Symbolism In The Bell Jar Sylvia Plath

In the book “Roll of thunder hear my cry”, Mildred D. Taylor uses symbolism to provide context, and background information of the how their community is, and who the Logan’s fit in it. A great example when the author provides context and background information would be the fig tree. When the author is describing the fig tree, she describes it as “It keeps on blooming, bearing good fruit year after year, knowing all the time it’ll never get big as them other trees.” (pg 206) The author is trying to describe how the Logan family fits in in the community. Knowing that the Logan family owns land, and that they are the only black family that owns land; we can assume that what she means by “knowing all the time it’ll never get big as them other trees.”, the other trees that

With the trees, any reader can see Melinda transition from feeling lifeless with no hope and nothing keeping her going to accepting herself and having hope for the future. At the beginning of the novel, Melinda is painting trees that reflect exactly how she is feeling. In the chapter "Opposite

Laurie Anderson’s young adult novel “Speak” is fulfilled with symbols, good and bad, static and not static. The high school girl, Melinda Sordino, stops speaking after being raped by a classmate. The author uses symbolism in order to illustrate Melinda’s emotional trauma, and how Melinda tries to overcome it. Three the most complex symbols in the novel are a poster of Maya Angelou, an oak tree, and a name of her teacher –Mr. Freeman.

In Mary Oliver’s, The Black Walnut Tree, she exhibits a figurative and literal understanding on the importance of family and its history. The poem is showing that your emotional value is what’s more important than your physical value (money). By using symbolism and imagery the poet illustrates an intricate relationship between the “Black Walnut Tree” to the mother and daughter being both rooted deeply in the earth and past trying to reach for the sun and the fruit it will bring. Symbolism constitutes the allusion that the tree is the family both old and new. Imagery portrays the image that the tree and family are connected by similar trails and burdens.

This section helps depict the generation gap between Mama and Walter and how the “American Dream” evolves over time. At the end of the play, Mama walks into the living room and grabs her plant. The plant symbolizes her family. She knows that the plant never gets enough water or light but she continuously cares for it. This is the same for her family.

Symbolism is the practice of representing things by symbols, or of investing things with a symbolic meaning or character. In Speak, Laurie Halse Anderson uses literary devices to help the reader better understand Melinda’s personal changes and growth. Trees, lips, and coldness are all symbolically used to represent the changes of Melinda. Throughout the novel, trees play a big part in symbolizing Melinda.

From reading the novel The Bell Jar as well as background information on the author Sylvia Plath, the quote “I 've gone around for most of my life as in the rarefied atmosphere under a bell jar", (Litlovers, 2016), is the primary meaning of the novel’s titular. One of the most significant metaphorical devices Plath employs is symbolism. The main character, Esther often refers to a bell Jar, where it takes on its own negative persona in the book. A bell jar is most commonly known to be a glass jar; mainly showcasing or containing some kind of object, but to Plath it symbolizes much more. Through the main character Esther, we see various different meanings of a bell jar.

This emphasises the enormity of the task Ofelia is about to embark upon and also her vulnerability as the tree’s dominating presence fills the frame. The fig tree itself is symbolic in its representation. Firstly, the entrance of the tree resembles that of a female’s ovaries, with its curved branches replicating the fallopian tubes. Moreover, the tree’s sickened state mirrors Ofelia’s pregnant mother’s own fragile condition.

“Symbolism is the use of symbols to signify ideas and qualities by giving them symbolic meanings that are different from their literal sense.” Symbols can add a deeper meaning than just an object itself that the author is trying to make. Symbols can also foreshadow what is yet to come. The audience can interpret a symbol in many ways it depends on their experience. In Southside Chicago the Younger family is struggling to have hope as they are always facing society.

Journal 1 Krakauer, Jon. Into The Wild. New York: Villard, 1996. Print. Journal 2

1. Introduction Published in 1963 under the pseudonym Victoria Lucas, The Bell Jar has aroused the interest of scholars all over the world. One of the most often discussed characteristics of The Bell Jar is its use of similes, metaphors, and symbols. Throughout The Bell Jar, Sylvia Plath employs rhetorical devices to paint a vivid picture of its protagonist Esther. This essay will discuss how Sylvia Plath uses figurative language to represent Esther’s feelings of insanity, anxiety, and freedom.

Art is way of expression. People can use actions and art or express themselves in ways other than speaking. In the book Speak, by Laurie Halse Anderson, symbolism holds a big significance. The trees mentioned throughout the book symbolize Melinda’s changing “seasons” (her “growing” as a person). People, like trees, go through phases, they freeze in the winter, becoming nothing but lonely limbs without leaves covered with white slush. Melinda, in a lot of ways, starts out like that it the book. She becomes a shell of herself from before the party happened and because no one else was there, she is lonely and doesn't have anybody to go to and to make matters even worse, she’s covered by the reputation that she has formed. In the book, Laurie Halse Anderson uses symbolism to convey exactly what Melinda can't say.

The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath is a semi-autobiographical novel in which Plath relays her own experiences through protagonist Esther Greenwood by highlighting the struggles she faced in navigating societal expectations, depression, and her own desires. Having spent time in college and later in multiple mental health institutions, Plath tells her story through Esther in a way that blends fiction and reality. Through Esther, we see Plath’s own interpretations of her triumphs, failures, values, and the slow but seemingly inevitable diminishment of her mental health.

Like many isolated people, they were wrapped up in themselves and not too interested in the world outside. Charles Frazier once said “people who are isolated interest me,whether they isolate themselves or have been isolated by circumstances.” The inner thought coming from the heart represents the real motives and desires. These are the cause of action . The tree metaphor is speaking her voice and inner thoughts without her having to speak up.

To her the plant represents home, it represents what it used to feel like back home. I know this because in the story it states "a wave of loss so deep and strong that it stung Saeng's eyes ow sewpt over her, a blink a channel switch a boat