Sylvia Plath, one of my personal favorite poets, was an inspiration to many. She was not only a celebrated female poet, but she wrote about themes that are hard to deal with, suicide as pain and suicide. The simplicity, yet complexity in the allusions, of her work is what makes it so captivating to read. As a reader, I can relate to much of what she is saying.
I first noticed her allusions to the Holocaust when I was assigned to read the poem "Daddy" in class. It was surprising to learn about her life, and that she had no ties to the Holocaust. Yet she clearly uses it in her work to represent her own suffering. She compares her sorrow to the suffering of millions of Jewish, and other, people at the hands of one of the worst events known to mankind.
Critics have been outraged by this, and it makes sense from their point of view. How can one woman, unhappy with her relationships with her father and husband, possibly think this is enough to compare her suffering to those of the Holocaust? They had suffered so much that it seemed to many to be an outrage to say that one woman's emotional suffering could come close to comparing to what any one of them might have went through, and in some ways the critics may be right.
I don't think there is a proper way to judge whether her allusions and Holocaust metaphors are "appropriate" or not. While it's understandable that people would be outraged, it's also necessary to see if from Plath's point of view. Plath was a very distressed woman. She attempted suicide twice before she finally killed herself. It has been debated whether she meant to kill herself or not, but the point is that even if it was a cry for attention, something was wrong. She was emotionally upset to the point where she would gamble with her life over it. When a person feels that badly, in a sense their entire world is crashing down around them. She probably felt so much pain, and so alone, that she had no way to communicate with anyone. We've all heard before that someone feels down, or depressed, or even suicidal, but if you compare your pain to the Holocaust, doesn't it make it seem more real?
However, those who have actual ties to the Holocaust would be outraged by this, and it makes sense. How can a woman compare her pain to the Holocaust, when their pain is just as great, or more, because they were actually there? It takes away from what they went through in a sense if everyone starts claiming their lives are their own personal Holocaust. I believe there is a delicate balance. For Plath to use this reference shows us her pain, but too much use by many takes away from the meaning, and takes away from the pain of the survivors. We need to understand everyone suffers differently, and we all go through pain. Choosing to express it should be accepted, no matter what form it comes in.