Symbolism In Ester's The Bell Jar

Moreover, the symbolism of the bell jar poignantly struck me. Bell jars are inverted glass jars used to display a specimen of curiosity in an unchanging, oppressive environment. For Esther, her madness is a bell jar. She feels like she is a foreign, rare creature people talk about, but never understand. I felt the same. People would always talk about me, as if I were some role model others should emulate, but never get close enough to learn the reality of my life. Similarly, Ester feels like the bell jar distorts her reality and stops her from connecting with¬ anyone.
I was never diagnosed with any mental illness because I was afraid of sharing my troubles. In The Bell Jar, Ester’s mother says, "I knew you'd decide to be all right again," …show more content…
The most reliable personality test is called the Big Five. “Psychologists looked for clusters of traits that correlate strongly to one another, but don’t correlate with the other clusters. Using this approach, researchers found what they call the Big Five personality traits” (Kalat). These five traits include openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism. These terms are well-known, except for neuroticism. What is neurotic is largely subjective. According to my psychology textbook, “Emotional stability is a tendency to minimize unpleasant emotions. The opposite term is neuroticism” (Kalat). I used Truity’s Big Five personality test during the fall of my freshman year of high school. My results were as follows: 51 percent openness, 95 percent conscientiousness, 32.5 percent extroversion, 54 percent agreeableness, and 75 percent neuroticism. However, when I took the same test during my first semester of college, I got 63 percent openness, 95 percent conscientiousness, 55 percent extraversion, 63 percent agreeableness, and 38 percent neuroticism. While my conscientiousness and agreeableness are rather consistent, every other factor has changed drastically. I attribute the change in my extraversion and openness levels to trying things outside of my comfort zone. However, the most substantial change is my neuroticism. Seeing this marked change, made me remember how anxious I used to be. I used to not fall asleep for hours too busy stressing about my future. Or I would make myself so paranoid about tests, I would get up in the middle of the night to continue studying (even though I had everything perfectly memorized). Luckily, I am in a much healthier mindset today due to The Bell