TLDR/OPinion: 6/10
Hosseini's harrowing microcosmic tale of ​the wider degeneration of his native country, Afghanistan, tells the story of its oppression and corruption at the hands of other nations and terrorists groups from the unique perspective of 2 children. The book travels through history and across countries, a tale of betrayal, heartbreak, inequality and redemption.
Book Reviews and Analysis
The bell jar
by sylvia plath
Themes/points of note:
1.
The impunity of men
2.
The alterity/polarity between men and women
3.
Religion and gender
4.
Stigmatisation of mental illness
5.
Depression/mental health issues
6.
Suicide
7.
Impact of Autobiographical details
Blurb:
Sylvia Plath's semi-autobiographical depicting the suffocating claustrophobia of the bell jar, a metaphor for depression and society. It follows the life of Esther Greenwood, through whose eyes the reader catches a glimpse into the era's disparity between gender roles, emotions, capabilities and expectations from different perspectives (gender, religion etc.). Also depicted are the differing primal characteristics attributed to men and women; men searching for a mate, women for a perpetual protector; men are viewed as a metaphorical weapon (mobile and progressive) whereas the wife remains behind, the stagnant foundation from which he may build.
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As the book progresses it appears that the protagonists mental state regresses, instead depicting her downward spiral into depression and mental illness. Interestingly throughout, the differing approaches and opinions of mental illness are also explored, such as the way it was seen as a decision and generally stigmatised in society - even seen as psychosomatic or a temporary affectation.
opinion: 8/10
MENTAL ILLNESS - Right from the offset it is clear that protagonist's way of viewing the world is quite jarring, disturbing and even isolationist. Not only is Esther portrayed as extremely nihilistic with no lease on life but also makes a point of identifying the obsequiousness of a large part of her life. This take on mental illness is extremely impactful. The prosaic and candid nature of the details, especially in that they are semi-autobiographical gives a profound insight into Plath's own mentality, particularly in the way in which Esther's suicide attempts parallel her own and the way she even morbidly analyses the effectiveness and the merit of each methodology is profound and extraordinary in its forthrightness and the way she appears to view it from a logistical, pragmatic standpoint, shocking readership.
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Especially polemic about this novel is the abstract intermingling of feminism throughout. A female protagonist, detailing her own mental illness, suicide attempts and general contempt for normative society was a definitive maverick in her era.
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SOCIETY - Esther herself is strikingly portrayed as non-conforming to usual gender stereotypes, instead embodying the 'new age' woman of the era, craving divergence from the single branch of the fig tree allotted to women as the mutual exclusivity of family and career often compartmentalised women as either domesticated housewife or a career-obsessed spinster. Especially with the constrictive nature of pre-contraceptive society. Unlike her counterparts Esther is remarkably cognisant of these double standards. However through the characters divergence and the reaction of other characters, the reader can view her gradual and almost organic ostracisation, almost as though, after her diagnosis and labelling as taboo, the natural progression is to dissociate.
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SEX - The protagonist also gives an interesting opinion on the transmutative capabilities of intercourse and how it supposedly can change a person irrevocably.