Character Development Happens

The narrator and main character of Housekeeping, Ruth has a snide personality that allows her to make fun of tragedy and quickly dismiss misfortune. Through her indifference and acceptance of the nature of life, she elevates the characters around her despite not experiencing a dramatic personal change herself.

Ruth begins the novel by discussing the death of her grandfather and mother in a nonchalant way. At the end of the novel she describes the supposed death of herself and Sylvie in a similarly casual way. Ruth begins to think of Sylvie as her mother and becomes devoted to her as she was once devoted to Lucille.

Lucille was forced into her coming of age by rejecting the messy, immaterial life style that Sylvie embraces. Because Ruth fails to support Lucille's anger with Sylvie, she leaves the home and stays with a more socially acceptable family. Lucille is pushed indirectly by Ruth to make this choice because of her indifference to Sylvie's anti-social antics that alienated Lucille from the life she desperately wanted to have. 

(Although Lucille defied Ruth and Sylvie, the two "main" characters that we should technically align with, many readers find themselves aligning with Lucille, as she represented cleanliness, sociability, and safety, sentiments we think of as necessary for an enjoyable life.)

Not much time later, the threat of losing Ruth becomes a real fear for Sylvie, who has proven to the community that she was unfit to care for the girl. Ruth describes her relationship with Sylvie and the care she receives as the care a mother would give her child. When first introduced to Sylvie, she is a despondent, childish character. Because she lived a life of transience, she needed to be able to accept and be indifferent to loss. As she builds her relationship with Ruth, she realizes that she cannot lose her, and even tries to fit in with social expectations to keep her. Sylvie's development from "child" to mother is without a doubt facilitated by Ruth and her connection and emulation of Sylvie. 

Ruth's coming of age is much more physical and cyclic than the emotional development Sylvie experiences. Ruth's mother and grandfather both have their final resting places at the bottom of the lake. By being assumed dead through suicide (nearly identical to her own mother), Ruth fulfills the generational cycle that had been started by her grandfather. This coming of age is not traditional in the way that Lucille and Sylvie came of age, but it is just as significant. Unlike other novels we have read in class, each main character experiences significant development or fulfillment in their own way. 

THE DOCTORS Exclusive: "A Miraculous Recovery" (TWO PART SERIES)

The Bell Jar tells a story of a young girl, Esther, who experiences a series of realizations and disappointments which seriously affected her mental state. She and her family realize that her declining mood has become extreme and send her to a doctor to be evaluated and treated. Upon seeing her first doctor, Dr. Gordon almost immediately, she had a bad taste in her mouth. She mentions his appearance, hid family, and she describes his behavior, but she does not outwardly explain why she disliked her doctor. 

Earlier in the novel, Esther visits a hospital on a date with a medical student named Buddy. There, she sees a mother giving birth on a drug that would ensure she forgot her experience. This situation disgusted Esther, as it was just the kind of drug a man would prescribe a woman. Through this experience, Esther realizes the malignancy of the predominantly male-dominated medical field. Although men were not actively trying to cause women pain, they were not sympathetic enough, thus allowing them to experience more pain than necessary. This realization may have caused Esther fear in the presence of Dr. Gordon. 

Furthermore, Dr. Gordon's appearance and family picture are potentially threatening to her as they seem to promote conformity to societal norms. The family is comprised of a man and a wife and children. Throughout the novel, Esther has expressed fear and disgust toward the idea of her becoming a housewife and possibly a mother. What bothers her is that she is expected to fill this social role, and any attempts at expressing how much she does not want to conform are dismissed as immaturity. By being passively shown conformist propaganda, Esther immediately becomes insecure. She feels that her doctor may be dismissive with her as everyone else has been. 

This seems to be the case since Dr. Gordon presses Esther on what she believes her condition is, as opposed to actively trying to assess her situation. Without a care, he sends her to shock therapy which traumatizes her into never returning to his office. 

Conversely, Dr. Nolan, a female doctor that Esther is brought to after her symptoms become more extreme, was described in a much more positive light. By understanding why Esther disliked Dr. Gordon, it is possible to analyze why Dr. Nolan is such a powerful character to Esther. Not only does Dr. Nolan experience the same societal pressures as Esther, but she overcame them. Esther even mentions herself that she did not know woman psychiatrists existed. Dr. Nolan validates Esther's fears and insecurities and treats them. She allows Esther to hate her mother, she allows Esther to be sexually expressive, and she allows her to be herself.

  A positive individual such as Dr. Nolan is a necessary component to Esther's mental health. Throughout the novel, Esther has been facing opposition. It takes a tremendous amount of power to be confident in one's position and to refuse to conform, however the energy needed to deal with constant disappointment and social failure may eventually wear on one's mental state. By being an advocate for conformity, Dr. Gordon worsened Esther's condition by pushing her further into her own social anxieties, whereas Dr. Nolan provided Esther the validation she desperately needed to recover.