Similarities Between The Bell Jar And Breakfast At Tiffany's

In the following novels, The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath and Breakfast At Tiffany’s by Truman Capote, the stories are both told in the past about important parts in the narrator’s lives. The central characters in both novels are having a hard time in the search for their own identities. In The Bell Jar, the narrator, Esther Greenwood, is very unstable and has a hard time finding herself due to intrinsic problems. In Breakfast At Tiffany’s, the central character, Holly Golightly, is having trouble finding a place that makes her internally feel at home owed to external problems around her. Although both Esther and Holly are trying to find themselves, their identity crises are contributed by factors in fundamentally different ways.
In The Bell Jar, Esther’s inner thoughts and self-critical attitude are key factors to the way she acts as she tries to find her identity throughout the story. The reader …show more content…
The story being in past tense and from the narrator’s point of view allows the reader to see not only the actions, but also the thoughts of the main character in this monumental point of her life. The fact that she has a kid while she recollects on this important part of her life is a key factor to seeing how she has changed in the end. (Plath 3) Esther never wanted to get married or have kids, yet after this time in her life she has one. In the beginning, Esther is introduced as a college girl that many would envy as she has a charming boyfriend, academic success, and a job for a women’s magazine in New York, with expenses paid, and piles and piles of free gifts. (Plath 3) Esther has never been out of New England except for this trip to New York, where she is trying to find where she belongs. New York City is supposed to be a place for opportunity and excitement, yet Esther feels trapped in the city and has no clue what she is doing. This is highlighted when she says, “Only I wasn’t steering anything, not even