Did Esther's relationship with Buddy Willard affect her mental health and/or recovery?

Buddy Willard plays a key role in Esther's story as a love interest and rival - but does he play a role in her mental health journey?

I think that in the beginning, Buddy is partially responsible for Esther's declining mental health. She used to be interested in him, but then realized she didn't actually care for him much. I don't think that that in itself is responsible for Esther's mental status, but I do think it might have affected it. Esther always assumed she would get together with Buddy, lose her virginity to Buddy, start a family with Buddy, and now she's coming to the realization that Buddy isn't the guy for her. Hearing that Buddy had already lost his virginity also hurt Esther and spurred a feeling of competition in her to lose hers as well. That competitive feeling wasn't very healthy for Esther, as it made her worry needlessly about finding the perfect man, discovering someone to lose her virginity to, meeting the person to start a family with. Heck, she went to the hospital after engaging in intercourse for the first time after choosing someone kind of willy-nilly. Buddy isn't really to blame for this, but it was very much indirectly because of his actions that Esther was led to make the decisions she made.

Now I'm sure you're wondering, "how did Buddy ever help Esther's mental health?" Buddy actually indirectly helped her with this, in the sense that he himself didn't do much to help Esther, but her spite for him did help her. You see, Esther didn't want Buddy to come to her in the hospital and see her in her state, so she willed herself to get better. Esther did something similar with Joan, improving herself out of spite to make more progress than Joan. As Esther works herself into a better mental state, she realizes she can be happy without thinking of Buddy at all, she doesn't need to see him as competition and she doesn't need to wish she was with him instead of whatever girl he's with now. The moment that stood out to me the most is when Esther and Joan receive mail from Buddy and Esther explicitly states she's not going to reply to him (I apologize for not having the direct quote from the book here - it would help immensely). In that moment it's clear that Esther is over Buddy, that she doesn't need him anymore.

By the time we've reached the end of Esther's story in The Bell Jar, she's reached a significantly better, healthier, mental state, and I think Buddy's influence, whether that be direct or indirect, helped her reach that state. Learning how to get over him and cut him free from her life was something Esther desperately needed to do, and after she had done so she could open the doors to improvements.  
                                                                
                                                                                                                                   -Nathaniel Wiesbrook

Comments

  1. Charlie HechlerMarch 7, 2023 at 6:23 PM

    Hello Nathaniel, your post was very enjoyable to read. I also think Buddy played a very large role in Esther's decline in mental health and also her recovery. I find it interesting that both the sense of competition/rivalry with Buddy is what causes both her decline and recovery as well. Learning to cut Buddy free was definitely something that Esther really needed to do. Great work!

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  2. Ben DeMarcoMarch 7, 2023 at 6:43 PM

    I think it's interesting how Buddy has played such an important role in this book even though he's rarely actually there in person. I like how you show his influence on Esther's recovery and how she eventually cuts him out of her life too.

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  3. Cameron McGillMarch 8, 2023 at 6:09 AM

    I really liked your paragraph on how Buddy indirectly helped Esther to improve her mental health out of spite for Buddy. I caught on to the fact she was forcing herself to get better to one up Joan, but I never made that connection for Buddy but I think it makes perfect sense. It's interesting how much of an impact Buddy has on the story despite rarely being present. Nice post.

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  4. LauraMarch 8, 2023 at 8:36 AM

    Great Post! Buddy Willard definitely had influence in Esthers Coming of Age. I think that Esther needed somebody like Buddy Willard to open her eyes and to see that not everything will go as she planned it. I'm glad that Esther decided at the end of the book to cut him out and that she finally got over him.

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  5. Clara WoodMarch 8, 2023 at 7:29 PM

    This is a great topic to write about! Cause yeah, Esther tells Buddy he had nothing to do with her mental breakdown, but he wouldn't be mentioned in the book if that was the case. I think he played a major role in Esther feeling anonymous and unimportant, especially in relation to men. She thought she was Buddy's special first, which is why he was so awkward around her. But when she discovers that Buddy's already had sex with another woman (and dated many others), how he acts around her begins to seem like more of a strategy to speed-run marriage with her rather than actually being enthralled or deeply in love with her. I think this leaves Esther disgusted with the prospect of romance and marriage, which is especially damaging due to her not having many other choices as a woman. Awesome post!

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  6. RoseMarch 25, 2023 at 7:26 AM

    I do like how she's using her hatred of other people as a jumping-off point. It's not something "the Old Esther" would have done, before she started to hate everyone. But clearly it seemed to work--temporarily or long-term, we don't really know.

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