· “I didn’t really see why people should look at me.
Plenty of people looked queerer than I did.
My gray suitcase rode on the rack above my head, empty except for The Thirty Best Short Stories of the Year; a white plastic sunglasses case and two dozen avocado pears, a parting present from Doreen” (113).
This excerpt describing Esther leaving town on the train shows that Plath’s style is that of random, pensive thoughts that in turn describes the character of Esther. The author’s use of declarative sentences is meant to show the reader that she is trying to make and simple but strong argument through the theme and purpose of the book. The monotonous, boring, and repetitive life that Esther lives is described through Plath’s sentence structure; these few, short, and simple sentences also parallel the needs of Esther, which are evidently very few despite her obviously complex personality.
- “The walls were beige, and the carpets were beige, and the upholstered chairs and sofas were beige. There were no mirrors or pictures, only certificates from different medical schools, with Doctor Gordon’s name in Latin, hung about the walls. Pale green loopy ferns and spiked leaves of a much darker green filled the ceramic pots on the end of the table and the coffee table and the magazine table” (127).
In contrast to the first passage, the author demonstrates her lucid and descriptive writing style when showing the reader what the office might have looked like. Plath shows the contrast between the bright colors of the plants and the pale, “beige” colors of the man made sofas. Despite the obvious difference between the natural and human presence in the room, one cannot help but see that they are more intertwined with each other regardless of their differences. The plants are all in pots which rest on the tables with coffee and magazines, but all Esther sees is how boring the beige is, a stronger metaphor for the society she lives in. The author shows her more descriptive style of writing and shows that no matter where Esther is, she is critical of something, especially herself and the life she lives.
I disagree with your first analysis of why Plath utilizes short declarative sentences for most of her book. Instead of demonstrating how monotonous Esther's life has become, I think that the short declarative sentences show how disinterested Esther has become in her life. I do not think that these statements really argue anything; however, they display that Esther is not "normal" and sees each bit of her life as a separate piece, instead as the rest of the world sees it as an entire story. I find that she also achieves this point of view by telling each anecdote separately and jumping from time to time throughout her life.
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