The Bell Jar Chapter Summary & Analysis - Chapter 14 Summary

Chapter 14 Summary

Esther wakes up in a psychiatric ward. Her mother arrives with her brother (Esther's uncle) and she has a visit from a man she knows from church who works at the hospital. She tells him to get out.

They hospital staff don't want to give Esther a mirror but she insists. When she looks in the mirror she can't tell if it's a mirror or a picture; when she realizes that the face is hers, she throws the mirror to the floor and breaks it. This makes the nurse angry and she says, "You know where they'll take her!" So Esther is transported by ambulance to another hospital.

A number of white-coated figures interview her and one of them explains that a staff doctor will see her soon. She visits with her mother outside in a garden area and exhibits symptoms of paranoia; she is convinced that everyone is watching...
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