Color In Sylvia Plath's The Bell Jar

In Sylvia Plath’s The Bell Jar, the appearances of color in the story gives the readers some of the idea how the characters’ are throughout the novel. The most interesting thing is when the color in the novel appeals to the abnormality of the personality and emotions of each character. Esther Greenwood, the main character in The Bell Jar, has a very significant mental development from the beginning of the story. Her mental breakdown is affected by the other characters and the environment. In this story, the color that show up in some of the characters and the environment does not suit for them. Psychologically, the white or dull color represent purity and the bright color means energetic; but in the study of The Bell Jar, the colors are not
Esther stays in the hotel while she is in New York. Esther can’t find her own peace even when she lays in her own bed. She narrates, “As I lay there in my white hotel bed feeling lonely and weak” (55). This demonstrates that she worries about something even though the white bed represents peace and is used to make the guest to have a better sleep. The story continues, as Esther had a sexual experience with Marco. The purity of the white color has a negative connotation with Marco’s appeal. When Marco first meet Esther, she noticed his white suit, “his dazzling white suit” (107). Marco’s behavior does not reflect the idea of innocence typically associated with a white suit. This gives an ironic interaction between the outfit and the person. Marco keep saying “slut… slut… slut… all sluts” (109) illustrates that he is a rude man because of how he treated Esther. Then, when Marco’s nose is bleeding because Esther punched him, he “pulled out a white handkerchief and dabbed his nose” (109). White also symbolizes purity or the one that love white will has the pure personality, but not in Marco’s case. He has the different personality with his favorite