The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath
Photo by Katly Jones
I read this book for the first time back in high school, and it has been important to me ever since. I even
have a tattoo inspired by a scene in this book! The tattoo is of two little figs. There is a part of the
book where the main character, Esther, is sitting under a big fig tree, imagining each fig is a potential
future that awaits her. Some of the things the figs represent to her are her future as an editor, as a
professor, or as a poet. The only problem is that she sits under the tree so long, stuck in a state of
indecision, that the figs begin to fall and rot at the base of the tree. This basically represents that
moving forward is more important than picking the "perfect" future, or in this case career. I got the tattoo
as a reminder of this to myself: don't get stuck in indecision, keep moving even in times of
uncertainty.
As I have gotten older I do not resonate with the main character as deeply, but at a
certain time in my life I did. I now can view the book from a more optimistic standpoint, which is important
considering the content is interpreted as fairly pessimistic to most people.