The Bell Jar — A look inside a fragile mind

The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Done reading The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath, and honestly, it left me with a lot to think about. I really loved her metaphor about the fig tree.

"I saw my life branching out before me like the green fig tree in the story. From the tip of every branch, like a fat purple fig, a wonderful future beckoned and winked. ... I wanted each and every one of them, but choosing one meant losing all the rest, and, as I sat there, unable to decide, the figs began to wrinkle and go black, and, one by one, they plopped to the ground at my feet."

It’s such a powerful way to explain choices, possibilities, and the fear of missing out. At the same time, I found myself struggling with her thought process. Esther gives off a kind of “mean girl” energy at times, but I also can’t help pitying her because she’s clearly suffering mentally. It’s heartbreaking to realize how deeply her pain affected her life, and learning that Plath ended her own life in such a brutal way makes the book even heavier to process.

Overall, The Bell Jar is intense and raw. It’s poetic but unsettling, and it really makes you reflect on mental health, identity, and the pressures women face.

The Pearl — More than just a Pearl

The Pearl by John Steinbeck
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

A short but powerful novella about greed, poverty, and ambition. It follows the story of Kino, a poor pearl diver whose life changes when he discovers something extraordinary. Steinbeck uses this story as a rich allegory to explore human desire, the cost of ambition, and the fragility of human values.

His simple yet vivid prose makes the novella both easy to read and deeply meaningful. The ending was shocking and haunting, a real reminder that dreams can come with unexpected costs.