Finding a Meaningful Life
In The Bell Jar, Esther struggles at the dilemma of becoming a housewife, or rejecting the traditional role of a woman to just stay home and instead follow her dreams. She looks down on other women who were in a similar positon to her and decided to live a domestic life, and wishes to find something of greater significance and meaning in her life. This desperation to avoid the mundane and become part of the general mass is something that I noticed in Holden Caulfield from The Catcher in the Rye.
Holden runs from numerous people and responsibilities throughout the novel in order to escape the "phoniness" that he despises, and in an attempt to interest himself as he drifted around aimlessly. However, I would argue that he was not just drifting around aimlessly, but he was actually looking for his calling. Holden does not want to become one of the phony people he hates so much, and so he refuses to settle for anything less than the one thing that is "perfect" for him. Thus, he is constantly changing schools and breaking rules. It is in this search for a greater purpose that I believe that Holden and Esther are very similar.
I agree, I think Holden and Esther are very alike. They have so many different passions and pursuits, and I would also add that they never seem to get anywhere. This is when they get into trouble. It is fine if they are exploring and looking for different paths, but instead of being able to choose a path and following through with it, they are stranded not knowing where to go or who to ask help from. Meanwhile, the rest of the world moves on and they drift farther and father away from everyone else.
ReplyDeleteThe way you describe Esther as struggling with the decision of becoming a housewife or following her dreams reminds me of a book we read in Twentieth-Century Novel, Mrs. Dalloway. In the same way, Clarissa regrets "settling down" and kind of despises herself in the same way you're describing Esther despising other women. I think it's an interesting take on Esther's views because I didn't think of it that way when reading the book.
ReplyDeleteI'm reminded here of Mr. Antolini's comments about Holden "looking for something the world can't provide him" (or something to that effect). Antolini tries to reassure him that this connection CAN be found, even if it's not obvious, and that Holden can find meaning through literature, and realizing that he's not the first to feel this way, and others have kept records of their struggles. Esther too has this desire to read widely to understand more of her world, but her struggle is a little different, in that she suddenly sees that same academic/intellectual route that Antolini proposes to Holden to be closed off to her as a woman. Antolini suggests that Holden's life could change if he reads the right book; Esther fears that her life *won't* change, no matter what she reads.
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