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What Are The Causes Of Depression In The Bell Jar

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A bell jar is a bell-shaped glass cover used for covering delicate objects or are used in a laboratory, typically for enclosing samples for observation. In The same manner Sylvia Plath's the bell jar captures what it is like to be under a personal bell jar, poised on the edge of chaos and insanity. This unforgettable classic shows the reader what it is like to slowly drift into depression through the eyes of Esther Greenwood. Esther sees herself living in a bell jar. This is what makes her so relatable to those who have also seen the world through their own bell jar. The relatability is what makes this piece of work immensely powerful. Esther Greenwood gives the reader a sense of hope and the knowledge of knowing they are not alone.
Esther’s …show more content…
Esther starts to lose herself, she begins to feel as if she is split down the middle. This presents itself in her inability to decide on what career path. This being split down the middle is the cause of a lot of Esther's emotional trouble, including her depression. Her depression manifests as most of the time Esther feeling hollow, hopeless and empty at this time Esther says “I guess I should have reacted the way most of the other girls were, but I couldn't get myself to react. I felt very still and very empty, the way the eye of a tornado must feel, moving dully along in the middle of the surrounding hullabaloo.” (page 85) Esther at other times feels hopeful and optimistic about her future but this is all overwhelming. Another large part of why Esther feels as if she is living in this bell jar is because she feels inadequate and alone due to her self-effacing nature. Esther starts to feel like she needs to be everything at once causing her to never be happy with who she is, because she feels the need to be everything leading to more stress causing the split in her persona to widen. When describing her future a fig tree and her life paths as figs she says “ I saw myself sitting in the crotch of this fig tree, starving to death, just because I couldn't make up my mind which of the figs I would choose. I wanted each and every one of them, but choosing one meant losing all the rest, and, as I sat there, unable to decide, the figs began to wrinkle and go black, and, one by one, they plopped to the ground at my feet.” (page

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