A Fresh Start, Not Forgetting
Shortly after Joan’s death in Sylvia Plath’s The Bell Jar, a fresh snowfall covers the ground around the asylum Esther was staying in. I pictured this like a clean, white slate covering up the horrors of both Joan’s death and the difficulties Esther has faced. The snow was described to have “blanketed the asylum grounds—not a Christmas sprinkle, but a mid-high January deluge,” one that buried Buddy’s car into the ground and was accompanied by a sunny day (Plath 236). This was a turning point for Esther, a breath of fresh air both physically by stepping outside and mentally by closing ties with Buddy. She was no longer obligated to see him, a nd when she had her final goodbye she placed herself in a position of showing her competence by moving the snow away from his car. I do think Esther shoveling snow, a task seen by many as masculine or chivalrous, weaves strongly into Esther’s development of “evening the playing field” of her gender disadvantages, though that is for a different blog...