The Bell Jar

493 Words2 Pages
The Bell Jar Essay Thesis: Buddy Willard Esther's ex, pressures her into bad situations and to do things she has never done before due to his character issues and lack of respect for Esther. Buddy Willard is Esther's former boyfriend. He's the kind of guy that, in a mothers perspective is always trying to get you to be more like him. And if it's from a girls perspective, he's the kind of guy that your mother is always trying to set you up with because he's her idea of perfection, contrary to what your idea of perfection is. No matter how great he seems as a boy, you know there has to be something terribly wrong with him to make your mother like him so much. While Buddy looks great on paper, Buddy's interactions with Esther reveal him to be at times dumb, oblivious, and just plain pathetic. Buddy is constantly making Esther feel irrational and ignorant in contrast to his conceited sense of superiority and falsely confidence. When Buddy undresses in front of Esther, and Esther compares him to a "turkey gizzard", it's hard not to feel that Buddy sort of deserves to be ridiculed. The way Buddy talks about Esther I think affects her. When somebody you care about makes you feel like crap that it really takes a toll on you. You want to how much you appreciate and admire the person you care about, not have them dampen them with a lack of interest, making yourself feel better, and a misunderstanding of how to treat a woman. Esther idolizes Buddy but he never really felt the same way about her as he looked at her more as a sex partner. The novel talks about things regarding sexism by showing how Buddy's sense of manliness and superiority is built on what he thinks of himself, not who he actually is, hypocritical in a sense. Buddy is unable to respect Esther's goals and dreams as a journalist, nor does he have any inkling
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