Chloe's Blog

   I think one of the parts of  The Bell Jar  that stood out to me the most was Esther's view on life,  and the role it plays in why she eventually attempts suicide. One of the main things that Esther struggles with is the question of what her future is, and if the one she's on track to is what she really wants. The uncertainity of who she wants to be, paired with the question of whether or not that's possible for her, haunts her. When Esther is faced with the path that she worries is currently laid out for her, one of being married to Buddy and having his kids, it only furthers her spiral. Seeing the woman give birth, and her realization that one day it will have to be her being tortued on that table, being forced to forget it, all so she can repeat that same process eliminates a possible future for her.      On page 79, Esther compares her life to a fig tree, with each fig representing a different life that she could lead, until, "I wanted each ...

     One of the biggest reccuring themes in J.D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye  is change, something that the main character, Holden Caulfield, is shown to struggle with. Holden has gone through many big changes and events in his life, the first of which was the death of his brother, Allie. This was extremely hard on Holden, as he was very close with him, and was so distraught that he punched all the windows in his garage to the point that his hands became permenently messed up. Allie's death was Holden's first real introduction to how cruel the world can be, which led him to lose some of his childhood innocense, causing his deep-seatted fear of change. This had such a big impact on him that he was forced to frequently change schools, which also made him lose a sense of stability in his life.       Holden's frequent and often negative expereinces with change manifested in his idolization of consistency and childhood innocence. This is why when...