The Yellow Wall

Reading “The Yellow wall paper made me feel small and vulnerable. Feelings that woman of that time were often privy too. My point of view on myself and the world didn’t change but I was reminded of how privileged I am to live in a world that values women. Gilman makes it clear that John’s patronizing and paternalistic conduct toward his wife has little to do with her illness. He dismisses her clever opinions and her “flights of fancy” with equivalent scorn, while he demeans her innovative compulsions. He speaks of her as a child, calling her his “little girl” and saying “Bless her little heart.
John acts as the looking glass through which women are observed adversely in the society, a society where women are not alleged to be full citizens.
They are not supposed to be anywhere near the political arena or in the public eye. Instead, they should remain in their homes.
Here it is seen that the narrator is reliable based on fact. The Story is shared by more than just fictional history but shared by thousands of women who lived in a time where woman were undervalued and under-appreciated; something that was brought to light by many a women who desired freedom. The narrator expresses reliability by using fact, not just emotion.
When the narrator starts to see additional woman in the wallpaper, readers realize that this woman is now truly insane. “There are things in that paper which nobody knows but me, or ever will. Behind that outside pattern the dim shapes get clearer every day. It is always the same shape, only very numerous.”

At first, she tries to fight against the growing weariness that controls her.
She even challenges John’s treatment of her. Yet, while one part of her may believe John wrong, another part that has internalized the negative definitions of womanhood believes that since he is the man, the doctor, and therefore the authority, then he may be right. She lacks the courage and self-esteem to stress her will over his even though she knows that his “treatment” is harming her.
The narrator decides to free the woman in the wallpaper and peels it off. In such a way she tries to free herself and to escape from her prison. Having torn off the wallpaper, she classifies herself with the woman in the wallpaper and at the same time sees other trapped women outside, skulking around. “I don’t like to look out of the windows even—there are so many of those creeping women, and they creep so fast. I wonder if they all come out of that wall-paper as I did?”
Thus, the author highlights that such case of madness is not singular to one woman but to many and all women. All women, being under the control of their husbands, powerless to change the circumstances, grieve silently and undergo despair. The main character does not have a name, as it is a general image of all oppressed
women.