Every time one reads The Yellow Wall Paper you find a different interpretation. The stream of consciousness type writing allows the reader to really feel like they are a part of the story. When the narrator began describing the house is such complimenting terms, I assumed this story was going to be completely different from some of the darker stories we have read. She begins with stating that the house is, “The most beautiful place!” and goes on to describe the delicious garden and beautiful lawns. Yet, as soon as she says that the house is beautiful, there is always something that one does not like. For the narrator it was the wallpaper in the master bedroom. I feel like that is true today in American society. We can never be happy with what we have. People are always striving to be the best; have the best car, biggest house, most talented children, etc. The “keeping up with the Jones’s” mantra is still in full swing in 2010.
The yellow wallpaper that the narrator describes really becomes a character itself. It is described in every section of the short story, typically at the beginning or end, leaving the reader with this image of life-like walls controlling this barren room. As the story continues, the narrator describes the wallpaper more and more, showing that it is consuming her every thought. The narrator becomes so engrossed in the wallpaper she quits sleeping at night, claiming that the wallpaper shakes and changes direction sense there is a woman trapped behind it. In my opinion, that describes the narrator. She feels trapped in her home where her husband keeps her contained in the house, stating that she needs her rest to get better from “nervous depression”. She is also far away from any civilization, causing her to create a civilization in the wallpaper. The woman who hides behind the wallpaper and comes out at night is the narrator expressing herself when no one else is watching her.
As the narrator becomes more involved with the wallpaper it is easy for the reader to realize she is becoming more and more mentally ill. From reading a couple of analysis’ some people believe she has postpartum depression since it alludes to her having a young baby and her husband telling her to get better for their child’s sake. Unfortunately, leaving her alone to analyze that wallpaper for hours leads to her mental demise. Her husband had good intentions, but with the Victorian references care of mentally ill patients was a guessing game. They were often sent to institutions where they were given drugs and shock therapy which did no good whatsoever. A common theme during this time was frontal lobotomy, which is absolutely grotesque.
From my first reading, I had no idea what to think with the last passage. But after some thinking, I think that the narrator tries to liberate herself from the wallpaper and tears it off like an animal. When her husband walks in and sees her “creeping” he faints, knowing that his wife has clearly gone insane. Another thought that I had was that the narrator hanged herself since Gilman mentioned a rope and that the narrator wrapped herself in the rope so that she could catch the woman in the wallpaper. Clearly, this short story shows the horrors of mental illness and depression, culminating in a complete mental breakdown.
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