Re: plath, relating, & more
Susan Pearson (susanp@ou.edu)
Wed, 17 Dec 1997 20:06:44 -0600
Hey y'all, (that's what we say in Oklahoma)
I read the Bell Jar this weekend and I was talking to a friend about how
it related to Catcher. She was saying that she felt like it did in a lot
of ways, but I think it is only in the most surface of ways. Same time
period, same city, they are both teenagers, they deal with some of the
same issues (sex, phoniness, friendships, innocence, etc.) But Plath
differs from Holden because Holden sees all this innocence and beauty in
the world that is being spoiled and he wants to preserve it. The main
idea of Bell Jar is that she is in this--what do you know--bell jar and
is blind to the outside world after a point. Is it ever clear why she
wants to kill herself? I doubt it is for the same reasons that Seymour
did and Holden would which in my opinion because they live too deeply.
Sometimes it hurts to live that fully and that leaves you with the
choice of dying or not living. (That is a paraphrase of something that
someone on this list said earlier that has stayed with me.) I just don't
see Plath that way. Any other thoughts on this? Also I think that
Salinger is just a better prose writer. Plath is a poet and she can't
get around it. Okay, enough rambling for now.
Susan
> On Plath-i absolutely loved the bell jar. something about the scene where
> she loses her virginity....i saw an abuse of innocence there. not so much a
> loss, because she didn't know what she was doing nor did she know why she
> bled so bad afterward. i think her innocence was dulled in that case, not
> destroyed....i don't know, just a thought. reminds me a lot of myself.