Figurative Language
Comparison
Sylvia Plath’s writes with frequent comparisons, always keeping the reader inclined to keep reading to further understand her metaphors. Plath uses a clear example of simile when Esther is dragging herself down about her looks. Esther is comparing her appearance and talents to other people as if she is “a racehorse in a world without racetracks or a champion college footballer suddenly confronted by wall street and a business suit” as all of her accomplishments shrink down to a small dated trophy “like a tombstone” (77). This simile compares Esther to a successful person who cannot find their niche anymore, and all recognition of their past success is only a reminder of the talent they lost. Comparing these …show more content…
The symbol of the bell jar is clearly an important idea, as the book is titled after it. After reading this novel, the reader understands Esther feels she is trapped in a fishbowl of emotions, an idea Esther explains as a “bell jar, with stifling distortions” (241). Esther fears this bell jar, because she associates it with her depression. This looming jar seems like it should “descend again”, terrifying Esther of the return of depression into her life. After living in the asylum, Esther fears the real world, the largest bell jar of them all. Plath also uses illusion to confuse the reader, because Esther herself is confused and not productive in her writing. Esther writes on a paper, “bababadalgharagh[…]thurnuk!” and “[tries] the world aloud” only to displease her ears at a “heavy wooden object falling downstairs”, distinctly a “boomp boomp boomp” for each step of the way (124). Esther clearly has writer’s block, and cannot think of anything worthwhile to write on her page. Unfortunately, her made up word does not make sense, or even sound good when read aloud. This onomatopoeia is meant to describe this example of Esther’s failure to succeed in writing again. Both of these illusions create meaning for Esther’s world; her world is a bell jar with compressed emotions just as much as it is failure to live a great
Comparison
Sylvia Plath’s writes with frequent comparisons, always keeping the reader inclined to keep reading to further understand her metaphors. Plath uses a clear example of simile when Esther is dragging herself down about her looks. Esther is comparing her appearance and talents to other people as if she is “a racehorse in a world without racetracks or a champion college footballer suddenly confronted by wall street and a business suit” as all of her accomplishments shrink down to a small dated trophy “like a tombstone” (77). This simile compares Esther to a successful person who cannot find their niche anymore, and all recognition of their past success is only a reminder of the talent they lost. Comparing these …show more content…
The symbol of the bell jar is clearly an important idea, as the book is titled after it. After reading this novel, the reader understands Esther feels she is trapped in a fishbowl of emotions, an idea Esther explains as a “bell jar, with stifling distortions” (241). Esther fears this bell jar, because she associates it with her depression. This looming jar seems like it should “descend again”, terrifying Esther of the return of depression into her life. After living in the asylum, Esther fears the real world, the largest bell jar of them all. Plath also uses illusion to confuse the reader, because Esther herself is confused and not productive in her writing. Esther writes on a paper, “bababadalgharagh[…]thurnuk!” and “[tries] the world aloud” only to displease her ears at a “heavy wooden object falling downstairs”, distinctly a “boomp boomp boomp” for each step of the way (124). Esther clearly has writer’s block, and cannot think of anything worthwhile to write on her page. Unfortunately, her made up word does not make sense, or even sound good when read aloud. This onomatopoeia is meant to describe this example of Esther’s failure to succeed in writing again. Both of these illusions create meaning for Esther’s world; her world is a bell jar with compressed emotions just as much as it is failure to live a great