The Bell Jar

by Sylvia Plath

The trouble was, I hated the idea of serving men in any way.

I saw my life branching out before me like the green fig tree in the story.

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.