This book is a very confusing one nonetheless. In The Bell Jar we continuously go back and forth between past and present, just as we've seen in previous books (Slaughterhouse-Five. Billy was throwed). During her trip to the UN, Esther reflects on a poem that she once read about a fig tree that brings completely different people together to watch a egg hatch. There's a Jew and a nun on the first day, then on the second day the nun doesn't return and a kitchen maid shows up instead. This poem reminds Esther of her relationship with Buddy Willard. This poem could also be a reflection of the anima and the superego and their confliction towards each other, while the hatching egg or a new life could serve as the ego. Additionally, the relationship between Buddy and Esther seems to be a strange one. Buddy wishes to be a doctor and Esther wants to be a writer which depicts more of a anima and superego relationship. The book switches between their current and past relationship, which are completely different. At the beginning Buddy seems to have no interest in poetry and pretty much insults it but in the present he has some of his written work published. Esther hits the petty button by trying to sleep with someone to get back at Buddy for not being a virgin, because he apparently acted like he was. Esther still exhibits many signs of being messed up inside and I don't see it getting any better.
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