The Bell Jar ends at a literal threshold: Esther is about to step into the room where her psychological fitness to return to college will be assessed by a panel of experts. She is hopefully "graduating" from the asylum and returning for the spring semester--she describes herself as "patched, retreaded, and approved for the road" (244), as if she were a car being inspected for safety. How do we view Esther's harrowing experience in these psychiatric institutions, and what do they have to do with the larger question of her coming-of-age? Is her life-threatening descent into clinical depression and what sounds like schizophrenia a brief episode of deviation from her path, and at the end of the novel she is essentially returning to where she left off? Or do we view these experiences as an inherent and important part of her coming-of-age? Is she being "restored," or do we see her as somewhere new at the close of the novel? Does the narrative of The Bell Jar represent a significant kind of growth or development in her character, or is she instead "starting, after a six months' lapse, where [she] so vehemently had left off" (236)?
Please take five minutes now to contemplate your views on the conclusion of The Bell Jar and the question of coming-of-age in your notebook.
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