“The Yellow Wallpaper” Point of View
“The Yellow Wallpaper” is a short story written by Charlotte Perkins Gilman. Gilman writes in a first-person point of view with the narrator being a main character. The unnamed narrator is speaking as though the story is her journal where she describes the estate rented for the summer. She writes in hopes of keeping her mind occupied from the illness that lingers inside of her. The point of view of “The Yellow Wallpaper” gives an overall understanding of how the narrator is feeling through the descriptions of the estate but unfortunately, not of the other characters. The narrator was limited to only a few activities including eating, sleeping, and not thinking about her condition. Because of …show more content…
Being ill has its consequences. Can we really believe everything the narrator says is true? She describes nonliving objects as being alive. “I always remember what a kindly wink the knob of our big old bureau used to have.” (1038) Is the narrator over thinking everything? John might have said it was not best to do certain activities, but did he really go as far as to ban her from those things? There is no way for us to know if she is confusing her alternate reality to her actual reality. As the story progressed it is obvious that ether way her condition worsened. The more she lingered on the wallpaper the more it drove her crazy; so much so that she took it upon herself to tear down the wallpaper. In her mind she was freeing the woman trapped behind the bars but in reality she was freeing herself. It has always been said that there is two sides to every story. In this story’s case that is the truth. The only side we have is the narrator's writings. Because we are hearing the side of the ill there is no way of us knowing if what she has said is true or made up. Although, despite the uncertainty we can make certain that the narrator was finally able to
“The Yellow Wallpaper” is a short story written by Charlotte Perkins Gilman. Gilman writes in a first-person point of view with the narrator being a main character. The unnamed narrator is speaking as though the story is her journal where she describes the estate rented for the summer. She writes in hopes of keeping her mind occupied from the illness that lingers inside of her. The point of view of “The Yellow Wallpaper” gives an overall understanding of how the narrator is feeling through the descriptions of the estate but unfortunately, not of the other characters. The narrator was limited to only a few activities including eating, sleeping, and not thinking about her condition. Because of …show more content…
Being ill has its consequences. Can we really believe everything the narrator says is true? She describes nonliving objects as being alive. “I always remember what a kindly wink the knob of our big old bureau used to have.” (1038) Is the narrator over thinking everything? John might have said it was not best to do certain activities, but did he really go as far as to ban her from those things? There is no way for us to know if she is confusing her alternate reality to her actual reality. As the story progressed it is obvious that ether way her condition worsened. The more she lingered on the wallpaper the more it drove her crazy; so much so that she took it upon herself to tear down the wallpaper. In her mind she was freeing the woman trapped behind the bars but in reality she was freeing herself. It has always been said that there is two sides to every story. In this story’s case that is the truth. The only side we have is the narrator's writings. Because we are hearing the side of the ill there is no way of us knowing if what she has said is true or made up. Although, despite the uncertainty we can make certain that the narrator was finally able to