What critique does The Bell Jar offer of American consumer culture?
At the beginning of the novel, Esther comments that any outside observer would think that she must be having the time of her life in New York. She must be living the American Dream, in which anyone, no matter what their background and circumstances, can rise to the top if they have talent and work hard: “Look what can happen in this country, they’d say. A girl lives in some out-of-the-way town for nineteen years, so poor she can’t afford a magazine, and then she gets a scholarship to college and wins a prize here and a prize there and ends up steering New York like her own private car.” But rather than having the time of her life, Esther is becoming more and more disillusioned. Working at a top fashion magazine, she is at the heart of American consumer culture, but she begins to see how hollow it is. The reality is very different from the glamorous image. This is cleverly brought out in the food poisoning episode. Esther attends the lavish banquet put on by the magazine, and she relish
