Objects of Significance
What is the second-most famous metaphor in the novel, after the metaphorical bell jar, that is introduced to Esther in the form of a short story?
What is the fig tree?
This character exists in the gray area of ex-finance, friend, and hypocrite.
Who is Buddy Willard?
Where is Esther's hometown, where the majority of the novel takes place?
What is Boston?
“It’s these clothes. I just can’t face these clothes when I come back.”
Esther, page 104
Who is Esther’s boss at the fashion magazine?
Of Esther's wardrobe in New York, what is the only item she brings home with her?
What is her patent leather shoes?
Who did Esther find herself following during the majority of her internship, even at Esther’s own detriment?
Who is Doreen?
What is the city named in the book's first lines and where Esther interned?
What is New York?
“I think I should tell you right away, [...] you didn’t make that writing course.”
Esther's mother, page 114
Where did Buddy go to college?
What is Yale?
What is the object that captured Esther’s interest at the last party before her departure from New York?
HINT: It was given to her, but she later tossed it in the mud following a traumatic event.
What is a diamond stickpin?
Who is Esther's alias?
Who is Elly Higginbottom?
What city does Esther wish she was from and could go back to?
What is Chicago?
“She wants [...] to be everything.”
Jay Cee, page 101
After her night with Marco, Esther does what with her wardrobe?
What is … she throws it off the roof of her hotel piece by piece?
What was Esther told to hold to demonstrate her desire to become a poet during a photoshoot in New York?
What is a rose?
At the beginning of the novel, who is the character who pulls Esther away from a taxi to have "fun" with Doreen at his place?
What is the hotel's name where Esther could see the UN building from her room?
What is the Amazon?
“You don’t have to dance. I’ll do the dancing.”
Esther hears the repetitive "brag" of her heart beating "I am I am I am" on two separate occasions. What are those occasions?
What is ... when she tries to drown herself in the ocean but fails and when she attends Joan's funeral?
On the road to her mental break, what are the only things Esther finds she can read?
What are [graphic] headlines/newspapers?
What is the name of the main character that Esther considers while briefly writing a novel?
Who is Elaine?
Before moving to Belsize, which residence of the asylum was Esther staying in?
What is Caplan?
“Propaganda!”
Doctor Nolan, page 222
Why won’t Esther cut her wrists at the beach?
What is … she doesn’t have a warm bath to sit in afterward?