Narrative Voice In The Bell Jar

L. P. Hartley and Sylvia Plath both use the archetypal someone narrative to evoke a sniff come forward of tragedy for their protagonists, however, with king of beasts, Hartley uses the prototypical person narrative to each(prenominal)ow the reader to understand the unfortunate event in the purport of twelve year old Leo. Some may say that the first person narration of Leo is both more personal and comminuted than that of Esther. The reader sees the sophisticated world of Brandham H completely, contrasted with the closeness of Leos relationship with his mother, from Leos perspective.On the other hand, in The Bell-Jar the readers understanding of Esthers behavior is limited by the cold and detached first person narrative, collectible to her descent into depression. It could be said that Esther is presented as repressing her emotions, yet her opinionative ways lead to her alienation. This makes her unreliable as the reader experiences the narrators life from her dysfunctional perspective. This makes it hard for the reader to connect to Esther, thence limiting our empathy with her tragedy. In contrast, the reader sympathises with Leo as we see his youth and enthusiasm for life beingness destroyed, which enhances the tragedy.It could be said that Plaths use of a simile to gift incongruity foreshadows Esthers growing fear of the bell-jar. At the start of the novel, The cadavers headword, floated up behind my eggs and bacon at breakfast. The reader is ball over due to the tragic inappropriateness of the cadavers head being affiliated to the mundane image of eggs and bacon. This dark liquid body substance, which arises from the absurdity of the two objects, could be perceived as foreshadowing the tragedy to come, due to Esthers dysfunctional popular opinion of life.The humorous tone of the simile is increased as the narrator does non seem traumatized by such a shocking image being associated with an common object. It could therefore be argued that th is reduces the tragic effect from the situation. However, the cadavers head is always following her on a string, like some black, nose slight balloon stinking of vinegar which could be argued is dragging her down. This macabre humour of the nose less balloon contrasts with the tragic tone of the novel and perhaps reduces our sense of Esthers misfortune.The balloon could represent a bell-jar hanging over Esthers life, always close enough to come down on Esther and never going to disappear. However, it could be argued that if Esther really wanted to, she could let go of the balloon and therefore release her connections with the bell jar, which may take the tragedy with it. The balloon could portray that the tragedy, curiousness and the bell-Jar is Esthers own doing, as for a balloon to come down, all one has to do is pull, so this could be a metaphor for Esthers life as a whole, which is tragic as we feel compassion for the puppyish girl starring down the barrel of depression.Furt hermore, the cadaverous face is mentioned on the work page of the novel. This structural feature, which Plath would have no doubt int residualed, indicates that the cadaver has followed her all her life, tragically limiting her chances of being normal which shows that Esther may never get out of the bell-jar, even when there is a little hope at the end of the novel.Narrative Voice in the Bell JarL. P. Hartley and Sylvia Plath both use the first person narrative to evoke a sense of tragedy for their protagonists, however, with Leo, Hartley uses the first person narrative to allow the reader to understand the unfortunate event in the life of twelve year old Leo. Some may say that the first person narration of Leo is both more personal and detailed than that of Esther. The reader sees the sophisticated world of Brandham Hall, contrasted with the closeness of Leos relationship with his mother, from Leos perspective.On the other hand, in The Bell-Jar the readers understanding of Esthers life is limited by the cold and detached first person narrative, due to her descent into depression. It could be said that Esther is presented as repressing her emotions, yet her opinionated ways lead to her alienation. This makes her unreliable as the reader experiences the narrators life from her dysfunctional perspective. This makes it hard for the reader to connect to Esther, therefore limiting our empathy with her tragedy. In contrast, the reader sympathises with Leo as we see his youth and enthusiasm for life being destroyed, which enhances the tragedy.It could be said that Plaths use of a simile to portray incongruity foreshadows Esthers growing fear of the bell-jar. At the start of the novel, The cadavers head, floated up behind my eggs and bacon at breakfast. The reader is shocked due to the tragic inappropriateness of the cadavers head being connected to the mundane image of eggs and bacon. This dark humour, which arises from the absurdity of the two objects, could be per ceived as foreshadowing the tragedy to come, due to Esthers dysfunctional view of life.The humorous tone of the simile is increased as the narrator does not seem traumatized by such a shocking image being associated with an everyday object. It could therefore be argued that this reduces the tragic effect from the situation. However, the cadavers head is always following her on a string, like some black, nose less balloon stinking of vinegar which could be argued is dragging her down. This macabre humour of the nose less balloon contrasts with the tragic tone of the novel and perhaps reduces our sense of Esthers misfortune.The balloon could represent a bell-jar hanging over Esthers life, always close enough to come down on Esther and never going to disappear. However, it could be argued that if Esther really wanted to, she could let go of the balloon and therefore release her connections with the bell jar, which may take the tragedy with it. The balloon could portray that the tragedy , strangeness and the bell-Jar is Esthers own doing, as for a balloon to come down, all one has to do is pull, so this could be a metaphor for Esthers life as a whole, which is tragic as we feel compassion for the young girl starring down the barrel of depression.Furthermore, the cadaverous face is mentioned on the last page of the novel. This structural feature, which Plath would have no doubt intended, indicates that the cadaver has followed her all her life, tragically limiting her chances of being normal which shows that Esther may never get out of the bell-jar, even when there is a little hope at the end of the novel.