Literary Research: Explore the Age Theme in The Bell Jar

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Coming of Age
Coming of age can be a challenging phase in one’s life and the harsh reality of life can shake the very core values, beliefs and dreams of an individual. An individual has to take control of his/her destiny in which striking a balance between life choices, and their resultant consequences can take a toll on him/her. An individual’s background and environment play a key role in this phase of taking control of one’s life and forging your way through challenges to build your future. Without proper guidance and patience, a person can quickly be disoriented and lose hope in life in the life he/she had been envisioning from childhood through to that particular point in time. Coming of age can squeeze the very life and hope of your childhood dreams and propel you into uncertainty, hopelessness, and depression. It is the same situation Esther, a character in Sylvia Plath’s novel, The Bell Jar, finds herself in after turning nineteen. In this article, am going to explore in detail the theme of coming of age basing my arguments on Sylvia Plath’s novel, The Bell Jar.
Coming of age requires personal sacrifices, and they compel an individual to make very hard choices. It is important that the person is fully aware of the repercussions and can live with the consequences. CITATION Car131 \l 1033 (Hintz & Ostry, 2013)opines that childhood dreams are characterized with a utopia state of mind and many kids often lag behind rather than having to mettle. Esther has to make sacrifices about her future to fit the expectations of the society. She admits she want to fulfill all her heart’s desire and dreams. Unfortunately, for Esther, all her choices have grave consequences she admits she cannot bear. She cannot decide which direction she wants her life to take. All decisions she has to make come with costly consequences, and she gradually gets into depression for fear of making the wrong choices in her life. From her perspective, her life choices are unaffordable. Esther’s dilemma of either having a happy home and children, pursuing her poetic career, becoming a brilliant professor or an editor were among the hard choices she confronted.
“I couldn't quite make out. I saw myself sitting in the crotch of this fig tree, starving to death, just because I couldn't make up my mind which of the figs I would choose.”
The fig tree is used symbolically to illustrate the choices Esther had to make to guarantee herself of a better future. For Esther, all choices had hard repercussions, and she felt she needed all of them.
Esther was exposed to the dangers and cruelty of society after coming of age. Throughout her childhood, she perceived the society and the world at large as constituent factors to guarantee her happiness. The unforgiving and cruel world catches up with her and she goes through a series of cruel ordeals that shake her values and morals albeit experiencing physical and mental pain. Whilst on her own in New York City, she meets Marco who assaults her and she cannot even seek justice, but she retreats to her abode. On a separate occasion, her psychiatrist, Dr. Gordon, recommends electro-shock therapy which puts her through excruciating pain a...