Cheese or Fine Wine

    A llison's need to find the truth and show things for what they are is contrasted with her fathers need to alter the perception of things and lie in order to fit his world to his coveted reality. This takes many forms. One way it is depicted is through their aesthetic. Where Allison likes a plain design where you get what you see, her father likes things to be placed or added or garnished just right to make it seem a certain way. Another way this is represented is through the roles literature plays in Allison and her father's life. Where Allision seems to use literature to depict and make sense of the world around her, her father seems to use literature to change himself and the world around him.       When using literature as a way of figuring out their identity, one can see Allison stay true to her inclination for a more ungarnished straight forward design by choosing to read nonfiction. With nonfiction books, there are just facts and usually not many extraneous details

Throughout the book Esther seems to portray people as representations of stereotypes within society such as Betsy the corn Girl, who follows the rules and wants to get married or Doreen who does not follow the rules and parties on the underside of New York. In the hospital Esther seems to meet people who are representative of categories of people who have had problems with society. These include, Mrs. Norris, who completely shuts herself off from society, Valarie who tries to hide from society and Joan who tries to assimilate back into society. When Esther First meet Mrs. Norris, she quickly mentions Mrs. Norris's lack of response to Esther or anyone around her. After introducing herself, Esther explains that in response “The women didn’t stir, just stared up at the ceiling"(Plath, 213). Furthermore, Esther recounts Mrs. Norris’s lack of response to the cook who mentioned that Mrs. Norris was an hour early for dinner; “Mrs. Norris didn’t answer, she just stared ahead of her in