"I saw my life branching out before me like the green fig tree in the story. From the tip of every branch, like a fat purple fig, a wonderful future beckoned and winked. One fig was a husband and a happy home and children, and another fig was a famous poet and another fig was a brilliant professor, and another fig was Ee Gee, the amazing editor, and another fig was Europe and Africa and South America, and another fig was Constantin and Socrates and Attila and a pack of other lovers with queer names and offbeat professions, and another fig was an Olympic lady crew champion, and beyond and above these figs were many more figs I couldn't quite make out. I saw myself sitting in the crotch of this fig tree, starving to death, just because I couldn't make up my mind which of the figs I would choose. I wanted each and every one of them, but choosing one meant losing all the rest, and, as I sat there, unable to decide, the figs began to wrinkle and go black, and, one by one, they plopped to the ground at my feet." - Sylvia Plath, The Bell Jar

   Around the 1950s, the role of women in society was strictly defined. Women were supposed to fulfill the roles of devoted mothers, diligent housewives, and obedient wives. At the beginning of the rise of women's voices around the 60s, they were now at a crossroads of choices, where they had to choose between the conservative lifestyle of an obedient woman and pious mother or the life of a successful career woman, lonely at her core. Women's roles were no longer clear: now they faced such a great variety of choices, that the choice itself became impossible, a challenge that is encountered even today. Each branch is representative of a different choice. Therefore, the fig tree highlights how society, and Esther herself in this case, puts pressure on young women to limit themselves by choosing a single path to follow throughout their lives. 

   This is exactly the overwhelming problem in the allegory of Sylvia Plath in The Bell Jar, written in 1963. In her only novel, she explored the themes of feminism, societal pressure against women, gender inequality, personal ambitions, and mental health.

   In the quoted passage, Esther, the protagonist of the novel, finds herself undecided between many choices on which she feels she has to decide within a short period of time, taking into account the fact that she was a young girl, living in New York, and she had to fulfill the role expected of her. The terrible picture of the world that she had painted in her mind, completely clouds Esther's judgment throughout the book, making her often appear naive and selfish, due to the limited experience she has. She spirals into an identity crisis in her attempts to get to know herself in a society that already has set standards for a girl of her age, something that plunges her deeper into the labyrinth of chronic depression and indecision, events that are foreshadowed since the early chapters of the book. 

   The allegory of the fig tree symbolizes Esther's constant mental turmoil, her weak sense of self-worth, and her state of being ashamed of her indecision, when it seems that everyone else has chosen their path already. She feels disconnected from the rest of society, alienated even from her own mind, something that is noticed in the way she witnesses the fig tree story, more like a spectator of this confusion, rather than describing her feelings in relation to the situation. The internal struggle experienced by the protagonist is not only fueled by societal pressure but also by her poor mental state, and the belief that she is not competent enough to make such an important decision.

   Esther's primal desire is to explore and express herself freely, authentic to her persona. However, the desire to be accepted and liked by others mixes with the desire for individuality, further disturbing her mental state. She now feels incompetent and excluded in her social circle, because regardless of her academic achievements, she is not a successful woman, for how long she does not have a perfect partner, fit for the standards of the time, with whom she aims to marry and live a traditional and quiet life, with perfect children in a big house.

   Esther remains a tangible protagonist, especially among young girls, although she can be qualified as a somewhat contradictory character with the way she chooses to act. Regardless of this, with a more in-depth and observant reading of the book, it is possible to understand the reasoning that pushed her toward particular actions and empathize with her character.

   The roots of this tree are deep, they have been present for hundreds of years, taking different forms to adapt to the social circumstances in which they find themselves planted. Choosing with a time limit is not a choice; it's an ultimatum. It's important to remind ourselves that there's nothing wrong with taking the time to make the right choices, and Esther serves as a reminder to learn a thing or two. For me, Esther and the book she inhabits will always hold a particularly precious place in the labyrinths of my mind, with the magical complexity of her being, making her more than a fictional character; she turns into a real, almost rational protagonist.