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A conflicting book - The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath

Writer: AliAli
Sep 27, 20222 min read

Oh The Bell Jar. Let's start with a quick rundown of this book. Sylvia Plaths only published novel, The Bell Jar. Loosley based on Sylvias' life, Esther Greenwood is on the brink of her future but also on the edge of darkness. We follow Esther as she spirals into depression in the 1950s. From bad psychiatrists to crazed men and friends.

Now first things first, I did enjoy this book. It's interesting seeing someone from the 50s' accurate perception of mental health and how it was dealt with. If you read this knowing the background of Sylvia Plath herself and how she, unfortunately, ended her life, I think it becomes obvious that Sylvia was expressing how she felt through Esther. Possibly this book was more of a memoir than fiction. Although that is just my speculation.

Something that needs to be taken into account with this book is it was first published in 1963. I bring this up because some of the language used towards black people in this book was extremely racist. Honestly, it was a bit of a shock but again, this came out in the 60s in America so it was a very racist time and place. By no means am I excusing the racism but it's something to note.

Now obviously this book does have trigger warnings. These include talks about mental health and suicide. Suicide attempts, racisim, attempted rape, depression and self-harm. So if any of those things trigger you, please skip this book.

All in all though, I must say that I mostly enjoyed this book. I think it was written very well and as I said previously, having the perspective of mental health in the 50s is very interesting and I think it was portrayed well. This isn't a book for everyone, but I think this is a solid read if it's something you're willing to give a go.


 
 
 

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