Bell System

have ever wanted; the opportunity to spend a month in NYC editing a national magazine. One might ask what in the world possibly be the same about them? The main characters in the novels The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath and The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger be similar than thought possible. Both Ester from the Bell Jar and Holden from The Catcher in the Rye face many trials that helps them to develop their own views on protection of innocence, mental illness and death which results in them…

Her stories then shift to the nucleus of life in the west side Barrio to her grandmother’s house. Like the hub of a wheel, all family life came from it and especially in the kitchen where they gathered making tamales at Christmas and learning life lessons sitting around the table beneath the light fixture. “A light socket, a light bulb and a dangling string, so primitive yet heartwarming, it was a sure sign of home,” she wrote. The tales fluctuate from climbing backyard chicken coops and trees,…

The Bell Jar is about a story of a young, brilliant and enormously talented woman and her struggles as she grows up in a foreign country, America. This short autobiographical novel details six months in the life of its protagonist, Esther Greenwood and the events of Sylvia Plath's twentieth year; about how she tried to die, and how they stuck her together with glue. In the narrative's opening chapter, Esther, an over-achieving college student, is spending an unhappy summer as a guest editor for…

The Power of the Epistolary Narrative: The Color Purple It is clear that Alice Walker’s “near death” experience as a child allowed her to become a “meticulous observer of human relations” (“Alice Walker (1944-)”). Becoming blind in her right eye at the age of eight seemed to aid her writing, allowing her to become very interested in how people interacted, but also enabling her to withdraw from others. Walker’s childhood seemed to further help her writing. She writes as if trying to…

It started off as an ordinary day for Griffin Walker. He woke up at 6 a.m. like every morning and went to work. Before he left he gave his wife, Jen, and three kids a goodbye kiss. Griffin and his family lived in a very wealthy neighborhood with security cameras surrounding it. When he came home that afternoon he flung the door open expecting for his kids to come running up to see him but, it didn’t happen. A heavy silence filled the air. Griffin walked into the kitchen and saw a puddle of blood…

Virginia Woolf Virginia Woolf was a troubled individual who struggled with depression her entire life. She was able to write about her experiences which inspired some of her greatest works. It is sad, though, that she was in darkness her whole life and was not able to see the light. But, despite the darkness, she was able to give the literary world some great pieces and that is what she is remembered for. Virginia Woolf was a very influential writer of her time and continues to be today, she…

Virginia Woolf was a famous writer who was diagnosed with bipolar I disorder. She wrote many essays and short stories including A Room of One’s Own, The Voyage Out, The Year, and Between the Acts. During her earlier years she suffered greatly from the depression side of her psychological disorder. Virginia had many traumatic experiences in her lifetime including being sexually harassed by her older half-brothers and the deaths of many of her family members. When her mother died in 1895 she was…

A mental illness can arouse in any human due to a plethora of factors. It can impair one’s behaviour, thinking, mood, perception, and social environment causing a person to emotionally deteriorate in their life. In The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath, Esther Greenwood’s mental illness is sparked by her father’s absence, her attempt to fit into society’s expectations, and her rejection towards forming intimate relationships. Esther’s initial spark to her depression is caused by her father’s absence…

identity in a society where basic values are less likely to be tampered with. In "The Bell Jar" by Sylvia Plath, she faces horrific mental, physical, and emotional breakdowns throughout her life to figure out her purpose. Esther Greenwood's dreams and aspirations are smothered by her demanding environment and impinging madness. Esther is probable to fall into a crisis or two and lose her courage to live life. In "The Bell Jar", Esther seeks out crisis situations (almost always purposely)…

Did you know Hannah Senesh was executed for helping save Jews? I learned about her reasoning for joining the British Army, her being a poet and diarist and all the bodies of work she left behind inspiring many generations, and her legacy. To many people in Israel, Senesh is a symbol of idealism and self-sacrifice. Senesh was in her twenties when she joined the British Army. Stated in the Jewish Virtual Library, “The operations purpose was to contact the partisan resistance fighters and to help…