Hello everyone, I\u2019m back on this fine Monday afternoon to talk about one of the saddest books I\u2019ve read recently. I decided to take a break from all the love stories to read a book with a completely different tone and theme. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
I first heard of \u201cThe Bell Jar\u201d from one of my childhood friends when we were at lunch one day, catching up. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
We talked about how everything in our lives is changing at the moment, since we\u2019re both about to graduate college and have to become real adults (yikes, scary). She brought up what she thought to be a poem; little did I know it was actually an excerpt from a novel. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
My heart dropped when I read the words because it was everything I felt. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI saw my life branching out before me like the green fig tree in the story. From the tip of every branch, like a fat purple fig, a wonderful future beckoned and winked\u2026 I saw myself sitting in the crotch of this fig tree, starving to death, just because I couldn\u2019t make up my mind which of the figs I would choose. I wanted each and every one of them, but choosing one meant losing all the rest, and, as I sat there, unable to decide, the figs began to wrinkle and go black, and one by one, they plopped to the ground at my feet.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
– Sylvia Plath, \u201cThe Bell Jar\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019m sure many young people can relate to this excerpt, because choosing your life path at such a young age is incredibly difficult. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
This novel was beautifully written, yet extremely tragic. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The main character, Esther Greenwood, is a college student who slowly descends into an unhealthy mental state, ending up in an insane asylum. She endures awful shock therapy treatment and attempts to commit suicide. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Bell Jar is incredibly intimate, almost painfully so. I think the novel, which was published in 1963, was also very much ahead of its time. Not many people discussed such serious topics as clinical depression and suicide, or the effects of electric shock therapy as a treatment for these mental health conditions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The novel also feels like a bold, very important warning statement that teaches humanity how to learn from their mistakes and not repeat history. By getting such a close glimpse into the life of someone who suffered as harshly as Esther, audiences can understand the severity of past mistakes of doctors and hospitals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As difficult as some of the story\u2019s content was to read, I think more people should read this story because it teaches incredible lessons on how to treat one another, especially those who are suffering.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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