Entrapment Essay, Research Paper

Entrapment A bell jar is a bell shaped container or cover made of glass. In this book Esther finds herself, throughout the book, constantly in and out of the bell jar. When the jar is closed she is not sure of who she truly is. She can t find her identity but when the jar is suspended over her head, and she can breathe, then she has a better outlook on life. Her perception also plays a major role. In certain situations you find that her perception of the situations entraps her in the jar. And on the other side her perception opens the jar and allows herself to see past the glass walls of the jar. When this book starts you are lead to believe that this is a normal girl that is living a great life and enjoying every minute. She has everything going for her and you don t really understand why she does some of the things she does. The first time you really see that there is something different with her is when she is at the hospital with Buddy. Buddy took me out into the hall where they had some big glass bottles full of babies that had died before they were born the baby in the last bottle was the size of a normal baby and he seemed to be looking at me and smiling a little piggy smile. (pg. 51) I believe that this passage shows that she is in her own world (her perception). A person like me would have walked by the babies and wouldn t have stopped to look at them. I just feel that this investigation of the jars is a symbol that she feels like she is like one of the babies trapped in a bottle (she died before she knew what she wanted to do with her life). I also think her perception on life plays a role in her relating herself to the baby in the last bottle, with the piggy smile. She is smiling on the outside so that others will think she is a perfect person, but on the inside she just is lost and floating in a jar. She is constantly on the inside watching the world go by without her. Later in the book when she is transferred from hospitals to a private one by Mrs. Guinea the bell jar is closed. My mother told me I should be grateful. She said I had used up almost all her money, and if it weren t for Mrs. Guinea she didn t know where I d be I knew I should be grateful to Mrs. Guinea, only I couldn t feel a thing If she would have given me a ticket to Europe I would be sitting under the same glass bell jar, stewing in my own sour air. I sank back in the gray, plush seat and closed my eyes. The air of the wadded bell jar wadded around me and I couldn t stir. (pg. 151) Here she admits that even though someone is doing some thing nice for her she feels no need to give thanks or show that she is grateful for the things she has been given. She is clearly not reacting the same way someone who is truly thankful would. I would think that you would be happy that a person, you didn t even know, was helping you out (with a tough time in your life). That you would feel some gratefulness, but she doesn t. It s almost as if Esther feels that Mrs. Guinea owes her the money and the things that she gives her.

Towards the end of the book you can see where the bell jar lifts and Ester s perception changes. The bell jar hung, suspended, a few feet above my head. I was open to the circulating air. (pg. 176) She has just come out of a shock treatment and she cannot remember the depression from her past. She is a little skeptical, because she says that the bell jar is suspended over her head and so at any time it could come crashing down to entrap her again. She is really not there. She is in a state where she fells new and ready to take on the challenge life has to offer, but is not fully aware of the troubles life can bring. Before the book ends the jar falls and lifts once more. It lifts, again, when she is leaving the hospital. To the person in the bell jar, blank and stopped as a dead baby, . (pg. 193) Here the jar is open because she is free to go. She has passed the tests and will be able to pursue what she wants to do with her life. She knows that others will treat her differently and so she will have to come to terms with that, but she wants to forget where she has been and move on with her life. Unfortunately (on page 197), it states, But I wasn t sure. I wasn t sure at all. How did I know that someday- at college, in Europe, somewhere, anywhere-the bell jar, with its stifling distortions, wouldn t descend again? Here the bell jar is hovering over her head and she feels that it is not to stable at that level. She feels that it will fall at any moment. Because she is realizing this, I think, the bell jar is starting to close in on her. She knows that someday the jar will fully entrap her because she knows that the struggles in life will cause it to fall. A bell jar is a bell shaped container or cover made of glass. In this book Esther finds herself, throughout the book, constantly in and out of the bell jar. When the jar is closed she is not sure of who she truly is. She can t find her identity but when the jar is suspended over her head, and she can breathe, then she has a better outlook on life. Her perception also plays a major role. Perception has played a major role in this as you can see from the examples. The real way for the bell jar to be lifted is to change your perception of things. It is sometimes not an easy task and so it takes some working but it can be achieved.