A novel largely about depression and suicide would not be complete without examining the aftermath and tragedy of successful suicide. Since Esther is the narrator and could not narrate past her own death and since Esther is modeled after Plath who had mostly recovered at the time of writing this novel, it would make no sense for Esther to commit suicide in this book. Instead, we see Esther attend Joan's funeral. I think that this funeral scene is crucial to the conclusion of the novel.
At the altar the coffin loomed in its snow pallor of flowers—the black shadow of something that wasn't there. The faces in the pews around me were waxen with candlelight, and pine boughs, left over from Christmas, sent up a sepulchral incense in the cold air. . . .I think that in in this moment Esther comes to terms with the finality of death. She sees the coffin containing her friend's body and the graveyard where it will be buried. Her reaction when she faces the fact of her friend's suicide is to listen to her own heartbeat, the sound of her life. I think that the line "I am, I am, I am" perfectly captures what Esther is listening for and hearing, the reassurance that she is still alive.
Then, behind the coffin and the flowers and the face of the minister and the faces of the mourners, I saw the rolling lawns of our town cemetery, knee-deep in snow now, with the tombstones rising out of it like smokeless chimneys.
There would be a black, six-foot-deep gap hacked in the hard ground. That shadow would marry this shadow, and the peculiar, yellowish soil of our locality seal the wound in the whiteness, and yet another snowfall erase the traces of newness in Joan's grave.
I took a deep breath and listened to the old brag of my heart.
I am, I am, I am.
Although it's really sad, I do think that you make a point when you say that Joan dies so that the reader can examine the aftermath and tragedy, but I still think that Joan's death is a little confusing. The timing felt a little odd, especially since Joan had just helped Esther with her bleeding and seemed alright.
ReplyDeleteWoah, I hadn't thought about Joan as being real or not real in Plath's real life. Yeah the moment with the funeral really signifies the inverse health of the two characters. Esther having the reassurance she is alive as Joan dies.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Paul, it is hugely interesting to think that Joan might not actually be real, but just an alternate ending for Esther. The significant moment of the funeral is seemingly crucial to Esther's turning point, as she sees what could have been her end.
DeleteLike I said, I can't say for certain whether or not Joan was a real person in Plath's life. I just found it interesting to explore why Joan might be added if she was not part of Plath's personal experience as well as what role Joan plays regardless of her possible basis in real life.
DeleteI think you make a good point that Joan's life is everything that Esther's could have been. I think Esther realizes it too, as you mention in the last paragraph, Joan's death forces Esther to consider mortality in a way she never had before.
ReplyDeleteI think you make a good point about Joan representing the finality of death. I also find it interesting how the trajectories of the two women's recoveries go in different directions: Joan appears more stable than Esther when she arrives, but as Esther is getting better, Joan's state begins to decline.
ReplyDeleteI've wondered about much of the same things. While reading the Bell Jar I wanted to interpret certain things as symbols or wonder about why Plath would choose to include a character like Joan, but then I remember that the book is largely autobiographical. Joan is an interesting character because she is compelled to commit suicide after hearing about Esther's story, and later she even claims to develop feelings for Esther. Yet, we never hear much about Joan, and Esther doesn't seem to have any deep sympathy for her.
ReplyDeleteI think that this is a very interesting problem found in highly autobiographical works such as The Bell Jar. As Mr. Mitchell has said, I think it would be best if we pick up each book with no preconceptions about the story and without the author's biography in mind. However, this is pretty much impossible. In this post, I tried to ignore the question of whether or not Joan was a real person in Plath's life and just focus on Joan's role in the novel regardless of her basis (or lack there of) in Plath's biography.
DeleteAlthough tragic, Joan's death can be seen as some form of a reality check for Esther. It forces her to consider that death is a permanent solution to her problems, which may be only temporary.
ReplyDeleteWow I didn't really think about Joan playing this roll. Now that I think about it though, I totally agree. Joan is very much like Esther, though they do have key differences (and like you said, one of them being that she actually commits suicide).
ReplyDeleteThis may not make sense to people who don't do cs, so this is more directed to you, Isaac. Joan kind of reminds me of passing by value in cs225 -- you don't modify the original, but you can see what happens when you put a copy of it through a function (and store that in a public variable if need be). I guess for Esther's purpose, you don't want to use pass by reference or by pointer -- then Esther might end up dying (which wouldn't make sense since she's telling the story, and I can imagine her writing all of this after the events have already passed).
I love your c++ analogy! Passing by value perfectly describes this situation, if we think of the bell jar as a huge function that you pass all the characters into. Instead of passing in Esther and Joan, we pass Esther by value as Joan, then Esther by reference as herself!
DeleteThis is interesting. Personally ive had a hard time thinking about Joan because I don't understand the meaning of her blurry sexuality, so I find other people's opinions very interesting. I definitely agree with you that Joan filled the role that Esther couldn't while also reminding her of her own living state and mortality. Nice ideas!
ReplyDeleteThis is definitely an interesting take on the role of Joan in Esther's life which I never thought of. I don't think Joan's death is the only reason for Esther's realizations about life, as I think Doctor Nolan also played a huge role.
ReplyDeleteHarrah's Hotel and Casino - Mapyro
ReplyDeleteHarrah's Casino & Hotel Casino 안성 출장안마 Hotel - Mapyro, Harrah's 정읍 출장안마 Hotel and 삼척 출장샵 Casino map 경상남도 출장안마 and reviews. Check for hours, 원주 출장샵 address, phone number, reviews.