Luca's Coming of Age Blog

  I think that Alison and Bruce have similarities. Their gender identities don't sit right with them, and they feel corrupted by this feeling. Bruce had it more challenging than Alison, as he grew up in a world where he needed to suppress his true self in order to conform to society's expectations. Alison, in a way, feels the same as her father. Alison finds a picture of her dad in college in what appears to be a woman's bathing suit, with another man she perceives as Bruce's lover. This opened Alison's mind to the idea of her father being trapped in something that wasn't him. She deals with this uncomfortable state of uncertainty in the early years of her life. When she and Bruce are sitting at a restaurant, and he questions her about wanting to look like a masculine bus driver, she, out of fear, responds, "no." Bruce's tone suggests that he notices something in his daughter that he sees in himself and resents the idea of her feeling the same way ...

 I n the story  The Bell Jar , Esther is shocked by many things she sees while in New York City. Her upbringing in the suburbs does not prepare her for the kind of life she is expected to live in New York.  At the time, there was (at still is) an expectation for women to maintain their purity and refrain from having multiple sexual partners and meaningless sex. Towards the end of the book, we realize that these double standards are some of the causes behind Esther's turmoil and her fear of pregnancy. We learn that her fear of getting pregnant and losing her freedom significantly contributes to her suicidal thoughts.        When Esther learns about Buddy's previous affair, she is disgusted and swears never to speak to him again. She calls him a hypocrite and pins her dislike of gender roles on Buddy. Her opinion on married life and being a mother develops by being around Buddy in the medical world.       After witnessing li...