Blog Entry #3: Syntax
• “SCHOLARSHIP GIRL MISSING. MOTHER WORRIED. SLEEPING PILLS FEARED MISSING WITH GIRL
GIRL FOUND ALIVE!”
The fact that Esther is first being introduced to the circumstances surrounding her attempted suicide from a third person party (ie. the newspaper headlines) enhances Plath’s recurrent tone of detachment. She had been unaware of society’s fascination with her, and this thus acts as further proof of her isolation from society. Isolation from herself is also evident, through her third-party acknowledgement of the headlines, as if she is not the girl depicted in them, implies that she is not self-aware.
• “The silence depressed me. It wasn’t the silence of silence. It was my own silence. I knew perfectly well the cars were making a noise, and the people in them and behind the lit windows of the buildings were making a noise, and the river was making a noise, but I couldn’t hear a thing” (19).
Plath poses a stark contrast between silence and noise through both anaphora and epistrophe (the utilization of these polar strategies further produces separation). The silence represents Esther and the noise acts as society, and by formulating such a powerful separation of the two entities, Plath amplifies the tone of detachment.
• “I took a deep breath and listened to the old brag of my heart. I am, I am, I am” (243).
I believe that Joan’s success in suicide symbolizes Esther’s body’s struggle to stay alive. Plath’s personification of her heart in it’s repetition of “I am”, just as when it refused to stop beating when she attempted to drown herself. The symbol of a heart with will free from Esther’s mind furthers the sense of self-isolation Plath emphasizes.
The first two examples are perfect in portraying Plath's tone of detachment. The first, as you mention, in the third person and as an outside source lend to the tone. The fact that society knows more of Esther than she does of herself is amplified by the use of the third person.
ReplyDeleteThe symbolism that you bring up in your second example is also a powerful component to the author's tone. This is due to the fact that Esther is keenly aware of her detachment at that moment. She hears only her own silence yet knows that there ought to be noise. Esther is acknoledging her separation from reality as even her ears lie to her.