Character Similarities and Class Tropes

We’ve only read a few chapters of The Bell Jar, but we already see a similarity, or trope, growing of the characters we have witnessed throughout our three novels thus far. Stephen, Holden, and Esther all have similar views on the world. But there is a clear difference in the narrative style of each protagonist.

               From the very first few pages of The Bell Jar, there is a clear sense of the narrative style we will read for the rest of the novel.  The narration of the novel features distinct symbolism and self-characterization of imagery. The narrator often pulls out of the narration to have an aside, or to speak to the reader. This is shown as a part of the text surrounded by parentheses. We see two examples of this on the first three pages. As Esther narrates, “(I knew something was wrong with me that summer, because all I could think about was the Rosenberg’s and how stupid I’d been to buy all those uncomfortable, expensive clothes, hanging limp as fish in my closet, and how all the little successes I’d totted up so happily at college fizzled to nothing outside the slick marble and plate-glass fronts along Madison Avenue.)” (Plath 2). This sets up the somber tone of the “looking-back” narration. Her words, “I knew something was wrong with me,” set up the kind of character we can expect for the rest of the narration. We also know she looks back sadly, as she refers to herself as stupid, one who made mistakes, and that something was wrong with her. On the very next page we have another aside in parentheses. Esther narrates, “(I felt very still and very empty, the way the eye of a tornado must feel, moving dully along in the middle of the surrounding hullabaloo.)” (Plath 3). This really seems to show what we can expect from the character to come in the novel. She feels as though everything is going on around her, but nothing is going on with her. She feels isolated from the world, and everything going on within it. Not only does she recognize that she isn’t part of the “tornado” of society, but she feels empty showing her initial sadness.

               A Portrait of The Artist as a Young Man has a specific narrative style following Stephen’s stream of consciousness. Stephen has a similar disconnect to the world that Esther has, but it is in a difference style. To me, it feels as though Stephen wanted to escape the world, where Esther wants to fit in. Also, the voice of the narration is different. Stephen’s narration is not even his own, and of the author Joyce, whereas Esther’s narration is her recollection of what happened to her years earlier.

               The Catcher in The Rye has a similar narrative system to The Bell Jar. Both novels feature the protagonist recounting past experiences to someone. We learned that Holden was talking to a therapist to be psychoanalyzed, and I feel like Esther is in the same situation. We talked a little in class today about her “breakdown,” and already we get the sense that she is having emotional issues in her new setting. There is a distinction in the narrative voice between these two similar characters though. Someone in 6^th hour today mentioned how much involved Holden was in his description of the story, he was glad to be telling it as a story. So far, The Bell Jar feels more forced and less smooth in terms of storytelling which probably says something about the character.

               Personally, I hope Esther doesn’t turn out too much like our previous world-hating and lonely protagonists, and she has a different kind of style. It’s interesting to see a similarly so early, but I feel like Esther’s character will totally diverge, because she wants to be involved in her new culture. I can’t wait to see how the book unfolds.