Topic > Psychological tension in The Arrival Of... by Sylvia Plath

Psychological tensions can be seen in the way the narrator uses her power to rule the bees. She felt she should be in control, as she called herself the owner and God, but then she couldn't use her power properly as she wasn't sure what the best decision was. For example, he was cruel to bees: “I don't need to feed them, I'm the owner.” (Plath 1960, line 25). However, he changed his mind to be kind to them by freeing them: "Tomorrow I will be sweet God, I will free them." (Plath 1960, line 34). This shows that people usually have powerful ideas, but feel helpless in putting them into practice. They have arguments in their mindset whether to put their thoughts into action. Furthermore, there was also psychological tension when the narrator received the box, as she felt uncomfortable about it. The narrator feared the box, as it was unsafe to approach it: "The box is locked, it's dangerous." (Plath 1960, line 6). Yet at the same time, she was intrigued by the box because she found it fascinating: “And I can't stay away from it.” (Plath 1960, line 8). This suggests that in real life everyone was curious about something that could destroy