Blog 2: The Yellow Wallpaper

“The Yellow Wallpaper” is a very perplexing story. One of the more puzzling symbols of it is the yellow wallpaper itself, and the woman that is described as being trapped within it. I believe that this represents the narrator’s illness and her perception of herself. When you read the story you can trace the decline of her mental state through her observations and feeling about the wallpaper. At first, she is disgusted by it, which shows how unhappy she is with her current treatment. Then, she becomes obsessed with it, as it’s the only thing she has to think about. This represents how she has no other choice but to live with her suffering all the time, she can’t make it go away or distract herself from it so she just has to feel it at all times. Finally, she tears it down and becomes the woman who was trapped behind it. This shows her entire loss of sanity, as she has become nothing but her own turmoil. The wallpaper is a symbol of despair and hopelessness. In this way, the story shows female mental illness as a serious issues that cannot be solved with inactivity.

It is very difficult to understand someone’s mental illness. I think many people hold the preconception that the mentally ill have their lights on, but nobody’s home, so to speak. Sometimes it can be difficult to see them as actual suffering people who need help. The wallpaper helps us see this because it shows us what is really happening within the narrator’s mind as she slips into madness. This was especially important at the time this story was published because it helped people see that the “rest cure” was ineffective, if not detrimental to recovery.

The narrator’s relationship with John shows how bad the treatment of ill women was at this time. When the narrator writes, “He says no one but myself can help me out of it, that I must use my will and self-control and not let any silly fancies run away with me.” This shows how he really saw her. It is as though he believed she was just too weak to stop being depressed and hysterical. This blames her for her situation and doesn’t address her medical needs. There is some commentary in the story about the incompetence of doctors. For example, when the story says, “John is a physician, and perhaps[...] that is one reason I do not get well faster.” This directly shows that there is a mistrust between patients and their doctors because doctors at this time were not equipped to treat mental illness.

I believe this story is extremely important for women’s rights. Seeing the narrator’s humanity slip away because she is not treated like a human being shows people the effects of dehumanizing others. Some of the medical practices that were used on women centuries ago were misinformed and quite unpleasant. It’s women like Gilman who give a voice to the voiceless and become catalysts for change. This story creates a new perception of women’s mental illness and how it should be treated. It does so by emphasizing how important it is to treat everyone with the dignity they deserve.