“I sometimes fancy that in my condition if I had less opposition and more society and stimulus- but John says the very worst thing i can do is to think about my condition, and I confess it always makes me feel bad. So I will let it alone and talk about the house.” This quote shows that she is a unreliable narrator because she doesn’t really have a mind of her own like any other narrator would have. She makes her decisions based on what her husbands says.
“Jennie wanted to sleep with me- the sly thing ! but i told her I should undoubtedly rest better for a night all alone. That was clever, for really I wasn’t alone a bit ! As soon as it was moonlight and that poor thing began to crawl and shake the pattern, I got up and ran to help her. I pulled and she shook, I shook and she pulled, and before morning we had peeled off yards of that paper. A strip about as high as my head and half around the room. And then when the sun came and that awful pattern began to laugh at me, I declared I would finish it to-day !” This is where the narrator starts to show us that she’s not in the right state of mind. She sees things that others are not able to see which leaves her unreliable.
“And then I said it again, several times, very gently and slowly, and said it so often that he had to go and see, and he got it of course, and came in. “For God’s sake, what are you doing !” I kept on creeping just the same, but I looked at him over my shoulder. “I’ve got out at last, ” said I, “in spite of you and Jane. And I’ve pulled off most of the paper, so you can’t put me back!” Now this quote finally proves that she isn’t in the complete state of mind. She loses herself in order to understand herself. She detangled her life but also tore herself apart in getting free of it. I think the “Jane” she speaks about is actually herself indicating she is also free of her own self. She basically tried to control herself that was entirely true to her.
“At first he meant to repaper the room, but afterwards he said that I was letting it get the better of me, and that nothing was worst for a nervous patient than to give way to such fancies. He said that after the wall-paper was changed it would be the heavy bedstead, and then the barred windows, and then that gate at the end of the stairs and so on. “You know the place is doing you good, ” he said, “and really, dear, I don’t care to renovate the house just for three month rental” “Then do let us go downstairs ,” I said, “There are such pretty rooms there.” Then he took me in his arms and called me a blessed little goose, and said he would go down to the cellar, if I wished, and have it whitewashed into the bargain. But he is right enough about the beds and windows and things. It is and airy and comfortable room as any one need wish, and, of course, I would not be so silly as to make him uncomfortable just for a whim.” You can tell from this quote that he loves her but he feels as if he knows everything that’s best for her cause he’s a physician and that’s sometimes not the case. He is also kind of controlling and makes usually tells her what’s right from wrong an she usually always end’s up listening to him.
“And dear john gathered me up in his arms, and just carried me upstairs and laid me on the bed, and sat by me and read to me till it tired my head. He said I was his darling and his comfort and all he had , and that I must take care of myself for his sake, and keep well. He says no one but myself can help me out of it, that I must use my will and self- control and not let and silly fancies run away with me.” They have a great relationship and treats her very delicate like a baby. He is also very loving and caring to her and makes sure she’s always straight.
“…… I could and would, but you really are better dear, whether you can see it or not. I amĀ doctor dear, I know. You are gaining flesh and color, your appetite is better, I feel really much easier about you.” ” I don’t weigh a bit more, I said, Nor as much; and my appetite may be better in the evening when you are here, but it is worse in the morning when you are way! Bless her little heart! said he with a big hug….” This quote shows that their marriage is kind of one sided. He is trying to convince her that she is getting better because he see’s progress in her health. Instead of listening to her he just goes with what he feels as if is right.
From what I understand about John as a character is that he means the best for the narrator but sometimes he doesn’t really listen to her because he thinks he’s smarter than her due to the fact that’s he’s a doctor. No one can really tell someone how they are feeling because they cant possibly feel what that person is feeling. From what I understand about the narrator is that she has a very strong mind of her own but sometimes due to her illness she gets told what to do a lot. She depicts John as a great husband throughout the story.
I definitely agree on the fact that due to the narrator illness of nervous depression, and how she’s seeing all these weird things in her mind, makes her husband not take her seriously about her illness. She thinks that he isn’t too concern about her illness, but he’s a doctor he didn’t find anything wrong with her health wise, so the narrator just has a wild imagination, and her obsession with the wall paper causing her illness to become worse. But her husband despite not knowing whats really wrong with his wife still takes good care of her.
“And then I said it again, several times, very gently and slowly, and said it so often that he had to go and see, and he got it of course, and came in. āFor Godās sake, what are you doing !ā I kept on creeping just the same, but I looked at him over my shoulder. āIāve got out at last, ā said I, āin spite of you and Jane. And Iāve pulled off most of the paper, so you canāt put me back!ā Now this quote finally proves that she isnāt in the complete state of mind. She loses herself in order to understand herself. She detangled her life but also tore herself apart in getting free of it. I think the āJaneā she speaks about is actually herself indicating she is also free of her own self. She basically tried to control herself that was entirely true to her.”
I agree and to add I would say that John and her family contributed to the bars that kept the women in the paper locked in (herself). Those bars represents when she use to push things of her interest and what were on her mind aside because of what John and her family told her what is right from wrong or what goes and what does not. He basically thought for her and in the process of her letting him she locked herself in while letting everybody control her, when he was around. I believe that she was ‘sick’ because of John himself. She didn’t like the wall-paper but it was the appearance of the outside that she didn’t like about it. I think she seen that the wall-paper had value because of where it was, in a nursery, which I think she connects the value of the wall-paper to reflect on herself and sees that she didn’t like how things were going on around her so tried to find herself and in doing so she had to learn to deal with what was going on around her and inside of her at the same time through the wallpaper. Internal conflict. The wallpaper kind of represents a mirror of what the inside of her, that was trapped because of her family, see’s when looking at what was going on outside/around her. So in a sense, I wouldn’t say she was sick but lost in someone else’s world, everyone else’s.
The idea of the wallpaper as a mirror is really interesting. It suggests that what the narrator thinks is behind the wallpaper is actually a reflection of herself. I know you didn’t mean a literal mirror, nor do I, but as a metaphor it works nicely.
The sick person and The doctor both have different experiences and ideas.This is what shapes the story into what it is this is why it seems like the sick person is being undermined, from the readers perspective the context could be nothing but that. However, if you really think about it both of them are just doing their best to do all their jobs to best of their ability. Especially the doctor. The doctor is a healthcare professional usually doctors are often approached as unreproachable. So from that perspective, this is just another sick patient who does not know what they are talking about.
Can we say that John does what we expect a doctor to do? What about Linh’s point about John as a doctor not taking the narrator seriously, or Yasmin’s (below) about John being controlling? Or Tyra’s that “Instead of listening to her he just goes with what he feels as if is right”? Olakunle’s observations about John are important because it helps us establish John’s credibility, even though as readers we might not see him as credible.
The relationship between John and the narrator is an interesting one. Johnās intentionās are confusing because there are moments where he evidently worries for her well being. However, confusing because when she reaches out to him and expresses how she feels, he brushes it off and dismisses it. He comes off as controlling and condescending, especially when he tells her how it is sheās feeling, and how sheās doing as, if heād understand her emotions more than herself. He speaks as if he knows best without considering what she says. By being kept in the attic/ room with the awful wallpaper, we are able to see how she loses grasp of her sanity each day that goes by. Regardless, he insists keeping her there is whatās best, despite of complains saying otherwise, and he faints from surprise when he finds out she isnāt better at all. He was too prideful and ignorant to see the reality of her mental health.