The Bell Jar Seminar Chapters III to IV By William McGinn & Jamie Nagel

Introduction What kind of character is Esther? One thing is she doesn’t want to follow the same road as the typical 1950’s girl, even though her mother wants her to. Her mentor Jay Cee one day asks her, ‘What do you have in mind after you graduate?’ (34) And then all of a sudden, for the very first time she is at a loss for words despite wanting to be an author. One of the conflicts in her life is the personal and inverse ambition of her mother who has guided her her whole life.

Thesis Throughout her story, Esther attempts to find the perfect motherly figure. Due to her mother’s detachment and misunderstanding of Esther, Esther turns to other female authority figures like Jay Cee for guidance.

Passage “I wish I had a mother like Jay Cee. Then I [would] know what to do. My own mother [was not] much help. My mother had taught shorthand and typing to support us ever since my father died, and secretly, she hated it and hated him for dying and leaving us with no money because he [did not] trust the life insurance salesman. She was always on me to learn shorthand after college, so I [would] have a practical skill as well as a college degree. ‘Even the apostals were tent makers,’ she [would] say. ‘They had to live, just the way we do.’” (42)

Point I Esther’s ambition and her lack thereof How she doesn’t know what she wants to do Her struggle to not be looked down upon

Point 2 & 3 Mrs. Greenwood Jay Cee Does not understand Does not encourage Esther to take on her passion as a career Believes in the traditional domestic life Does not believe in Esther despite her success Understands Esther’s choice Encourages her to follow her ambitions Is familiar with her career choice Productively critical Gives guidance Believes in her

Conclusion To conclude, while Mrs. Greenwood tries to give her daughter the tools to get ahead in the traditional life, she does not understand the life that Esther wants to live and that Esther will never be content with the life that her she wants her to live. Jay Cee is not bitter towards the world and is proactive about women in the workplace. She offers Esther the key to the life that she wants to live and understands her. Therefore, Jay Cee is the better motherly figure.

Questionnaire 1. Up to this point in Esther’s life, do you think Mrs. Greenwood has done a good job of raising her? 2. Can you think of any other points that proves Jay Cee as the better authority figure? 3. If Esther’s mentorship hadn’t ended, where do you think she’d be? 4. In the back of Esther’s mind, she wanted a job involving travel, teaching, and/or writing and then blurted out she was interested in publication. Why do you think she chose to say that? Does this job (the publication) relate to her ambitions? 5. How does her taking science classes and her deceit of Mr. Manzi relate to her ambition? Does it make it easier for her to reach her goal or not? 6. How do Jay Cee, Mr. Manzi and Mrs. Greenwood compare in relation to being authority figures in Esther’s life? 7. Do you think Esther has been hard on her mother? Why or why not? Is it fair to compare Jay Cee and Mrs. Greenwood? 8. Can you relate the situation comparing the differences of Mrs. Greenwood’s and Jay Cee’s wishes of Esther’s future to other stories?