“I saw my life branching out before me like the green fig tree…”

In September 2024, I wrote a blog post about Sylvia Plath’s fig tree metaphor from her novel The Bell Jar. It was actually one of my first blog posts here, and even two years later, it is a personal favorite of mine! I connected Plath’s metaphor to analysis paralysis while sharing my story about switching my major to English in my college applications. At the time, I was processing the fear that choosing one future meant sacrificing every other possibility and how people struggle to make those types of decisions. While I still agree and stand by what I wrote in 2024, the past two years have given me a different perspective. I feel a pull to revisit the fig tree metaphor from a different angle. I’ve realized that the greatest accomplishment isn’t simply feeling empowered to pick a fig but having the courage to pick more than one, even when other people tell you it is impossible (even Plath herself!). There is so much power in being complex and varied in our passions and abilities. Today, I wanted to talk about how one fig should not and does not define who you are.

“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…”

In the months leading up to graduation, I think I heard the question, “What are you going to do after college?” probably half a million times! At its core, people were asking what fig I was going to embrace and which ones were going to fall dead at my feet. It is one of those questions that you expect, and there are usually only a handful of “acceptable” answers. People want a clear-cut statement that is traditionally tied to your major or a monumental internship or job. This answer (whether it is a job title or graduate school or volunteer opportunity) becomes the thing that defines you after graduation. Your answer begins to represent your entire future. It eclipses everything else about ourselves. Somewhere along the way, we began treating one choice as though it could define an entire life. The danger lies in picking only one fig and convincing ourselves that it tells the whole story of who we are. Perhaps we do this because certainty and simplicity are inherently comforting. It is easy to reach for titles or traditional descriptive words when we describe ourselves, even if they do not completely capture our authentic selves. We might even ignore parts of ourselves to make it easier on other people (or maybe ourselves too). That is not to say that these decisions are not life-changing or extremely consequential. I would not be the person I am today if I did not make several decisions, both good and bad! However, I think that we place far too much weight on a single role, experience, or achievement. Our lives are far more expansive and interesting than the labels we assign to ourselves or allow other people to assign to us.  It is here that I want to look at the fig tree metaphor through a new lens. 

“I wanted each and every one of them”

Plath’s fig tree has always represented what life could be for us. Some figs will rot on the branch because they have a strict time-bound element. These are seasons for studying abroad or accepting a particular job. If we do not reach for these figs when they are ripe, they may turn brown. However, some figs will ripen slowly and be available for a longer period of time. These figs are ones that we can pull off the vine when the time is right, and we can pick as many as we can hold in our arms. I should not feel like I have to pick one fig and eat it for the rest of my life. Are we not taught as children to have a varied diet? I think that this applies to life as well! I want to be a person who picks as many figs off the tree as possible. Rather than build my life around one ripe fig, I want my life to be shaped by a basket full of them. I consider myself a writer, a reader, and a traveler, but these titles simplify my identity. I am a writer who writes both academic papers and creative nonfiction. I am a reader who is always ready to try a new genre because of a recommendation from a friend. I am a traveler who flies thousands of miles away to explore the Middle East but is also okay with driving just thirty minutes to visit the next town over from me. I took cooking classes and learned to cross-stitch from a family friend and taught friends to play mahjong. I have picked so many figs off the tree of life. These figs do not die off the vine because of timing. They die because we choose to let them die by not picking them. It is up to each of us to make the decision to pursue that opportunity or experience. Life should be rich. The fig tree is not stagnant; it is a living, breathing thing. Figs will always continue to pop up. Yet, there will be more figs that are just beginning to grow, and they will reveal themselves as I continue to evolve. While Plath’s metaphor is about scarcity, I think that if you look beyond the twisting branches and fat figs, you can see that there is a basket at your feet. We must each have the grit and guts to help ourselves.