The Bell Jar Chapter 14 Summary

  • Esther is dimly aware that she's being pulled out of the ground. The next thing she knows, she's in a room filled with people. She can't see.
  • She's in a hospital room. Her eye has been injured, and it's bandaged.
  • Her mother and brother come to visit her. When they ask her how she feels, she says she feels the same.
  • An old acquaintance from her church, George Bakewell, visits her. He's now a doctor at the hospital she's staying at. Esther tells him to leave her alone.
  • Esther asks a nurse to see a mirror. The nurse refuses at first, then relents. Esther is amused by what she sees in the mirror, but when she cracks a smile, she drops the mirror, irritating the nurses.
  • Esther is transferred to a city hospital, where she's placed in the psychiatric ward. Her roommate in the ward, Mrs. Tomolillo, takes an instant dislike to her.
  • One of the attendants comes in to serve food. Esther kicks him.
  • A nurse comes in to take Esther's temperature. Irritated, Esther kicks the nurse's thermometers to the floor. Esther is transferred out of the ward to a separate room for more severe cases.