The Bell Jar, though now a classic, is by no means a standard novel (this is probably one of the reasons it became a classic). Sylvia Plath crafted this work with great expertise, particularly when describing certain events of the story out of order. This unique sequencing adds greatly to the narrative and our understand of Ester. I would also add that Ester's (and, more importantly Plath's) memory is extremely important for understanding the novel. Most important of all is how these two things go together. Starting with sequence, the book begins pretty straight forward. Everything is in order, much how Ester's life in New York is completely organized. For the most part, things happen in an understandable order. Towards the end of the trip, the timeline begins to unravel and eventually falls apart some time during Ester's stay in the suburbs. Events become disconnected and unclear. The whole story becomes murky and isolated. This is obviously...