Sentence And Themes In The Bell Jar By Sylvia Plath

The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath relies heavily on shift in tone and topic to portray the ongoing descent into depression that is the basic story arch for the main character Esther Greenwood. Plath employs a large arsenal of techniques to convey the necessary shifts in the novel. One of the most obvious methods is a direct statement of shift by a character. The direct shift is combined with hints through typical behavior, such as crying. Plath also uses contrasting statements both through Esther contrasting with herself and Esther contrasting with societal norms.Sentence and paragraph length variety give clues to the oncoming change in tone or topic. Shift is a central feature in Plath’s novel and is explored in many ways. One of the simplest …show more content…
Plath implies both a contrast in Esther’s character as well as a contrast in what Esther believes and what is commonly regarded by society as right. Esther is feeling successful as shown in the upbeat tone of the passage until her boss asks what her future plans are. There is a sudden shift to a stifled tone as Esther makes the realization that, “usually I had these plans on the tip of my tongue. “I don’t really know,” I heard myself say.” Here Plath contrasts the usual confidence of Esther with her new found sense of self doubt, and thus creates a sense of doubt in the writing that follows. Plath uses this method when describing Esther’s romantic life. Esther was having a grand time, as told by the frivolous tone, when she realizes that she was in, “a football romance and it was in technicolor.” She soon revealed that she, “hate[s] technicolor.” The difference in tone is evident in even the two contrasting lines. In the first she goes on about romance and how her life is like a movie, but the second line is brief and negative. The paragraph that follows the second line also follows the tone of the second line. Similarly, the paragraph before followed the tone of the line …show more content…
In the midst of large paragraphs of thought, Plath will throw in a single sentence paragraph to act as a shifting point. These single sentences might have the same tone as the paragraphs that surround it as they indicate a shift in topic and not a shift in tone. Esther speaks about her experience in college with definite apathy. In order to transition from describing Esther’s experience in Botany to her experience in physics Plath uses the single sentence paragraph, “The day I went into physics class it was death.” A feeling of frustration and disappointment is central in both the explanation of the Botany and Physics classes, so here the single sentence paragraph is used merely to transition topics. This also works with several of the short sentence transitions. The sentence, “Let me fly with you,” comes in the middle of a section of long inward thought. It doesn’t change the mood of the overall passage, but it takes the majority of the conversation out of Esther’s head and into a two person