 's frustration and fanciful imagination. In “The Bell Jar”, the protagonist, Esther Greenwood, is first described as a studious girl who, through her education, was granted a summer magazine internship to New York City. Instead of using this opportunity to network and grow as a writer, Esther begins to fall into an increasingly severe depression. She is constantly plagues by her repressed sexuality which forces…
At it’s core, The Bell Jar serves to challenge the social norms of the 1950s, and challenges the prevailing notion that women were dependent on and inferior to men. Esther struggles with the expectation that she should abandon her hopes and dreams for motherhood and a career in domestic duties. The novel also questions the idea that motherhood is the ultimate in femininity through grotesque images of pregnancy and birth, Esther sees the birthing room as a oubliette describing the birthing bed as “some awful torture table”. Esther notices that her worth is based on her ability to have children: “You oughtn 't see this,” Will muttered in my ear. “You 'll never want to have a baby if you do.…
Many studies show what personality traits can affect schizophrenia. John Forbes Nash Jr. showed an interesting personality trait that amplified his schizophrenic disorder. According to Capps (2004), his narcissism not only intensified his schizophrenia, but it helped in his recovery or repression of his schizophrenia. The movie, A Beautiful Mind, attempts to convey the life of Nash in a way that is understandable to all. The movie begins while he is in graduate school at Princeton University and it goes throughout his life, showing his falling in love with his wife, the birth of their first son, and his first admittance into a mental hospital.…