The Bell Jar

Joan tells Esther that her trouble started with a summer job that gave her bad bunions and made her feel terrible. She quit her job, isolated herself and contemplated suicide. She was sent to a psychiatrist who allowed several medical students to observe her and referred her to group therapy, which she found insulting and ridiculous. After leaving his office she saw an article about Esther in the local paper. She shows Esther several newspaper clippings chronicling Esther’s disappearance and rescue. Inspired by Esther’s suicide attempt, Joan went to New York and thrust her arms through a window.

That night, Esther wakes up in the midst of a physical reaction to her insulin treatment. She feels better but by the time she sees Dr. Nolan again the improvement is gone. Dr. Nolan informs her that she won’t be having any more visitors for a while, which makes Esther happy. She hates visits, because she knows her friends and family are comparing her to the girl she was before the bell jar descended. She especially hates visits from her mother, who always begs to know what she did wrong. It’s Esther’s birthday, and earlier that day her mother brought her a bouquet of roses, which she dumped in the trash.