The theme of death in "Girl, Interrupted" by Susanna Kaysen and "The Bell Jar" by Sylvia Plath.

Essay by blinkbabe13B+, January 2007

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The authors of both books had mental problems which led to both attempting suicide and, as one may expect, death plays an important role in both books. The attemped suicides of the books' protagonists - Kaysen herself in "Girl, Interrupted" and Esther Greenwood in "The Bell Jar" - are not the only occurences of death however since both books deal with the deaths of others.

"Girl, Interrupted" doesn't actually include Kaysen's own suicide attempt which occurs before the opening action of the book. "The Bell Jar" on the other hand, includea specific descriptions of Esther's suicide attempts - of which there are several. Plath's descriptions of death are far more detailed and graphic than Kaysen's.

Plath opens with a reference to the execution of the Rosenbergs - an American couple on suspicion of spying for the Soviet Union. Esther sympathises with them, thinking that electrocution would be a horrible way to die - this is ironic since Esther later undergoes electric shock therapy at McLean.

Both protagonists experience the suicides of others - Kaysen learns, while still at McLean, that Daisy - an ex-patient - has commited suicide. Similarly in "The Bell Jar" an inmate of Esther's - Joan Gilling - hangs herself. Joan's death is particularly important since Esther looks upon Joan as another version of herself on account of their shared experiences and the fact that they had both, at some point, dated Buddy Willard.

The death of babies and children features in both books. Universally, babies and children symbolise life and so their death is even more shocking than the death of older people. In "The Bell Jar" Esther sees dead babies in specimen jars when she visits a medical school with Buddy. This experience obviously affects her since the image remains...