Esther seems to be acting more cynical as the story progresses.  She focuses on Buddy Willard, her old boyfriend, who everyone, including Buddy, thought she would marry.  She thinks of him as a hypocrite, as he speaks of purity although "all the time he'd been having an affair with that tarty waitress" (71).  Esther is angered by this perceived lie and feels lesser than Buddy for not having had the same experiences.  Her relationship with Buddy and the other men in her life leave her feeling inadequate. 

Pressure is also put on Esther about her future, a time she cannot imagine.  She used to be so sure of her dreams of writing, but as the weight of the world weighs on her and the bell jar begins to stifle out the air around her, nothing is certain.  She thinks of a fig tree, the fruit all of her options in life.  “One fig was a husband…and children, and another fig was a famous poet and another fig was a brilliant professor, and another fig was Ee Gee, the amazing editor, and another fig was Europe…and another fig was Constantin…and another fig was an Olympic lady crew champion” (77).  The possibilities seem endless, and also out of reach.  Although the poet was a fig Esther earlier would have grabbed, the pressures of the time being a woman made others assume settling down and marrying was the fig she would choose.

These feelings and uncertainties grow and grow until, “The thought that I might kill myself formed in my mind coolly as a tree or a flower” (97).  Esther’s life away from New York saddened her even more than her experiences in the state.  No clear future was visible, and every option seemed unattainable.  Even when she tried to write, nothing came of her efforts.

The halfway point of the book ended with Esther’s doctor giving her the name of Doctor Gordon, a psychiatrist (126).  She was entirely beneath the bell jar at this point, and it eventually became too much for her and others to bear.  What will happen now?

The cover of the book shows a woman’s legs in dark blues and blacks.  Her feet are glued together and no motion is evident.  The cut of her dress forms the same shape as a bell jar, descending below her knee and trapping her there.  From the look of this picture I thought the book was going to be negative and sad.  Esther’s place now appears this way, and I wonder if she will improve.  Sylvia Plath’s name is written at the top in pink lettering, a contrast from the dark picture of the woman.  She eventually succumbed to her thoughts of death, and even though Esther is a fictitious representation of her, I feel there is hope for her in the rest of the book.