The Bell Jar pt. 2

      The book, "The Bell Jar", by Sylvia Plath is an amazing book that explores many deep, complex issues surrounding the time period of the 1950s. In the book, Esther Greenwood is torn between two paths in life; following her career and devoting her time to writing and work, or starting a family and settling down-- what is much more common and expected of women at the time. One of the main ideas that is carried throughout the text is that society, and the ideas and expectations from society, can have negative effects on citizens and those who live in that society.
      In the 1950s (when The Bell Jar takes place), women were expected to settle down young, marry, and start a family. They were expected to be housewives. Esther, however, is torn in her life between her passion for literature and work, and those expectations that are following her wherever she goes. She assumes she can't have both the job she loves and a family. This choice is primarily what leads her to her breakdown.
      Esther ends up trying to kill herself, a definite extreme, but not far off from what many woman probably felt like doing who were in similar situations. Esther wants to break free of the expectations that she feels are forced on her. In the book, she says, "The last thing I wanted was infinite security and to be the place an arrow shoots off from. I wanted change and excitement and to shoot off in all directions myself, like the colored arrows from a Fourth of July rocket." Esther doesn't want her future to be defined by a man. She wants to explore all the possibilities that life has to offer. And because of society and those ideas that are forced on her, Esther feels like she can't do this; she can't follow her dreams. This is why she goes to the extreme of trying to kill herself, because she is so miserable with her endless confusion and frustration of what to do with her life. 
      This book really opens my eyes up to how society really defines people against their will. Because of expectations and ideals, people change themselves, and limit their freedom so that they fit in. Just like Esther, many woman now and then went against their dreams and wants because of what society thought was the "right" way to live. It's unfair, that people (woman especially) feel pressure to be something they're not. It's important to not  let anybody or anything make you think or act a particular way. Because the more you let other people and things define you, the more you lose sight of your actually self, and what your ideals and values are. And as Esther proves, letting yourself be changed by society can only result in you feeling like you lost yourself, and cause meltdowns and breakdowns, and endless misery. Sylvia Plath is telling readers--warning them-- to hold on to themselves, and not let society or people alter who you are, and what you want to do in life.