The Yellow Wall-Paper By Charlotte Perkins Gilman

Do you believe in ghosts? You know, the spirits of dead people that are somehow stuck between the living world and the next world. As a result, these “spirits” haunt places such as graveyards, hospitals and abandoned homes. Many artists often portray these spirits in their work; movies, television shows, music, documentaries, and short stories. Short stories that include a ghost, or simply takes as a premise the possibility of ghosts or characters' belief in them are called ghost stories (Margaret). In one particular short story written by, Charlotte Perkins Gilman, “The Yellow Wall-paper”, readers have a hard time determining whether it’s a ghost story or not. In this short story, the narrator moves into a mansion with her husband John
She is convinced that there is a woman creeping behind the wallpaper trying to break free. She then claims to have seen multiple women outside of her window during the daytime. She is the only character in the story that can see these images. Unfortunately, these images weren’t real as one of the most common symptoms seen in schizophrenic patients is hallucinations. For example, Dr. Ambrish Singal, a well-respected psychiatrist, explains that “during an attack of illness, one may hear voices or see people /ghosts/images/dead men /relatives /or even God, when they are actually not present there”. To the patient, which is the narrator in this case, these images are clear and real. The schizophrenic also believes that the images are affecting its life and acts according to what they see. For example, the narrator at the end of the story tried to help the woman break free from the wallpaper. She tore the wallpaper while she believed the woman behind the wallpaper was doing the same. This shows that “The Yellow Wall-paper” is not a ghost story but instead the narrator is
Delusion is a fixed, false and unshakable belief and the person cannot be convinced even with the most rational explanations (author, year). Throughout the story we see that the narrator has a firm belief that the house is haunted and that there is a woman behind the wallpaper. Even though she can’t prove it and her husband reassures her time and time again that she is just imagining things, she strongly believes it. Her illness, imaginative power, and story making ability made it difficult for her to separate reality from fiction. It all began when the narrator couldn’t believe that ordinary people like herself and her husband were able to secure a cheap and long untenanted colonial mansion. Her delusion led her to believe that the house was haunted. It continued when the narrator told her husband that there was something strange about the house and that she felt something. Her husband reassured her everything was fine and that she just felt a draught but still she wasn’t convinced. The narrator’s delusion also led her to believe that her husband and his sister knew that there was something wrong with the wallpaper but were trying to hide it from her so they can examine how she reacts towards it. This shows that “The Yellow Wall-paper” is not a ghost story but instead the narrator is