The Bell Jar Chapter Summary & Analysis - Chapter 6 Summary

Chapter 6 Summary

When Esther visits Buddy at school one weekend, he takes her on a tour of the laboratory and shows her cadavers; she watches him practice dissecting them. Then he shows her fetuses in big glass jars at various stages of development. She goes to some lectures and then on rounds with him and then ends up in the obstetrics/gynecology unit, where they observe the birth of a baby, including the episiotomy cut that facilitates the infant's emergence.

Afterwards they go to Buddy's room, drink a bottle of Dubonnet, and lie down on the bed side by side for awhile. He takes off his clothes so she can have the experience of seeing him naked. She refuses to reciprocate.

Their parents have always talked about how fine and clean Buddy is, but he tells her about a summer-long affair he had with a waitress in the hotel where he worked the...
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